1 00:00:04,550 --> 00:00:09,990 He is ruthless, determined, and deadly. 2 00:00:12,230 --> 00:00:16,730 He is one of the greatest military tacticians the world has ever known. 3 00:00:18,410 --> 00:00:25,410 A brilliant strategist, he leads men who gladly kill for him and die for him. 4 00:00:26,850 --> 00:00:29,510 All for the greater glory of Greece. 5 00:00:30,970 --> 00:00:33,350 He is Alexander the Great. 6 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:41,560 In the 4th century BC, Alexander rules more than half the known world. But it's 7 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:42,299 not enough. 8 00:00:42,300 --> 00:00:43,460 He wants more. 9 00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:50,600 Hungry to expand his empire, Alexander looks forward to his newest conquest, 10 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:51,960 India. 11 00:00:53,340 --> 00:00:58,720 All that's preventing the Greek leader are two immense rivers and three 12 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:00,520 of a million Indian soldiers. 13 00:01:19,910 --> 00:01:22,770 331 BC, the Battle of Arbella. 14 00:01:23,110 --> 00:01:28,370 Nearly 50 ,000 Greeks fight their long -time enemy, the Persians. 15 00:01:30,410 --> 00:01:35,170 For hundreds of years, these two superpowers have spilled each other's 16 00:01:39,830 --> 00:01:42,230 The Greeks are outnumbered two to one. 17 00:01:44,150 --> 00:01:48,170 But on this October day, they emerge victorious. 18 00:01:49,450 --> 00:01:51,250 and change the course of history. 19 00:02:01,790 --> 00:02:07,850 Credited to the tactical brilliance of the 25 -year -old commander, Alexander 20 00:02:07,850 --> 00:02:08,850 the Great. 21 00:02:09,110 --> 00:02:10,530 It's his time now. 22 00:02:13,530 --> 00:02:16,690 Alexander has a kind of larger -than -life aura about him. 23 00:02:18,570 --> 00:02:22,990 He's handsome with a muscular build, and he's extremely charismatic. 24 00:02:23,490 --> 00:02:25,330 His troops pretty much worship him. 25 00:02:26,890 --> 00:02:33,790 In less than five years, he had managed to carry out a major strategic plan from 26 00:02:33,790 --> 00:02:36,850 Greece to invade Persia and destroy the Persian Empire. 27 00:02:37,090 --> 00:02:41,070 In five years, he managed to suppress his own domestic opposition. 28 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:47,040 and then finally was able to force a cataclysmic battle in modern -day Iraq 29 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,400 the plains of Arbela, where he destroyed the last remaining Persian army, and 30 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:56,220 then by right of conquest became emperor of all of Persia. 31 00:02:58,300 --> 00:03:01,860 Some say Alexander's pedigree destined him for greatness. 32 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:08,720 They believe he's a descendant of Hercules on his father's side and 33 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:09,720 his mother's. 34 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:17,820 Alexander's empire now stretches from Greece to Egypt to modern -day 35 00:03:17,820 --> 00:03:21,740 Afghanistan, one of the largest in the history of the world. 36 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:27,040 But Alexander's appetite for power and glory is insatiable. 37 00:03:28,100 --> 00:03:33,400 Five years after he defeats the Persians, Alexander is ready to take on 38 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:34,400 opponent. 39 00:03:34,500 --> 00:03:40,180 He stands with his 32 ,000 battle -tested soldiers along the banks of the 40 00:03:40,180 --> 00:03:41,180 River. 41 00:03:41,340 --> 00:03:44,260 poised for his next conquest, India. 42 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:49,580 It's been a busy eight years for Alexander, who's not even 30 years old 43 00:03:50,180 --> 00:03:55,540 He's now emperor of Persia after defeating the mighty Persian empire in a 44 00:03:55,540 --> 00:03:56,540 bloody campaign. 45 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:57,960 He's pharaoh of Egypt. 46 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:03,740 Didn't even have to raise a sword there. They just gave up. Now he's knocking on 47 00:04:03,740 --> 00:04:04,740 India's door. 48 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:10,280 From a geographic and tactical perspective, the problem is to get to 49 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:14,660 have to cross two major rivers, the Indus and the Hadassah River. 50 00:04:17,300 --> 00:04:21,060 For most armies, these rivers would be too great to overcome. 51 00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:26,800 But not for Alexander, whose foresight and planning are legendary. 52 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,560 A couple of years in advance, two years in advance, he ordered shipwrights to 53 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:36,620 come from the coastal area of Syria and to build boats to ferry his troops 54 00:04:36,620 --> 00:04:39,100 across the Indus River. 55 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:45,440 Once Alexander crosses the Indus, he must contend with King Ambi, ruler of 56 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:46,440 Taxila. 57 00:04:47,220 --> 00:04:52,020 Taxila is the capital of the country of Punjab, which sits between the Indus and 58 00:04:52,020 --> 00:04:53,020 the Hadaspis rivers. 59 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:55,400 Ambi can do one of two things. 60 00:04:55,660 --> 00:04:56,660 He can fight. 61 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,120 and see a city annihilated and probably get strung up. 62 00:05:00,940 --> 00:05:07,420 Alexander was known to have made examples out of opposition leaders with 63 00:05:07,460 --> 00:05:09,720 painful, very public deaths. 64 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:16,720 Or he can play ball, preserve his city, and maybe even save his throne. 65 00:05:22,570 --> 00:05:27,870 Alexander crosses the river and easily commandeers Toxilla, turning it into a 66 00:05:27,870 --> 00:05:29,770 base of operations for Indian invasion. 67 00:05:31,010 --> 00:05:35,510 The next hurdle is reaching and crossing the second river, the Hidaspis. 68 00:05:35,990 --> 00:05:41,350 It's 100 miles away, but Alexander has anticipated this as well. 69 00:05:42,530 --> 00:05:49,130 The army can't carry entire boats 100 miles across India to the Hidaspis, so 70 00:05:49,130 --> 00:05:52,030 they break them into parts and haul them piecemeal. 71 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:55,700 What they were were these kind of collapsible boats where the frames could 72 00:05:55,700 --> 00:06:00,460 built and the skins transported and the buckets of tar individually, and then 73 00:06:00,460 --> 00:06:03,400 when you're going to cross the river, you assemble them a couple of days in 74 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:04,400 advance. 75 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:08,440 It takes two months for Alexander to reach the Hadaspis River. 76 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:14,940 He leads 23 ,000 infantry and 9 ,000 cavalry, a loyal, committed army. 77 00:06:15,860 --> 00:06:18,160 Many have been with Alexander from the beginning. 