13 BEST INFANTRY OF ALL TIME[NO ORDER]

[KingMamba]

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While kenshin and shingen were duking it out with each other,a new player oda nobunaga had risen and defeated daimyo after d aimyo and become a super daimyo,but these 2, the only ones capable of stopping his rise were busy bruising each other.Another powerful daimyo tokugawa leyasu allied himself with oda nobunaga.When shingen was free from kenshin's attention,he dealt a heavy defeat to leyasu.These 2 daimyos were the ones in nobunagas path to total domination,shingen died of natural causes and his son was crushingly defeated by nobunaga at nagashino as stated earlier.With the takeda clan out of the picture,he turned his attention to uesugi but uesugi kenshin gave nobunaga his only large defeat.Before he could follow it up though he would die of natural causes.On hearing of his death,nobunaga reportedly said"Now the empire is mine".
Nobunaga unified all japan under him,but was betrayed and forced to commit suicide by one of his subordinates.
Toyotomi hideyoshi avenged his master and took his place,consolidating the unity.At his death tokugawa leyasurevolted and ignoring hideyoshi's infant son assumed supreme power.He had played his cards right,always remaining on the winning side and waited for the oppurtune moment,he had outlived all the other great men of his age and founded the tokugawa shogunate which would rule japan till the industrial reformations of the late 19th century.
Thus the japanese saying-
"Nobunaga made the rice cake,hideyoshi shaped it and leyasu ate it''



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Samurai fought to the death.Disgrace by defeat in battle or imminent capture would lead them to commit ritual suicide or sepukku/harakiri.They shoved their katanas into their stomach and disembowelled themselves,as epic balls out a way to take the exit as any.



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Samurai matchlock muskets.



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Samurai melee weapons.The katana is usually considered the most balanced,deadly and beautiful sword design of all time.The japanese construction method was unique.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMPLmG2fvPc
The last stand of the samurai.The tokugawa shogunate fell when american ironclads entered japanese waters and used their cannons to bully the japanese into a unfair trade treaty.In the clamour for reforms,the samurai were increasingly rendered obsolete.Most accepted this change.But a few last samurai held onto their traditions prefering to go out in one last stand against impossible odds.Death over abandoning their way of life.The video above depicts the last stand of the samurai at satsuma.

Though samurai themselves died out,the samurai spirit didn't.In ww2 japanese soldiers often fought to the death,when out of ammunition fixing bayonets charging all out to the cries of 'tennoho kou banzai'[ten thousand years to the emperor] choosing death over the shame of surrender.

The samurai has become legendary in popular media,and several excellent animes are available.Recommend this one.My favourite.Rorouni kenshin english dubbed.The whole series is available on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be7Y0SFUIBM.
The anime is around 60 episodes.for the great first season.



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Next: Spanish Tercio

I actually have the 153 GL in my house as a collection piece.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Sry for the delay,in between exams so diificult to find time to finish the imperial guard and waffen ss.Will finish as soon as possible.

 

[Kambojaric]

Focus on your exams Austerlitz, PDF will still be here when your exams have finished

 

[Koovie]

Mostly a campaign player but why not?
play coh online every night though.

kk PM me if you got time for a NTW battle. I havent played CoH, couldnt find it in Kochi. But I am waiting for CoH2

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Hmm NTW,runs slow on my computer a little.I'll have to reinstall it[its 12 GB],but i have rome total war.Anyway after exams are over i'll make time.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

