Battle of Cannae

[anilKumarsinghNEWBIE]

Forces



Roman Army :- 80,000 infantry, 2,400 Roman cavalry and 4,000 allied horse (involved in the actual battle) and, in the two fortified camps, 2,600 heavily armed men, 7,400 lightly armed men (a total of 10,000), so that the total strength the Romans = 86,400 men.

Hannibal Army:- 40,000 heavy infantry, 6,000 [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and 10,000 cavalry (total 56000). army was a combination of warriors from numerous regions. Along with the core of 8,000 Libyans, 8,000 Iberians, 16,000 Gauls (8,000 were left at camp the day of battle) and around 5,500 Gaetulian Infantry. Hannibal's cavalry also came from diverse backgrounds. He commanded 4,000 Numidian, 2,000 Spanish, 4,000 Gallic and 450 Liby-Phoenician cavalry. Finally, Hannibal had around 8,000 skirmishers consisting of Balearic slingers and mixed nationality spearmen. All of these specific groups brought their respective strengths to the battle.

Tactical deployment


Roman àRed place infantry in the center and deploy the cavalry in two flanking "wings." chose extra depth rather than breadth for their infantry line, hoping to use this concentration of forces to quickly break through the center of Hannibal's line.


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Hannibal àblue had deployed his forces based on the particular fighting qualities of each unit, taking into consideration both their strengths and weaknesses in devising his strategy. He placed his [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in the middle, alternating the ethnic composition across the front line. Hannibal's infantry from Punic Africa was positioned on the wings at the very edge of his infantry line. These infantry were expertly battle-hardened, remained cohesive, and would attack the Roman flanks.
Hannibal intended that his cavalry, comprising mainly medium Hispanic cavalry and Numidian light horse, and positioned on the flanks, would defeat the weaker Roman cavalry and swing around to attack the Roman infantry from the rear as it pressed upon Hannibal's weakened center. His veteran African troops would then press in from the flanks at the crucial moment, and encircle the overextended Roman army.

Events

As the armies advanced on one another, Hannibal gradually extended the center of his line thus drawing up his whole army in a straight line, but gradually falling off, so as to produce a crescent-shaped formation, the line of the flanking companies growing thinner as it was prolonged, his object being to employ the Africans as a reserve force.

purpose of this formation was to break the forward momentum of the Roman infantry, and delay its advance before other developments allowed Hannibal to deploy his African infantry most effectively.


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When the battle was joined, the cavalry engaged in a fierce exchange on the flanks.

his heavy strong cavalry on left destroy the roman’s right light cavalry .his right cavalry (light,fast,,outnumberd) merely kept the Roman ally cavalry on left occupied but When the victorious left wing cavalry came up, the allied cavalry broke and the they pursued them off the field.

In meantime the mass of infantry on both sides advanced towards each other in the center of the field.Hannibal had instructed his infantry to withdraw deliberately, thus creating an even tighter semicircle around the attacking Roman forces. By doing so, he had turned the strength of the Roman infantry into a weakness. Furthermore, while the front ranks were gradually advancing forward, the bulk of the Roman troops began to lose their cohesion, as they began crowding themselves into the growing gap. Soon they were compacted together so closely that they had little space to wield their weapons.
the Romans had the African troops that stood uncommitted on the projecting ends of this now reversed-crescent. This also gave hannibal cavalry time to drive the Roman cavalry off on both flanks and attack the Roman center in the rear. The Roman infantry, now stripped of both its flanks, formed a wedge that drove deeper and deeper into the hannibal’s infantry semicircle, driving itself into an alley that was formed by the African Infantry stationed on the wings. At this decisive point, Hannibal ordered his African Infantry to turn inwards and advance against the Roman flanks, creating an [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] of the Roman infantry.
cavalry attacked the Romans in the rear, and the African flanking echelons had assailed them on their right and left, the advance of the Roman infantry was brought to an abrupt halt. The trapped Romans were enclosed in a pocket with no means of escape. The Hannibal created a wall and began destroying the entrapped Romans.
Casualties


Roman and allied



70,000 were killed, 10,000 captured, and "perhaps" 3,000 survived
Hannibal's losses at about 8,000 of his bravest men

[RBTVETERAN]

could someone .....plzz tell what is ths?

[JUGGERNAUTMASTER]

I think its a tactical scenario of roman army, how they deploy their units and win their battles like hell. one of the example is here with the early famous battle named "BATTLE OF CANNAE".
Well anil good one but i think you must from now on mention the topic and heading clear for the reader to understand what is he reading allright mate...!;D

[RBTVETERAN]

..JAISE KI TUJHE BOHUT PATA HAI ATUL....SAALA



HAHAA

[JUGGERNAUTMASTER]

lol read the artical and then you will be able to understand what he is trying to say in that thing and by the way mein rome total war bhi kheleta hoon to thoda to pata hoga hi...! ;D

[chiragmech31SEMI-PRO]

ha ha ha.....

[RBTVETERAN]

..saaale....rome total 4.....maine bhi khela hain......aur itn bara article kaun parega......tu kitna chodu ho gaya hai atul.....lol...

[JUGGERNAUTMASTER]

hahahaha... tum logo ke saath aoe3 khelete mein metal ho gaya hoon ;D;D;D...!. but its going really good all are improving alot. thankx to I-WARS.

[GuestGuest]

okay..so where did I-WARS come into this Atul??

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