Oxymoron wrote:I am reading about the English Civil war, the battle tactics, troop numbers and lack of armor. I began to think that perhaps a highly trained army led by Alexander the great would potentially crush Oliver Cromwell's army even with the former having guns. I mean Alexanders troops would be armored, their Cavalry would be far superior in training. Am I missing something but it seems to me only after rifling and professional armies were introduced that armies of antiquity would be at a severe disadvantage.
No chance for Alexander. There is only 1 battle that comes to mind where the army that had its centre broken and routed managed to win. (Hannibal did it)
First of all, you need to understand that 70% for classical and around 90 to 95% for medieval armies happen during a route. Phalanx simply doesn't stand a chance against cannons because they will not be able to maintain formation against cannon fire which is what cannons are designed to do.
As the phalanx will approach their phalanx cohesion will first of all be broken by cannon fire and then by Musket fire which will eventually lead to a route. The main advantage of muskets is not only range but also the loud sounds that have a psychological effect on both people and horses. On top of that muskets are deployed along with pikes to prevent cavalry from causing massive damage to frontline units hence only logical solution is to either flank or charge the units from the back, to prevent cavalry from being destroyed.
Here is where the problem comes in, you can't simply flank or charge the rear if the frontline is not engaged with something. Phalanx will simply not be able to engage the front because an effective phalanx is a cordinated phalanx which is not possible under musket fire and cannon fire. It will at best, reach the front and break straight away. At worst it will break without reaching the front.
The whole point of the phalanx is to apply coordinated preasure on the enemy units and push them while being protected by shields and spears. But the army with gunpowder has no need to charge them nor it has a need to engage them in a classical/medieval "push" battle.
And any route as mentioned will cause the army to suffer horrendous casualties. Armies durring classical times/medieval times usually NEVER survive when their centre is broken. The centre can be pushed back or faint retreat but if it breaks then it is the end for any classical army/medieval army.
If you imagine something like this to happen then it is not possible because classical army centre will break and the the rest of the army will be routed as seperate groups:
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Here is perhaps the only chance that classical army will have(But it only happened once in my memory):
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