12.NAPOLEON'S FRENCH INFANTRY

In 1789 the french revolution shattered europe,when in 1792 the french executed the royal family and declared itself a republic all the monarchies,austrian empire,prussia,britain,russia,swden,naples declared war.France stood alone against all europe,desperate they unleashed total war.Mass conscription was implemented and france the most populous nation in europe churned out troops like a boiler,any dissent at home was taken care of by the guillotine and the reign of terror.Almost all the officers of the old army had fled as they were from the nobility,a new breed of officers from the common soldiers ranks rose.One among these was napoleon bonaparte,by his astonishing military victories he captured the imagination of the french.From a first lieutenant from corsica,to general,first consul and soon to be emperor.For the next 20 years the revolutionary wars evolved into the napoleonic wars as french armies poured accross europe storming all before them.It would take 7 coalitions among all the other superpowers of the world,the royal navy,napoleon's own ego,the guerillas of spain,20 years and the russian winter to finally bring napoleon and france down.The forefront of napoleon's army where the infantry and from 1796-1809 they were undoubtedly the most feared and respected in the world.The pinnacle of the french infantry being the celebrated imperial guard.



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French voltigeurs skirmishing.Voltigeurs were elite light infantry who usually fought in loose formation,unlike the line infantry like chasseurs and grenadiers who fought in ranks.When most of the royalist officercorps of nobles fled,france was attacked from all sides.The new people's militia had little discipline and there was no time to drill them.Hence they fought as a dense mass of skirmishers or as a huge charging mass of bayonets.The new french fighting style was very discomforting fro traditional armies.These would be perfected under napoleon.At jena 1806 french voltigeurs behind walls devastated prussian line infantry in a firefight who were standing in formation in the open.Light infantry could make excellent use of terrain,but were very vulnerable to cavalry.



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Line infantry were the standard infantry and fought in formations.The french usually prefered to move and attack in coloumns after the light infantry and artillery had softened up the enemy.This practice would get them into trouble vs british redcoats,though by that time due to increasing no. of conscripts quality had declined.The other formations used were double line for firefights,bayonet charges,infantry square vs cavalry[shown in british redcoat what square and double line are]



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Out of misty legend to the terrifying rumble of the Grande Armée's drums come vague and dusty images of the generals who led it. Old before their time, they damned and led the eager volunteers of 1792, the sullen conscripts of 1800, the determined veterans of 1805, the ragfed, frozen scarecrows their Emperor called his 'men of bronze' through snow, ice, and masses of revenge-minded russians in 1812, and the scared, much too young conscripts and the older National Guard 'fathers of families' through the heartbreak, bitterness, mud, and despair of 1813-1814, finally to the last desperate days of 1815. Professionals because they learned their trade if they survived, these sometimes half-educated, iron-hard men led one of the greatest armies in history the length and breadth of Europe and finally to the Valhalla of enduring legend to stand beside the great conquerors of the past and their immortal legions.

The french under napoleon swept all before them.From the olive trees of italy,to the austrian alps,the banks of the danube and rhine,the desert sands and the shadows of the pyramids in egypt,the plains of germany,the snow and mud of poland,the frosty barren wastes of russia and the hills of spain and portugal the french fought everywhere.They remain the only army in history to have entered every major continental european capital from madrid to moscow.



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French imperial eagle.Napoleon gave his regiments eagle's in imitation of the roman legions.
'They drove fear into the heart of europe's kings,a terrible reality and an enduring legend'-john elting.
Each line infantry regiment had a company of elite greandiers,they were big men specializing in bayonet fighting.



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'There is no temple without a god,and no throne without a guard.But there are guards and there are Guards'-historian
The most feared infantry formation was the old guard of the imperial guard.Known as the immortals or sans piere[without equal]Veterans of many campaigns,they had followed their grim faced emperor on his grey horse from the early days of italy 1796 to the bitter end at waterloo in 1815 .However by 1815 few of the original veterans were left.The quality of french infantry declined after 1809 due mass influx of untrained conscripts.



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Bayonet charge of the imperial guard.In their black bearskin caps they were a fearsome sight.
"More dreadful-looking fellows I had never seen. They had
the look of thoroughbread, veteran, disciplined banditti."
- Mr Hayden ,a british visitor on the old guard.



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Square of the imperial guard.The guard emerged out of the consular guard of the republic which had famously stood its ground against overwhelming austrian atatcks buying time for the french reinforcements to arrive and win the battle at marengo.Napoleon dubbed them the 'granite wall' for this action.



