Your Favourite Military Commander

I myself have to go for Genghis Khan.

Pablo22510 wrote:

Having said all of that, I would go for Patton.

So much so, I believe there is now a theory and book that Stalin had Patton killed.

Yes, it's called Killing Patton. Presumably, the anti-Soviet attittude of Patton (and that he didn't hate Nazis) made the U.S. angry. The OSS then organized a car crash*, which badly injured Patton, but when they saw he was recovering and would be able to go and command the 3rd Army again, they allowed a Soviet agent to poison him.

* Patton's chauffeur was substituted for an OSS one name Woodring, who presumably caused the car crash.

My favorite is Sun tzu the author of the Art of War he was both a philosopher and military commander during the warring state period.

Pablo22510 wrote:

Yes, it's called Killing Patton. Presumably, the anti-Soviet attittude of Patton (and that he didn't hate Nazis) made the U.S. angry. The OSS then organized a car crash*, which badly injured Patton, but when they saw he was recovering and would be able to go and command the 3rd Army again, they allowed a Soviet agent to poison him.

* Patton's chauffeur was substituted for an OSS one name Woodring, who presumably caused the car crash.

V1nd1cat0r wrote:

My favorite is Sun tzu the author of the Art of War he was both a philosopher and military commander during the warring state period.

My decision would be split, my Patriotic side would hail Field marshal Bernard Montgomery, but the more logical side would lean against Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov.

I am adding the Desert Fox.

First, some facts -

1.) Rommel died because he hated Hitler.

2.) Rommel was a "Conservative" in the tradition of Bismarck - they did not mesh well with Nazis.

3.) Rommel's behavior towards his troops was more in keeping with the pre-Nazi German traditions.

That being clearly stated, the man was a strategic genius who rightfully deserves his namesake.

Rommel was the second best general. He treated captured enemy troops and his troops alike. He refused to kill commandos. He was deeply anti-Nazi, and followed the Prussian battlefield laws/code of honour. Read a book called 'Killing Rommel'. Although it's main about the LRDG, it outlines how well rommel treated British prisoners. It mentions how in German camps, British injured sat next to German injured. The book is just beautiful.

I support the Rommel entry, he was definitely one of the most respectable/admirable generals of his era, especially considering the side he was on.

Totally agree.

These are my 5 favorites in order of their intellect: Sun Tzu → Alexander the great → Patton → Zhuge Liang → Rommel

Kalantigos wrote:

I support the Rommel entry, he was definitely one of the most respectable/admirable generals of his era, especially considering the side he was on.

Pablo22510 wrote:

Rommel was the second best general. He treated captured enemy troops and his troops alike. He refused to kill commandos. He was deeply anti-Nazi, and followed the Prussian battlefield laws/code of honour.

I believe it was attributed to Rommel the sentiment that the English should not have been enemies.

Even Bismarck at worst considered England a rival due to their attempts to restrain Germany on the continent. But in no way would have done anything remotely resembling what the diplomatically inept, classless, imbecile Hitler did.

I don't know why you would kill any prisoners, if you treat them nice I am sure they would have no problem doing manual labour. Just feed them well and give them decent housing and I am sure they will be co-operative. Let them play sports and such too, maybe arrange a tournament between all the POW camps with the guards and POW's playing together and broadcast it to all the camps via radio(in English so most of the POW's would understand it). You could also use that for anti-British and American propaganda which would show how nice Germans were.

itsDeems wrote:

Pablo22510 wrote:

Having said all of that, I would go for Patton.

Agreed, especially because the Nazis and the Soviets were terrified of him.So much so, I believe there is now a theory and book that Stalin had Patton killed.

My top General:

• Douglas Macarthur
• Who he was and WW2-was an American five-star general and Field Marshal of the Philippine Army. He was Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines Campaign, which made him and his father Arthur MacArthur, Jr., the first father and son to be awarded the medal. He was one of only five men ever to rise to the rank of 5 star- General of the Army in the US Army, and the only man ever to become a field marshal in the Philippine Army. He developed a concept of Island Hopping. Which is a tactic of going around heavily defended Japanese Islands and attacking weaker and closer islands to Japan.
• Korean War-He also was the commander during the Korean War where he changed the war drastically. With what is widely considered the crowning example of his military genius, MacArthur completely changed the course of the war overnight by ordering -- over nearly unanimous objections -- an amphibious invasion at the port of Inchon, near Seoul. Evidence has indicated that the Chinese Communists, having studied MacArthur's tactics in World War II, warned the North Koreans to expect such an attack. Still, they were not prepared. The Americans quickly gained control of Inchon, recaptured Seoul within days, and cut the North Korean supply lines. American and ROK forces broke out of the Pusan Perimeter and chased the retreating enemy north. On September 27, after Washington had consulted with its allies regarding war aims, MacArthur received permission to pursue the enemy into North Korea. ROK forces crossed the 38th parallel on October 1, opening a fateful new chapter in the conflict.

• 
• Relieved of Duty- The relief of the famous general by the unpopular politician for communicating with Congress led to a constitutional crisis, and a storm of public controversy. Polls showed that the majority of the public disapproved of the decision to relieve MacArthur.By February 1952, almost nine months later, Truman's approval rating had fallen to 22 percent. As of 2014, that remains the lowest Gallup Poll approval rating recorded by any serving president. As the increasingly unpopular war in Korea dragged on, Truman's administration was beset with a series of corruption scandals, and he eventually decided not to run for re-election.Beginning on May 3, 1951, a Joint Senate Committee—chaired by Democrat Richard Russell, Jr.—investigated MacArthur's removal. It concluded that "the removal of General MacArthur was within the constitutional powers of the President but the circumstances were a shock to national pride." (Basically saying Truman was said to have ended Douglas's military career because he was "gaining" to much public support and influence over the American People and was afraid that if he ran against Truman in the next election his military achievements would allow him to win unmatched. Instead the discharging of Douglas ended Truman's chance at re-election)

Inchon was really cliffy and a 'stupid' place to land, wasn't it? The Korean war was great, lot of brave men. Did you know that, through trial and error, American pilots could chase MiG's back into China by finding out where the Chinese radar was and then get the MiG's in those pockets, shoot them down and fly away. At least one MiG was shot down by a British Sea Fury, the best propeller ever made(I think).

Emperor Lelouch wrote:

.this isn't true.... when German Generals were asked what they think about General Patton their answer was.."Who?"

Actually, German generals highly respect Patton, but to be terrified? Not even the slightest, he was regarded by both allies and axis a master tank commander.

Patton was his name, and armoured warfare is his game. Master of both speed and steel.

Patton was indeed one of Americas best general, what's preventing him from being greatest? He is very predictable a common trait for all tank commanders, He maybe one of the best, His army may be a wall of steel and firepower, but He can be seen by the horizon at midnight, and yes that's an exaguration, sorry about that. A general is someone who is a master in the art of warfare, to Sun Tzu warfare can be an art, to Patton? Supremacy and crude yet effective brute strenght and nothing else.

I might appear to underrate the man but I'm not, you need to see both sides of the coin to trully learn, good or ill.

about MacArthur he was commander of the USAFE (United states armed forces of the far east) and serve as the military adviser to the Philippines, although at the time he was the ONLY general in the area to have merit so that might explain him being a general of the phillipine army but he is not.

To be honest he is more of a politician during his time in my country, before and after the war, he was Americas will personified to the eyes of the Filipinos, and I have to tell you because of him the phillipines became Americas personal lap dog. Say whatever you like about this, but remember you were not born in the phillipines to know the real after effect of the war that leads up till today, unlike someone who see and feel it like I do.