78 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,820 drawn by the power of his personality and his dreams of glory. 79 00:06:23,870 --> 00:06:28,170 They fought for honor and individual glory. And all their myths were of great 80 00:06:28,170 --> 00:06:33,450 warriors from Agamemnon a thousand years before to Achilles and Hercules. All of 81 00:06:33,450 --> 00:06:34,770 these are great warriors. 82 00:06:35,070 --> 00:06:39,690 They get everything because they're great warriors. So essentially, being a 83 00:06:39,690 --> 00:06:44,730 for Alexander, being a professional warrior, perpetually seeking more and 84 00:06:44,730 --> 00:06:49,130 glory, I think psychologically became what amounted to a way of life. 85 00:06:50,230 --> 00:06:54,730 Alexander's adversary, once he crosses the Hadaspis River, is an equally proud 86 00:06:54,730 --> 00:06:58,890 and brave warrior, the Indian king, Porus of Puraver. 87 00:06:59,670 --> 00:07:02,550 Porus descends from a long line of soldier kings. 88 00:07:03,050 --> 00:07:08,170 Well over six feet tall, Porus is a giant by 4th century BC standards. 89 00:07:08,550 --> 00:07:12,790 In his usual style, Alexander first tries conquest by diplomacy. 90 00:07:13,450 --> 00:07:16,110 He sends for Porus and invites him to a meeting. 91 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,960 Alexander's basically offering him a chance to avoid destruction if he pays 92 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,200 tribute and gives up his throne peacefully. 93 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:28,940 Horace doesn't just refuse to surrender. He actually challenges the legendary 94 00:07:28,940 --> 00:07:33,460 Alexander the Great to fight. He says, yes, I'll meet you on the battlefield. 95 00:07:35,300 --> 00:07:38,380 Horace is prepared to defend his kingdom at any cost. 96 00:07:40,260 --> 00:07:43,800 Horace has under his command about 30 ,000 infantry troops. 97 00:07:44,570 --> 00:07:50,370 2 ,000 cavalry, and 300 chariots. But he's got one thing that neither 98 00:07:50,370 --> 00:07:51,930 nor the Greeks have ever seen. 99 00:07:53,050 --> 00:07:56,310 He has 200 war elephants ready for battle. 100 00:08:02,890 --> 00:08:06,450 The elephant was a highly developed instrument of war in the Indian Army. It 101 00:08:06,450 --> 00:08:10,670 took about 10 years to train the elephant, and they were exceedingly well 102 00:08:10,670 --> 00:08:15,590 trained. They responded to name calls, they responded to whistles, and they 103 00:08:15,590 --> 00:08:16,590 fought. 104 00:08:16,710 --> 00:08:22,590 So, if we imagine what's going on now, you have Porus on the far eastern side 105 00:08:22,590 --> 00:08:25,790 the Hadespis River, ready to oppose Alexander's crossing. 106 00:08:26,170 --> 00:08:28,930 On the western bank, you have Alexander's army. 107 00:08:29,150 --> 00:08:32,289 And in between flows a fairly wide... 108 00:08:32,539 --> 00:08:35,419 fairly deep, and fairly rapid, Hadespas River. 109 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:39,659 Alexander is faced with a great challenge. 110 00:08:39,940 --> 00:08:45,580 How to get his 32 ,000 -man army across the raging river while maintaining the 111 00:08:45,580 --> 00:08:46,880 critical element of surprise. 112 00:08:48,340 --> 00:08:53,540 But how? If he just crosses right under Porus's nose, his troops are going to be 113 00:08:53,540 --> 00:08:54,299 sitting ducks. 114 00:08:54,300 --> 00:08:58,500 The Indian army will easily pick them off with their arrows midstream or when 115 00:08:58,500 --> 00:08:59,700 they try to reach the other side. 116 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,590 So Alexander needs... a tactical plan. 117 00:09:02,970 --> 00:09:08,550 And he puts into motion what would be an unbelievable game of cat and mouse with 118 00:09:08,550 --> 00:09:13,410 Porus. When in doubt, deceive and dissemble. And he begins with the simple 119 00:09:13,410 --> 00:09:19,010 of ordering up grain from his logistics supply lines. Grain shipments begin to 120 00:09:19,010 --> 00:09:21,270 arrive. And the reason for this is psychological. 121 00:09:21,870 --> 00:09:24,410 It's late spring, early summer. 122 00:09:24,690 --> 00:09:29,090 What you conclude is that they have no intention of crossing until later in the 123 00:09:29,090 --> 00:09:32,740 campaign season, when the river's current and depth are lowered. 124 00:09:34,340 --> 00:09:38,300 Now that Porus is convinced that the crossing won't take place until the next 125 00:09:38,300 --> 00:09:40,740 season, Alexander mobilizes his men. 126 00:09:41,620 --> 00:09:47,720 The second piece of deception was to begin to move his elements of his army, 127 00:09:47,780 --> 00:09:51,740 mostly cavalry, but some infantry. He'd march them up and down the riverbank, 128 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,060 upstream, downstream, upstream, downstream. 129 00:09:55,600 --> 00:10:00,110 Initially... What does this tell you if you're Porus? He's looking for a place 130 00:10:00,110 --> 00:10:03,590 to cross. He may use it in the future, but he's looking for a place to cross. 131 00:10:03,730 --> 00:10:07,750 This is good. I'll find out where he's going to cross, and what I'll do is I'll 132 00:10:07,750 --> 00:10:11,130 deploy my forces against it. So Porus takes his army and starts following 133 00:10:11,130 --> 00:10:12,610 Alexander on the opposite bank. 134 00:10:13,210 --> 00:10:16,430 Porus mirrors the Greek troop movements with his entire force. 135 00:10:18,130 --> 00:10:21,630 And this goes on for a week or two, and Alexander always returns to camp. 136 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,200 At which point, Porras concludes that this is pointless. 137 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:30,560 He may be looking for a place to cross, but in any event, there's no need for me 138 00:10:30,560 --> 00:10:34,660 to move my entire army up and down the field. So what he does is instead of 139 00:10:34,660 --> 00:10:38,620 doing that, he just posts pickets on the other side of the river. 140 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:43,980 This is exactly what Alexander wants. 141 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:49,540 Next, he commands his men to initiate step two in his well -planned campaign. 142 00:10:52,300 --> 00:10:56,880 Their mission, light fires, make noise, draw attention to themselves every 143 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:02,020 single night. What Alexander's doing, again, is he's conditioning Porras' army 144 00:11:02,020 --> 00:11:04,080 to the noise along the riverbank. 145 00:11:04,500 --> 00:11:10,020 Alexander has now achieved a very important tactical advantage. What is 146 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:14,120 The ability to move his army around on his side of the riverbank without 147 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:19,180 provoking a major tactical response on the part of the enemy. In essence, he's 148 00:11:19,180 --> 00:11:20,109 low it. 149 00:11:20,110 --> 00:11:26,830 lowered the anxiety level, lowered the attention level of Porus and his army. 150 00:11:27,750 --> 00:11:33,450 Finally, after two months, under cover of darkness, Alexander leads a 151 00:11:33,450 --> 00:11:34,870 of troops away from camp. 152 00:11:35,210 --> 00:11:38,910 Because of how he's been conditioned, Porus hardly notices. 