Alexander Nevsky

The history of the world is like the history of chess. The history of chess is written by the dominant player. At some moment, one player rises through the ranks given a certain ability, strategy, or philosophy. He dominates and then history is made. In 1886, the positional strategy gave rise to a clear world champion. This strategy dominated until another ground breaking approach dominates every other player.

In War, it is the weapon. World War I was the constant fight for air superiority. First, the planes were used for intelligence gathering to learn about enemy movement. The opposite side would create planes to shut down the spy planes. Then there was the race to create planes that could dog fight and protect the spy planes, and so on. World War II was the race for a machine gun with more range, the tank, the supply chain, etc.

The stealth fighter and the M1 Abrams Tank have been dominant for the last few decades, but back in the 1200s, the ultimate weapon was the mounted Knight. The mid evo Knight was protected by thick armor and a trained strong horse that gave him mobility in spite of its weight. They were armed with long lances and they attacked in close rank with speed, reach, and force. Another strength was their sense of army and brotherhood having swore to their Christian God to protect their fellow knight and to serve unconditionally to protect the weak. The Hospitallers or the Knights of Malta were founded to protect pilgrims on their journey to Jerusalem. Most entered the order by given away their fortunes which gave them a lifelong servitude to the order.

The Knight orders dominated the Middle Ages. The Templars were the first force to entered Jerusalem in the first Crusade.

Around this time, a tribe called the Russ had settled and found unification around a city named Kiev in the Ukraine. They had suffered the Mongol invasion and the Swedes with their Viking heritage.

The Teutonic Knights were a German army of knights well known for their power. In 1242, they were all powerful across Europe. Led by the Master of the Order itself, they incursed into Russ territory. And a young prince named Alexander Nevsky who had been exiled is asked to return and lead the defense of what later would be called Mother Russia.

They met on the ice of Lake Peipus. The Teutonic army, with legions to the Pope and against pagans, had around 30,000 men compared to an army of around 40,000 made out of Russ and Polish. But the Knights were feared. Nothing stood in their path like a Buffalo stampede. They were highly educated, trained, and experienced in a life of warfare.

Teutonic Knights

On this lake, the Mid Evo Knight was defeated for first time in history. A new strategy had been discovered. Foot soldier protected by light armor and fur under the spell of a wise young Kievian Prince returning from exile became brave enough to attack the knights proving that surrounding the Knights was the next dominant move for the next few centuries.

Modern accounts understate the victory of the Russ tribe. They mention it wasn't a great defeat, and the knights were not defeated out of strategy, but they were outnumbered. In its context, the annihilation of the Teutonic Knights spread like fire village to village, town to town, castle to castle. The Knights of the Teutonic Order had been destroyed by Alexander Nevsky the prince from the Russ tribe in the far East. Historically, it wasn't the first time Knights were outnumbered. There are accounts of a hand full of knights putting down riots and battling armies. On that day, something more abstract than a simple battle had taken place. The Middle Ages Knight ended to be the ultimate weapon and over time a higher number of foot soldier took their place in the battlefield.



А л е к с а ́ н д р

A L e k s a  n d  r

Н е ́в с к и й

N e b s K e y i a​

 Centuries later, Napoleon was constantly outnumbered, but he would only use raiders for side assaults under his best generals with highly trained horsemen. Among other ground breaking strategies, the core of Napoleon's army and their most veterans units were always on foot dominating all Europe.