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The french charleville 1777 musket.Usually considered the best musket of the napoleonic age.
French infantry were also renowned for extreme fast marching.The french saying was-'The emperor has found a new way of making war,he makes us use our legs instead of our bayonets'.Speed was the essence of napoleonic warfare.

NEXT: Wehrmacht infantry/The waffen ss.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

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Romanlegionaries in the dacian wars under trajan.The romans modified their helmet and added handguards to deal with the dacian falx weapon.



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The falx was a deadly weapon capable of penetrating the edges of the roman shield at full swing.



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Turkish imperial guard.Janissaries around the sultan.



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Spanish tercio.Legions of christ,spain was the standard bearer of orthodox catholic christianity,and was a main combatant of many religious wars especially against protestants .



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Byzantine varangian guard.Succesor of the vikings.



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Swiss pikemen.Scourge of the european knight.

 

[Koovie]

Keep it coming!!! Very interesting

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0JJlDlYGRM

For those interested in roman warfare.Watch this series.Part1 of episode 1.Check for episodes 2 and 3 too.
Name of the series is roman war machine.

 

[T-Bortecine]

Nice thread but big big mistakes in information. Janisarries was always but always Turks until there was a lack of troops which would require additional soldiers who then was some Christians.

Also the Turks was one of the first empires starting from seljuks to use gunpowder widely, anyone who plays medieval total War or age of Empires can see this clearly, as they get the first gunpowder units in the game and the janissary rush in age of Empires is nearly un defeat able.

 

[Koovie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0JJlDlYGRM

For those interested in roman warfare.Watch this series.Part1 of episode 1.Check for episodes 2 and 3 too.
Name of the series is roman war machine.

whooooo this makes me sooooo hot for this:

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Nice thread but big big mistakes in information. Janisarries was always but always Turks until there was a lack of troops which would require additional soldiers who then was some Christians.

Also the Turks was one of the first empires starting from seljuks to use gunpowder widely, anyone who plays medieval total War or age of Empires can see this clearly, as they get the first gunpowder units in the game and the janissary rush in age of Empires is nearly un defeat able.

Yes turks did use gunpowder on a large scale first.True.But where did i deny this?

Second ,no jannisaries were recruited at first exclusively from christian children.Check any sources.Its only later when jannisaries becaem a political force and prestigious and powerful organization that turkish families started giving their own children to the jannissary corps.Don't give in to blind patriotism.

 

[T-Bortecine]

Yes turks did use gunpowder on a large scale first.True.But where did i deny this?

Second ,no jannisaries were recruited at first exclusively from christian children.Check any sources.Its only later when jannisaries becaem a political force and prestigious and powerful organization that turkish families started giving their own children to the jannissary corps.Don't give in to blind patriotism.

Mate i dont talk from patriotism nationalism or anything. One of the best turkish historians who know about ottoman history said this and all of them say it. The thing you seem to mistake is only janisarries were in balkans thats not true.

This is the guy .
İlber Ortaylı (born 21 May 1947), is a leading Turkish historian, professor of history at the Galatasaray University in Istanbul and at Bilkent University in Ankara. Since 2005 he has been the head of the Topkapı Museum in Istanbul.
İlber Ortaylı is widely known as a polyglot. Apart from Turkish, he also speaks German, Russian, English and French.
İlber Ortaylı - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

I am not saying they were recruited from balkans ONLY but PRIMARILY from the christians of the balkans during the early period.Later all over including turks.Its what i learn from sources when i read about jannisaries on the net and military books,i have no personal agenda as such.Regards.

 

[T-Bortecine]

I am not saying they were recruited from balkans ONLY but PRIMARILY from the christians of the balkans during the early period.Later all over including turks.Its what i learn from sources when i read about jannisaries on the net and military books,i have no personal agenda as such.Regards.

nice thread just wanted to point out a few mistakes.