153 00:11:42,070 --> 00:11:47,310 Alexander never intended on waiting to cross the river. Everything he's done up 154 00:11:47,310 --> 00:11:52,410 until now is to set up a scenario to cross the river without alerting the 155 00:11:52,410 --> 00:11:56,030 Indians and thereby gain the tactical advantage. 156 00:11:56,870 --> 00:11:58,510 It's absolutely brilliant. 157 00:11:58,730 --> 00:12:03,510 He already knows exactly where he's going to cross, and he's going to cross 158 00:12:03,510 --> 00:12:10,140 night. What he does, he takes a force of some 10 ,000 infantry and about 6 159 00:12:10,140 --> 00:12:15,720 ,000 Greek cavalry and another 1 ,000 horse archers, light cavalry, and moves 160 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:17,780 up the bank 17 miles. 161 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:22,440 But Porus will not be the only one surprised by the crossing tonight. 162 00:12:23,060 --> 00:12:28,540 For Alexander, the Hadaspis River is about to reveal some surprises of its 163 00:12:34,500 --> 00:12:36,280 Midnight, 326 B .C. 164 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:42,420 Alexander the Great is about to lead nearly 20 ,000 soldiers across a raging 165 00:12:42,420 --> 00:12:43,420 river in India. 166 00:12:45,700 --> 00:12:48,080 It's a surprise two months in the making. 167 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:57,140 Hours earlier, Alexander had led his force 17 miles away from his main camp, 168 00:12:57,140 --> 00:12:59,980 the Hadespis River. This is where he will cross. 169 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:06,380 Alexander's army is a well -oiled, experienced fighting machine. 170 00:13:06,620 --> 00:13:11,160 For the better part of a decade, they have been improving and modernizing with 171 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:12,340 each military encounter. 172 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:17,920 One of their greatest challenges was three years earlier against the Central 173 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:19,040 Asian nomads. 174 00:13:19,260 --> 00:13:25,040 The battle rages near Batria and Sagdiana, modern -day Afghanistan and 175 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,680 provinces in the far east of Alexander's empire. 176 00:13:29,470 --> 00:13:33,590 Alexander's problem with the provinces, the furthest provinces into the east, is 177 00:13:33,590 --> 00:13:37,270 that they're essentially not really nation states. What they really are is 178 00:13:37,270 --> 00:13:42,330 conglomerations of tribal, ethnic tribal units that are at each other's throats, 179 00:13:42,370 --> 00:13:46,250 much as they are today in modern -day Pakistan and Afghanistan. 180 00:13:47,270 --> 00:13:51,170 And so he sets out to essentially put down these revolts. 181 00:13:51,470 --> 00:13:55,290 The Central Asians are nomadic pastoral tribes from around the Caspian Sea. 182 00:13:55,660 --> 00:13:59,240 They're excellent marksmen and they're tough. You have to be just to survive in 183 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:00,240 the rugged mountains of Afghanistan. 184 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:04,560 They are masters of hit -and -run cavalry. 185 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:09,880 But Alexander and his men are neither trained nor equipped to handle this kind 186 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:10,599 of attack. 187 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:16,440 The Greeks' style had always been to move in unison in a phalanx, several 188 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:17,520 of interlocked warriors. 189 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:22,760 But this new enemy, these Central Asian tribal guerrilla fighters, include 190 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:24,120 archers on horseback. 191 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:26,920 who deliver lightning -fast arrows of death. 192 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:30,400 Everything about these horsemen is light and mobile. 193 00:14:30,660 --> 00:14:35,340 They harass the enemy with volleys of arrows or javelins, then they quickly 194 00:14:35,340 --> 00:14:41,380 retreat. To combat this new threat, Alexander restructures his army and 195 00:14:41,380 --> 00:14:43,660 these light cavalry archers into his force. 196 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:49,220 So in the end, he basically reconfigured his army, basically from Persian 197 00:14:49,220 --> 00:14:54,740 sources, making it much lighter, using Persian light infantry, some heavy, but 198 00:14:54,740 --> 00:14:57,620 mostly light infantry, and light cavalry. 199 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:03,620 This battle -tested, more mobile force is what Alexander now leads to conquer 200 00:15:03,620 --> 00:15:04,620 India. 201 00:15:05,130 --> 00:15:09,210 At the end of a two -year guerrilla war in the eastern provinces and having 202 00:15:09,210 --> 00:15:13,330 achieved the modicum of success, Alexander now turns his covetous eyes 203 00:15:13,330 --> 00:15:15,070 east to India. 204 00:15:16,290 --> 00:15:19,070 But he knows he's facing a formidable opponent. 205 00:15:19,650 --> 00:15:23,730 The army of the Indian king Porus has a long and bloody history. 206 00:15:26,250 --> 00:15:32,070 India at the time is divided into 16 regional kingdoms, each constantly 207 00:15:32,070 --> 00:15:33,170 the other for dominance. 208 00:15:34,380 --> 00:15:36,500 War was the normal state of affairs. 209 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:41,340 As soon as a king gained power, he would begin attacking his neighbors. 210 00:15:42,180 --> 00:15:46,860 India's tradition of warfare may go back more than a thousand years, to the 211 00:15:46,860 --> 00:15:49,700 arrival of the Aryan tribes of central Eurasia. 212 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:53,360 This is one of the great migrations of history. 213 00:15:53,580 --> 00:15:57,180 And if you really want to see what these people look like, turn on your 214 00:15:57,180 --> 00:15:59,900 television set and look at Afghani tribesmen. 215 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:06,960 That whole northern tier of mountains has had no genetic dilution at all since 216 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:11,460 the 18th century. So that's what the Aryans looked like. They were big, dark 217 00:16:11,460 --> 00:16:15,720 -eyed, bearded people who had the horse and the chariot. 218 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,120 And so they made short work of conquering India. 219 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:22,320 Much about the Aryans is still debated among scholars. 220 00:16:22,620 --> 00:16:25,840 We do know that they were fierce warriors and that they're the ones who 221 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:28,640 introduced the horse and the chariot to the Indian subcontinent. 222 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,180 Chariots bring mobility and speed to the battlefield. 