Greatest General

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    • Greatest General

      Who do you think was the greatest general of all time? I, personally, think that it was Hannibal of Carthage. He led his army through the Alps to fight Rome, and out-maneuvered a larger Roman army for 15 years, winning lots of victories. I would also say that Lee and Napoleon were great generals.
      WHOS GONNA CARRY THE BOATS?
      WHOS GONNA CARRY THE LOGS?
      THEY DON'T KNOW YOU SON!

      - David Goggins

      The post was edited 4 times, last by BrutusTrump ().

    • BrutusTrump wrote:

      Who do you think was the greatest general of all time? I, personally, think that it was Hannibal of Carthage. He led his army through the Alps to fight Rome, and out-maneuvered a larger Roman army for 15 years, winning lots of victories. I would also say that Lee and Napoleon were great generals.
      Erich Von Manstein was the greatest general of World War 2. During the battle of France the French army was not only larger and better trained. It had better and more tanks, plus it had extensive fortifications. However, Manstein was the mastermind behind the defeat of the French and British armies. The Germans originally just planned to use the the strategy that they used in World War I. He advocated for the breakthrough at the Ardennes, which ultimately allowed for a German victory within a few weeks. During the battle of Sevastopol he successfully captured the Soviet stronghold of Seavstopol. Seavstopol had extensive fortifications and was able to hold off German troops for many months. Manstein was then sent to take command of the situation. The Soviets tried to take back the Sevastopol by launching an amphibious operation at Kerch involving 200,000 soldiers. However, he was able to repel the attack and take over 100,000 soviets prisoners. The axis soldiers had a serious shortage of manpower and equipment by that time. Manstein knew that he would have to end the siege quickly before he ran out of supplies. He decided to launch a surprise amphibious assault on the city and the city began to collapse. After the disaster at Stalingrad, the Soviet forces advanced into Ukraine, threatening the encirclement of a large part of Army Group South. Manstein was able to save the situation by counterattacking the exposed Soviet flanks with Panzer divisions and retaking Kharkov. The Soviets began to crumble under his forces, soon Manstein had forced the Soviets into the Kursk Salient. Almost encircling them, but Hitler ordered them to wait. This decision would prove fatal and result in the defeat at Kursk. Manstein conducted an orderly withdraw to the Panther Wotan line along the Deniper river, he inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviet Union when retreating. He mastered both tactical and strategical forms of command. Unlike some commanders like Rommel who were purely focused on tactical strategy.
    • I think Erich Ludendorff was one of the greatest Generals of the first world war. He had the central role in the German victories at Liège and Tannenberg. Not only that but he and Hindenburg made that empire in the east that fought until 1918. He also was the one who knocked on the doors of the Belgian forts at Liège and "single handedly won the battle of Liège."
    • BrutusTrump wrote:

      Who do you think was the greatest general of all time? I, personally, think that it was Hannibal of Carthage. He led his army through the Alps to fight Rome, and out-maneuvered a larger Roman army for 15 years, winning lots of victories. I would also say that Lee and Napoleon were great generals.
      In game, it would have to be me. Jk jk. But irl, i gotta go with Ulysses S. Grant from the American Civil War. He (and his protege Sherman) singlehandedly led the Union to victory in the war, especially against Robert E. Lee, who was so great, he literally got everyone he faced fired. But he lost that war, and losing isn't great. So I gotta go with Grant.
    • And for overrated generals:

      In America: Ulysses S. Grant. HE WAS NORMAL. The rest of the US generals were just really really bad. See this

      Amongst Military history geeks: Napoleon. His main advantage was being a good politician. He could get his men to go ANYWHERE with him.

      Amongst WW2 Germany geeks: Rommel. Too much of a maverick. He couldn't follow the simple order of "don't run out of fuel"

      Give me more people and I'll add on to this list!
    • Mathematically and legitimately Napoleon..
      Also whowh is right grant is overrated everyone else was bad he was normal
      Rommel is not overrated. Maybe not the best but due to his maverick tactics he was good

      Manstein is great
      Guderian is alr


      Hannibal.... he was trash... he is overrated he just was trash won a few times cuz of luck and animals then was trashed

      Lee was good

      Zhukov was alr

      Patton was sh*t


      Montgomery was actual garbage
      “I do not love the sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior. I love only that which they defend.”

      “If you win, you need not explain!”

      “What difference does it make if destruction is wrought under the name of dictators or in the name of democracy?”

      War is Peace
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    • vietcong2005 wrote:

      Druzus wrote:

      Sun Tzu would be the most wholesome general


      but if we need someone more familiar then
      Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus (Germania) or Lucius Licinius Lucullus (Eastern Kingdoms) would do.
      Sun Tzu was more of a military theorist than a general.

      I believe it would be good to read more about him and Wu kingdom. He was serving in military in Wu kingdom and took art in wars that small kingdom was fighting. Ideas he is describing fit perfect to context of very small country fighting much bigger opponents.

      Lately Chinese used that asymmetrical warfare to steal American military blueprints instead of wast ign their own effort to create them.
      They also used it against air-carrier groups. Instead of producing their own fleet of carriers or multiple air bases they went for 1200 killer-missiles . That makes 100 missiles per every American carrier.

      Two others- because they were not focused on the war of attrition but instead they had long term strategic goal and every year they closed to it with series of short term tactical targets.


      I am surprised no one mentioned Ginghis Khan and his generals, Philip and Alexander from Macedon or Ashoka.Even Cyrus the Great or some Assyrian kings would make a list. I guess Mongolian and Roman generals would be in top when it comes to conquering and operating in the enemy territory.

      Maybe even we can add conquistadors like Pizarro and Cortes - to have no reinforcements, no support, very faint chance of retreat and with couple hundred man attack huge empires... you need to have balls and some planning skills for that.