223 00:16:32,700 --> 00:16:36,080 They enable the Aryans to conquer much of the subcontinent. 224 00:16:36,340 --> 00:16:41,720 We also know that for about a millennium after the Aryans invade, India is ruled 225 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:45,900 by a warrior class whose tribes are constantly at war with each other. 226 00:16:50,990 --> 00:16:55,090 India possesses rich gold and metal deposits, so they have the resources and 227 00:16:55,090 --> 00:16:58,330 skills to produce weapons as sophisticated as any army of the time. 228 00:16:58,590 --> 00:17:05,210 In the Ramayana, an Indian epic from the first few centuries BCE, the villain, 229 00:17:05,390 --> 00:17:10,750 Ravana, is pictured carrying 18 different weapons in his many hands. 230 00:17:11,109 --> 00:17:15,490 He's got a javelin, sickle sword, three different kinds of battle axes. 231 00:17:15,690 --> 00:17:16,950 You name it, he's got it. 232 00:17:17,450 --> 00:17:21,710 And that arsenal is representative of what the various Indian armies actually 233 00:17:21,710 --> 00:17:22,869 used at the time. 234 00:17:23,410 --> 00:17:27,329 The ancient Indian kingdoms had really perfected the art of war. 235 00:17:28,369 --> 00:17:30,470 It's an art Porus has mastered. 236 00:17:30,870 --> 00:17:36,350 Now he waits to defend India against the latest outside invader, Alexander. 237 00:17:37,410 --> 00:17:41,470 Porus believes he still has time to discover when Alexander will cross the 238 00:17:41,470 --> 00:17:43,570 Hadaspis. But he's been duped. 239 00:17:45,949 --> 00:17:49,250 Alexander is crossing now 17 miles upriver. 240 00:17:53,730 --> 00:18:00,130 10 ,000 Greek infantry, 6 ,000 heavy cavalry, and 1 ,000 light Asian horse 241 00:18:00,130 --> 00:18:03,170 archers all throw themselves into the wild river. 242 00:18:03,790 --> 00:18:07,090 It's storming. It's the middle of the night and it's cloudy, so it's pitch 243 00:18:07,090 --> 00:18:10,350 black. And they're just plunging into these violent waters almost blindly. 244 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:12,100 Absolutely terrifying. 245 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:17,080 The raging current tosses the Greeks flimsy collapsible boats. 246 00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:22,760 Some soldiers use goatskin bags filled with straw to stay afloat. 247 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:28,280 Horses would either swim after you or being led after you by their range. 248 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:33,560 And it's at night. And so it's a night crossing of a river. And it's a pretty 249 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:35,720 difficult maneuver. Worse, it starts to rain. 250 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,420 And a wind starts to blow. There's a tremendous thunderstorm going on, which 251 00:18:39,420 --> 00:18:43,740 really to Alexander's advantage because it keeps the noise down and it keeps 252 00:18:43,740 --> 00:18:44,840 Porus's pickets undercover. 253 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:49,940 Alexander's certain he's chosen his crossing point wisely. 254 00:18:50,780 --> 00:18:55,420 But what he thinks is the far bank of the river is actually an island that 255 00:18:55,420 --> 00:18:56,420 bisects the river. 256 00:18:57,390 --> 00:19:02,810 He crosses the river, gains the island, crosses the island in a narrow defile 257 00:19:02,810 --> 00:19:07,350 where he can hide his troops from Porus, and discovers to his horror that's not 258 00:19:07,350 --> 00:19:08,350 the other bank. 259 00:19:08,390 --> 00:19:10,950 It's not the far bank. It's just another island. 260 00:19:11,530 --> 00:19:15,390 Hidden behind the first island, they discover another island. 261 00:19:15,750 --> 00:19:21,190 The Greeks still have two more crossings ahead of them, and time is running out. 262 00:19:22,670 --> 00:19:25,470 Alexander has made one of the few tactical errors of his career here. 263 00:19:26,010 --> 00:19:30,550 When he scouted the crossing point, he didn't send swimmers all the way across. 264 00:19:31,010 --> 00:19:34,470 He just saw an island and the far bank behind it. 265 00:19:34,690 --> 00:19:40,270 It turned out that what he saw was not the far bank, but simply another island. 266 00:19:40,919 --> 00:19:42,980 So now, God, what are we going to do? 267 00:19:43,980 --> 00:19:48,120 It's too deep. So we go up and down the island until they find a place to cross 268 00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:49,760 where the water is chest deep. 269 00:19:50,220 --> 00:19:55,460 And they cross chest deep water, swimming, dragging their equipment to 270 00:19:55,460 --> 00:19:59,780 island, and then finally to another island. But by dawn, you know, cold, 271 00:19:59,940 --> 00:20:02,500 and soaking wet, they gain the other bank. 272 00:20:06,330 --> 00:20:10,950 A very short time, the pickets pick it up, and a rider is sent to Porus, and 273 00:20:10,950 --> 00:20:14,830 Alexander has successfully made the crossing, and he's moving in force 274 00:20:14,830 --> 00:20:17,810 you. Now Porus faces a dilemma. 275 00:20:18,450 --> 00:20:23,130 His scouts say Alexander had crossed the Adaspas, but across the river from his 276 00:20:23,130 --> 00:20:25,230 camp is a large Greek force. 277 00:20:26,690 --> 00:20:30,290 Cleverly, Alexander had divided his troops the previous night. 278 00:20:30,510 --> 00:20:35,770 Some 15 ,000 crossed the river, but 12 ,000 stayed back at the camp. 279 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:39,080 This is called a fixing or a pinning force. 280 00:20:39,340 --> 00:20:43,980 It keeps Porus in place because he has no idea whether Alexander is the main 281 00:20:43,980 --> 00:20:45,540 force or a feint. 282 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:50,160 If he moves to deal with this feint, then the main force crosses right in 283 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:51,820 of him, catching him between a hammer and anvil? 284 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:53,920 Or is this the main attack? 285 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:58,000 Faced with this dilemma, Porus makes his decision. 286 00:20:58,580 --> 00:21:02,480 He only launches a small force to confront the Greeks who have crossed the 287 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:03,480 river. 288 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:08,080 By keeping its main force in place, he's basically hedged his bet into thinking 289 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:13,240 the main Greek force is still right in front of him across the river, and 290 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:15,180 coming is a smaller force. 291 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:22,680 Porus only sends 2 ,000 of his 4 ,000 heavy cavalry and 200 of his 300 292 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:24,260 north to meet the enemy. 293 00:21:26,500 --> 00:21:31,760 That force is commanded by Porus' son, also named Porus. 294 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:38,880 At the same time, Alexander musters his exhausted men and charges south, leading 295 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:43,800 with his heavy cavalry. Behind them are light Asian horse archers. The infantry 296 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:49,320 follows. But as soon as Alexander sees Porus's advanced force of heavy cavalry 297 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:53,800 and chariots, he stops, and under the immense pressure of the battlefield, 298 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:56,620 reconfigures his troops on the fly. 299 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:02,900 Alexander is brilliant at knowing exactly how and when to change his 300 00:22:02,900 --> 00:22:04,580 defense at a moment's notice. 301 00:22:04,780 --> 00:22:10,780 He sees how Porsche's army is configured and immediately withdraws his heavy 302 00:22:10,780 --> 00:22:16,540 cavalry. Heavy cavalry against chariots and other heavy cavalry does not give 303 00:22:16,540 --> 00:22:17,540 him the best advantage. 304 00:22:18,100 --> 00:22:22,320 What would be better tactically is to send his light cavalry to harass and 305 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:23,340 the movement of the army. 306 00:22:24,030 --> 00:22:24,969 That's what he does. 307 00:22:24,970 --> 00:22:29,030 He sends in his Iranian horse archers. It's a trick he learned from fighting 308 00:22:29,030 --> 00:22:32,470 these very same people in the eastern approaches of the Persian Empire. 309 00:22:33,770 --> 00:22:37,510 Alexander's light cavalry collides with young Porus's small force. 310 00:22:38,730 --> 00:22:42,330 And with that, the Battle of Adaspis River begins. 311 00:22:54,409 --> 00:22:59,870 326 BC, the Battle of the Adaspis River, one of history's most brutal battles, 312 00:22:59,970 --> 00:23:00,970 has begun. 313 00:23:01,630 --> 00:23:05,650 Alexander the Great's light infantry showers the approaching Indians with 314 00:23:05,650 --> 00:23:06,650 arrows. 315 00:23:07,370 --> 00:23:11,330 The Greek archers strike with a light, high -tech composite bow. 316 00:23:11,910 --> 00:23:16,270 Crafted from animal horn, the bow is layered with sinew from the legs of wild 317 00:23:16,270 --> 00:23:17,430 deer or antelope. 318 00:23:18,350 --> 00:23:22,850 The M .O. for Alexander's horse archers is hit and run, hit and run. They don't 319 00:23:22,850 --> 00:23:26,510 wear armor. They don't really need to. They don't get close enough to the enemy 320 00:23:26,510 --> 00:23:30,010 to need it. And here they actually don't need it because the Indians don't have 321 00:23:30,010 --> 00:23:31,010 archers. 322 00:23:32,010 --> 00:23:34,250 Thick cotton turbans protect their heads. 323 00:23:35,650 --> 00:23:39,750 Their torso is protected by a surprisingly strong wilted armor. 324 00:23:40,570 --> 00:23:45,670 It was probably like a modern -day flak jacket, which you would imagine. 325 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:52,380 You know, two layers of cotton, perhaps, or even wool, and in between those 326 00:23:52,380 --> 00:23:55,440 layers would be raw, unprocessed cotton. 327 00:23:55,700 --> 00:23:59,740 Well, believe it or not, the fibers of raw, unprocessed cotton are sufficient 328 00:23:59,740 --> 00:24:01,400 stop an arrow. 329 00:24:02,780 --> 00:24:06,620 Alexander's horse archers stop the Indian force and strip them of their 330 00:24:06,620 --> 00:24:07,620 mobility. 331 00:24:07,820 --> 00:24:12,960 Their object is to take the steam out of the Indian cavalry attack and force 332 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:13,879 them together. 333 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:15,380 That's exactly what happens. 334 00:24:15,930 --> 00:24:20,250 Once they're gathered together, almost immobile, that's when Alexander commits 335 00:24:20,250 --> 00:24:26,370 his heavy squadrons of heavy Greek cavalry, and they just smash right 336 00:24:26,370 --> 00:24:29,130 the gathered Indian cavalry, scattered. 337 00:24:34,370 --> 00:24:36,970 The copus is designed for slaughter. 338 00:24:37,210 --> 00:24:41,830 It has a forward -sloping blade for maximum impact on a downward strike. 339 00:24:42,070 --> 00:24:44,950 Once a butcher's tool, it works well on meat. 340 00:24:45,290 --> 00:24:46,290 And enemy. 341 00:24:47,430 --> 00:24:52,190 The Indian chariot archers release a torrent of arrows against Alexander's 342 00:24:52,190 --> 00:24:53,190 infantry. 343 00:24:53,650 --> 00:24:57,850 But a small wooden shield covered with bronze protects the Greek infantry. 344 00:25:00,130 --> 00:25:02,530 The Indian arrows take their toll. 345 00:25:02,730 --> 00:25:05,870 But the conditions of the battlefield favor Alexander. 346 00:25:07,390 --> 00:25:11,010 The rain the night before makes the battlefield a mud pit. 347 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:15,420 These heavy, heavy chariots cannot maneuver their iron -shod wheels. 348 00:25:15,740 --> 00:25:18,320 They're absolutely useless in the mud. 349 00:25:20,420 --> 00:25:23,720 The Indians are outnumbered and outmaneuvered. 350 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:30,840 Close to 500 Indian cavalrymen are killed. 351 00:25:38,380 --> 00:25:42,400 The chariots apparently never got into the battle, or if they did, they were 352 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,600 completely ineffective. And they would be ineffective, essentially, against 353 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:47,840 cavalry that could ride around it. 354 00:25:48,620 --> 00:25:50,680 Among the dead is young Port. 355 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:10,620 So Alexander is essentially now destroyed and brushed aside that 356 00:26:10,620 --> 00:26:12,760 force that Porus has sent. 357 00:26:12,980 --> 00:26:16,120 The survivors retreat back to the senior Porus's camp. 358 00:26:16,540 --> 00:26:20,960 They tell him his son is dead and that Alexander is indeed leading the main 359 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,660 force. And they're heading this way. 360 00:26:24,820 --> 00:26:29,940 By now, Porus understands that the Greek contingent across the river is just a 361 00:26:29,940 --> 00:26:32,300 fixing force meant to paralyze him. 362 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,960 What Porus does at this point, he... still in danger of a cross -river 363 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:43,040 So he leaves a strong rear guard there to deal with that attack if it comes. 364 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:48,260 He pulls the rest of the army out of the camp and starts to move it upstream to 365 00:26:48,260 --> 00:26:49,260 meet Alexander. 366 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:52,800 About three hours later, they stop at a good battle site. 367 00:26:53,420 --> 00:26:56,300 What the techs say is that a place where... 368 00:26:56,700 --> 00:27:02,060 He found the first firm ground is where Porras deployed his army. Why would he 369 00:27:02,060 --> 00:27:05,220 be looking for firm ground? Well, there were two reasons. One is he had 200 370 00:27:05,220 --> 00:27:06,560 chariots at his disposal. 371 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:08,860 The second thing is elephants. 372 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,840 Elephants are heavy, and you don't want them slipping and sliding all over the 373 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:13,840 battlefield. 374 00:27:14,420 --> 00:27:17,440 Porras positions his army a few miles north. 375 00:27:17,740 --> 00:27:22,880 Alexander picks up reinforcements. Before he crossed the Hydaspis, 376 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:27,060 addition to splitting his forces, had also stationed a reserve force midway 377 00:27:27,060 --> 00:27:29,540 between his main camp and the crossing point. 378 00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:33,140 So he hadn't divided his army into two the night before. 379 00:27:33,460 --> 00:27:35,820 He divided it into three forces. 380 00:27:36,020 --> 00:27:41,800 And these reserves of about 4 ,500 infantry and 3 ,000 cavalry are fresh 381 00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:46,260 They've gotten some sleep. They've marched half as far as Alexander's 382 00:27:46,670 --> 00:27:48,290 and they haven't seen combat yet. 383 00:27:49,530 --> 00:27:53,830 The reinforcements cross the river and join Alexander's contingent. 384 00:27:54,150 --> 00:27:58,990 So now when you look at the force strength that Alexander commands, 385 00:27:58,990 --> 00:28:03,610 the vicinity of 8 ,000 cavalry and somewhere in the vicinity of perhaps 15 386 00:28:03,610 --> 00:28:04,810 or 16 ,000 infantry. 387 00:28:05,630 --> 00:28:11,430 But Alexander's men are too spread out. The cavalry is in front, with the 388 00:28:11,430 --> 00:28:13,830 exhausted infantry dragging ours behind. 389 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:18,780 So as Alexander approaches the battlefield, sees Porus's army, 390 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:24,520 he's in a situation where he has to delay the battle. How do you do that? He 391 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:30,800 takes his Iranian horse archers and throws them forward. And they begin 392 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:32,780 up and down the line, shooting arrows. 393 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:41,540 Now is the time when Porus should have attacked. 394 00:28:41,900 --> 00:28:43,180 Maybe he wasn't ready. 395 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:48,560 Maybe he wasn't in an aggressive frame of mind. We don't know. But it looks 396 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:50,980 he was going to accept the battle that Alexander presented. 397 00:28:52,460 --> 00:28:57,120 Porras has allowed Alexander the time for his infantry to arrive and to study 398 00:28:57,120 --> 00:28:58,780 the formation of Porras' troops. 399 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:04,640 In front, a line of 200 battle -tested war elephants. 400 00:29:06,180 --> 00:29:10,720 Behind the elephant, an even longer line of 30 ,000 infantry troops. 401 00:29:11,230 --> 00:29:15,290 and on each wing a brigade of a thousand cavalry to protect the flank. 402 00:29:16,830 --> 00:29:20,790 Alexander's infantry is outnumbered two to one, so what he wants to do is turn 403 00:29:20,790 --> 00:29:23,530 this into a cavalry fight rather than an infantry fight. 404 00:29:23,730 --> 00:29:24,950 There's one problem. 405 00:29:25,650 --> 00:29:26,650 Elephants. 406 00:29:28,050 --> 00:29:30,830 Roman historian Curtius captures the scene. 407 00:29:31,270 --> 00:29:36,450 The beasts, stationed between lines of armed men, at a distance look like 408 00:29:36,450 --> 00:29:37,450 towers. 409 00:29:38,220 --> 00:29:43,200 While Porus himself had almost exceeded the measure of human stature, the beast 410 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:48,120 on which he rode seemed to add to his height. The Greek Macedonians had never 411 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:52,420 seen them in large numbers. Now, the individual fighting men wasn't too much 412 00:29:52,420 --> 00:29:53,760 a problem. It was the horses. 413 00:29:54,260 --> 00:29:59,820 The horses had no exposure to these elephants, and the smell and sound 414 00:29:59,820 --> 00:30:03,820 them panicked the Macedonian cavalry. 415 00:30:06,310 --> 00:30:11,950 Alexander must revise his tactical plan to make effective use of his cavalry, or 416 00:30:11,950 --> 00:30:16,090 this battle and his best chance to conquer India will be lost. 417 00:30:24,110 --> 00:30:28,450 Alexander has accomplished a difficult night crossing of the Hadassus River. 418 00:30:35,020 --> 00:30:37,700 He's defeated a small Indian advance force. 419 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:53,660 And now he's about to launch his attack against the full might of the Indian 420 00:30:53,660 --> 00:30:54,660 army. 421 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:59,140 The Indian infantry is twice as large as the Greeks. 422 00:30:59,660 --> 00:31:03,920 Alexander knows his strength as cavalry, where he outnumbers Porus four to one. 423 00:31:04,510 --> 00:31:07,930 So the game is now how to fight a battle that's not an infantry battle. 424 00:31:09,150 --> 00:31:15,250 Alexander had a phenomenal ability to very quickly read a battlefield and 425 00:31:15,250 --> 00:31:17,890 formulate a strategy to gain the advantage. 426 00:31:18,950 --> 00:31:24,730 Alexander deploys his 4 ,000 -strong cavalry squadron toward Porus's left 427 00:31:25,850 --> 00:31:31,530 Porus only has a total of 2 ,000 cavalry, 1 ,000 on each wing. 428 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:37,020 Porus orders his cavalry on the right wing to pull out of position, ride 429 00:31:37,020 --> 00:31:39,420 the battle line, and reinforce the left. 430 00:31:40,940 --> 00:31:44,040 And that's the mistake Alexander's been waiting for. 431 00:31:46,380 --> 00:31:51,800 Now Alexander orders Conus, one of his commanders, and 2 ,000 of his cavalry 432 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:56,760 that had been heading for Porus's left flank, to change direction and attack 433 00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:57,760 defenseless right. 434 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:03,980 The 2 ,000 horsemen arrive on the right wing. There's nobody to fight. 435 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:07,500 They turn the corner and ride all the way behind the Indian positions. 436 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:11,920 It's a bizarre situation that's all but been brought about by Alexander's 437 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:12,960 tactical brilliance. 438 00:32:13,180 --> 00:32:18,880 As Conus and the 2 ,000 cavalry ride behind the Indian line, Alexander orders 439 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:23,740 his horse archers to bombard the Indian cavalry with volley after volley of 440 00:32:23,740 --> 00:32:24,740 deadly missiles. 441 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:31,620 Alexander then leads his elite brigade of 2 ,000 cavalry on a furious ride, 442 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:35,720 swinging wide right and out past Porras' left flank. 443 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:41,640 What Porras does is he did what any commander would do. He tries to extend 444 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:47,240 left flank. So he takes his left wing and he says, redeploy further to the 445 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:51,240 which means they come out of their positions, they turn in column of march, 446 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:55,000 they begin to move out to the left to prevent the envelopment. 447 00:32:55,880 --> 00:33:00,420 As the Indians begin to march to the left, and with Conus also on the move, 448 00:33:00,900 --> 00:33:03,020 Alexander changes direction again. 449 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:08,900 Instead of sweeping around Porus's left flank, he suddenly turns inward and cuts 450 00:33:08,900 --> 00:33:11,320 off the left wing from the main body of the army. 451 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:15,800 At the same time, Conus, who was ridden all the way around the battlefield, 452 00:33:16,060 --> 00:33:20,520 arrives at what we call the schwerpunkt, or the critical point in the battle, 453 00:33:20,620 --> 00:33:24,340 and bang, slams into the left wing of Porus's army. 454 00:33:25,370 --> 00:33:30,550 Now chorus is exactly where Alexander wants him. His left wing shattered. 455 00:33:31,190 --> 00:33:32,430 Cavalry destroyed. 456 00:33:35,130 --> 00:33:39,590 Alexander always seemed, whenever every battle that he fought, always seemed to 457 00:33:39,590 --> 00:33:43,250 be at the crucial point where the tactics shifted. 458 00:33:43,790 --> 00:33:47,390 The crucial point where instead of going out, he turned in, where he went 459 00:33:47,390 --> 00:33:52,010 through the gap instead of around the gap. How you do that and at the same 460 00:33:52,010 --> 00:33:55,530 be right out there with your guys is a rare talent. 461 00:33:57,810 --> 00:34:02,890 Alexander now moves his heavy infantry against the Indian center, but Porras is 462 00:34:02,890 --> 00:34:03,990 not about to give up. 463 00:34:04,770 --> 00:34:06,990 He orders his archers to attack. 464 00:34:09,639 --> 00:34:13,440 The Indian bow is six feet of strong, flexible bamboo. 465 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:18,900 To extend it fully, the archer must anchor the bow in the ground and steady 466 00:34:18,900 --> 00:34:19,900 with his foot. 467 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:23,380 Tremendous size gives it unparalleled firepower. 468 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:29,500 Its arrows, with sharp bone or metal tips, can penetrate any armor. 469 00:34:31,060 --> 00:34:34,199 But because of the weather, the archers are ineffective. 470 00:34:36,909 --> 00:34:41,350 It was raining the night before, and all those thousands of horses and men and 471 00:34:41,350 --> 00:34:43,530 elephants, they turned the ground to mud. 472 00:34:43,770 --> 00:34:46,830 The Indian army wasn't used to fighting during the rainy season. 473 00:34:47,290 --> 00:34:49,170 Its archers couldn't anchor their bows. 474 00:34:49,590 --> 00:34:53,510 Huge blow to Porus. He'd lost one of his most powerful weapons. 475 00:34:54,210 --> 00:34:59,770 With his left wing destroyed, Porus's army is reduced to his infantry, his war 476 00:34:59,770 --> 00:35:02,050 -trained armored elephants, and their archers. 477 00:35:03,790 --> 00:35:05,190 You didn't just fight the elephant. 478 00:35:05,870 --> 00:35:09,650 The elephant on top was what they call a hauda, which was an archer or spear 479 00:35:09,650 --> 00:35:13,370 platform. But they deployed with a squad of 13 infantry around them, the same 480 00:35:13,370 --> 00:35:15,290 way we'd use infantry to protect tanks today. 481 00:35:16,310 --> 00:35:20,030 But the elephants do have one soft spot, their eye. 482 00:35:20,370 --> 00:35:23,570 The Greek infantrymen attempt to secure their target. 483 00:35:24,350 --> 00:35:28,730 I can imagine what would happen if an elephant's blinded in the eye. I mean, 484 00:35:28,730 --> 00:35:31,910 just goes crazy. I mean, an elephant's a seemingly big animal. 485 00:35:32,940 --> 00:35:37,880 Through the chaos, Alexander pummeled the Indian center and pulverized its 486 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:38,880 flank. 487 00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:45,340 Despite being trapped in a deadly two -sided attack, Horace fights on. 488 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:54,180 The center is collapsing on itself into a giant gaggle of 10 ,000, 12 489 00:35:54,180 --> 00:35:59,940 ,000 men, animals, chariots, donkeys, horses, whatever. It literally can't 490 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:02,020 and the infantry is pressing against them. 491 00:36:02,490 --> 00:36:03,910 Cavalry is prepping from the side. 492 00:36:04,730 --> 00:36:09,470 In these kinds of battles, as long as you're maneuvering on the open plain, 493 00:36:09,470 --> 00:36:15,530 don't take a lot of casualties. But when you close into close combat, it gets 494 00:36:15,530 --> 00:36:17,730 horrifically bloody because you can't maneuver. 495 00:36:17,950 --> 00:36:21,250 You can't even run away. I mean, the problem at the Battle of Hedospis, you 496 00:36:21,250 --> 00:36:22,250 couldn't get away. 497 00:36:24,650 --> 00:36:26,270 Brutal man -to -man combat. 498 00:36:26,670 --> 00:36:30,270 Animals hacked to pieces. The Battle of Hedospis. 499 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:32,280 turns into a gruesome massacre. 500 00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:41,180 Alexander and his Greek killing machine are destroying the Indian army at the 501 00:36:41,180 --> 00:36:42,620 Battle of the Hadaspis River. 502 00:36:43,620 --> 00:36:48,600 Alexander commits what's left of his cavalry and orders it into a circle 503 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:51,760 this mass of quivering, frightened men. 504 00:36:54,300 --> 00:36:56,700 Horace's army is caught in a death trap. 505 00:36:57,000 --> 00:36:58,240 It cannot maneuver. 506 00:37:01,930 --> 00:37:07,330 10 ,000 human beings pressed by another 8 ,000 human beings in a cauldron of 507 00:37:07,330 --> 00:37:08,330 slaughter. 508 00:37:23,759 --> 00:37:28,060 Screams of animals, the trumpeting call of a wounded elephant, for example, the 509 00:37:28,060 --> 00:37:30,360 whinny of a horse in pain. 510 00:37:30,620 --> 00:37:34,320 And remember, if you fell down, if a horse slipped and went down or was 511 00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:39,500 if a man fell off a, there were no saddles, but fell off the horse, he 512 00:37:39,500 --> 00:37:40,500 to death. 513 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:52,840 Human beings being stabbed, being hacked at. 514 00:37:53,180 --> 00:37:56,220 The noise and the screams and the battlefield becomes quickly covered with 515 00:37:56,220 --> 00:37:59,460 blood, gore, and entrails, pieces of human flesh. 516 00:37:59,820 --> 00:38:00,820 And the smell. 517 00:38:01,020 --> 00:38:05,340 The smell, the smell, the smell. I mean, you know, elephants, when wounded, like 518 00:38:05,340 --> 00:38:06,800 many animals, deprecate. 519 00:38:07,180 --> 00:38:09,240 You can imagine that as well. 520 00:38:11,380 --> 00:38:17,740 The noise and the smell and the human horror, absolutely terrific. 521 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:43,520 About seven hours after the battle begins, Porus's army is nearly 522 00:38:43,820 --> 00:38:46,020 But Porus himself survives. 523 00:38:48,260 --> 00:38:52,700 They're not completely destroyed, but probably three -quarters of the army is 524 00:38:52,700 --> 00:38:57,420 killed. Porus himself, badly wounded, continues to fight on. 525 00:38:58,460 --> 00:39:03,360 Alexander admires Porus's bravery and determination to keep fighting in the 526 00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:04,360 of certain defeat. 527 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,400 Alexander recognizes in Porus a kindred warrior spirit. 528 00:39:09,780 --> 00:39:14,380 He doesn't want to kill the man he's grown to respect, so he sends a 529 00:39:14,380 --> 00:39:15,540 to call him for a meeting. 530 00:39:15,900 --> 00:39:18,680 Greek historian Arian records the conversation. 531 00:39:19,940 --> 00:39:21,780 Alexander was the first to speak. 532 00:39:23,860 --> 00:39:26,400 What, he said, do you wish that I should do with you? 533 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:32,620 Treat me as a king ought, Porus famously replied. 534 00:39:36,620 --> 00:39:42,000 Alexander is so impressed with Horace's dignity and composure, he decides to let 535 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:45,560 him remain as king and keep his territories and his subjects. 536 00:39:46,140 --> 00:39:53,060 So at the end of the day, Alexander, at the Battle of the Hedispus River, shows 537 00:39:53,060 --> 00:39:57,180 his tactical brilliance. I mean, this is a guy who can read a battlefield. He 538 00:39:57,180 --> 00:40:00,640 has what Napoleon called the coup de huile, the strike of the eye. 539 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:04,440 By looking at the terrain, looking at the arrangement of forces, he was able 540 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:08,640 devise very quickly in this case a tactical plan that played to his own 541 00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:09,640 advantage. 542 00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:15,240 With his victory at Hadaspis, Alexander the Great has taken his first step 543 00:40:15,240 --> 00:40:16,540 across the Indian frontier. 544 00:40:16,900 --> 00:40:18,920 But it is also his last. 545 00:40:19,740 --> 00:40:25,400 As he advances deeper into India, several states set aside their own 546 00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:28,120 and now stand united against the invader. 547 00:40:30,220 --> 00:40:35,820 At the next battle site, Alexander is confronted by 300 ,000 Indian troops. 548 00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:43,400 In attempting to conquer India, you get the feeling that perhaps Alexander's 549 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:46,960 strategic intelligence analysis was not as good as it had been in the past, 550 00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:51,920 because any reasonable view of what was going on in India at the time would have 551 00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:55,440 led you to the conclusion that this would be an almost impossible military 552 00:40:55,440 --> 00:40:57,640 for what amounts to a small Greek army. 553 00:40:58,570 --> 00:41:03,570 By now, Alexander's men can see that their leader's quest has turned into a 554 00:41:03,570 --> 00:41:04,570 suicide mission. 555 00:41:04,610 --> 00:41:08,430 They've been fighting long and hard, and mutiny is in the air. 556 00:41:08,890 --> 00:41:13,950 He tries to rally them to keep going. He's inspirational, his troops are 557 00:41:14,130 --> 00:41:16,010 but they've just had enough. 558 00:41:17,330 --> 00:41:22,230 Alexander, always attuned to his men, ultimately surrenders to the will of his 559 00:41:22,230 --> 00:41:25,910 troops and heads south, returning to Babylon in modern -day Iraq. 560 00:41:27,020 --> 00:41:30,460 But his Eastern adventure may have cost him his life. 561 00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:37,580 The best guess is that he died of malaria in Babylon, where 562 00:41:37,580 --> 00:41:43,300 history says, or at least the texts say, because he was considered to be pharaoh 563 00:41:43,300 --> 00:41:49,060 of Egypt. His body was sent to Egypt, where it was embalmed, and put in a 564 00:41:49,060 --> 00:41:50,940 crystal casket. 565 00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:53,200 Alexander the Great. 566 00:41:53,670 --> 00:41:58,310 one of history's most brilliant military tacticians, dead at 33. 567 00:41:59,050 --> 00:42:04,130 The conqueror of much of the known world, his record and his leadership 568 00:42:04,130 --> 00:42:08,970 still stand as the inspiration for great military minds throughout history. 569 00:42:09,970 --> 00:42:15,750 During the first Gulf War in 1991, General Norman Schwarzkopf took a page 570 00:42:15,750 --> 00:42:18,930 Alexander the Great's playbook with his left hook strategy. 571 00:42:19,590 --> 00:42:25,220 Like Alexander, Schwarzkopf... essentially feigned a main attack on the 572 00:42:25,220 --> 00:42:27,380 forces occupying Kuwait from the south. 573 00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:34,220 But the bulk of his force, modern -day heavy cavalry, tanks, swam hundreds of 574 00:42:34,220 --> 00:42:37,780 miles due west and came at the Iraqis' right flank. 575 00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:42,540 There's the left hook, effectively knocking out the Iraqi army. 576 00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:46,300 Ground war in Operation Desert Storm was over in 100 hours. 577 00:42:47,120 --> 00:42:52,440 That is a successful feign and envelop that Alexander would be proud of. 578 00:42:54,020 --> 00:42:59,980 Alexander the Great campaigned for more than 11 years, over 20 ,000 miles, and 579 00:42:59,980 --> 00:43:01,260 never lost a battle. 580 00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:04,180 Still, he was dissatisfied. 581 00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:09,920 It is one of the more interesting questions of history of having achieved 582 00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:14,680 the strategic objectives that he set out to be against all odds, by the way. Why 583 00:43:14,680 --> 00:43:20,120 does Alexander continue to literally want more? Why is it not enough? 584 00:43:20,340 --> 00:43:25,180 And I think he's a very curious character psychologically. But 585 00:43:25,180 --> 00:43:28,640 think he's a very traditional Greek. You know, when you look at the history of 586 00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:30,200 Greece, Greek. 587 00:43:31,020 --> 00:43:35,580 Soldiers didn't fight for strategic reasons or even political goals. I mean, 588 00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:39,200 that's something that comes in much later, all right? Because there's no 589 00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:43,620 of being Greek. There's no Greek nation, per se. So what did they fight for? 590 00:43:43,660 --> 00:43:45,500 They fought for honor and individual glory. 591 00:43:46,720 --> 00:43:52,420 A forger of empires with an unquenchable thirst for glory, Alexander spread 592 00:43:52,420 --> 00:43:54,760 Greek culture throughout the known world. 593 00:43:55,180 --> 00:43:58,300 Yet he died yearning to have conquered more.