Battle of the Granicus river, May 334 BC

The battle of Granicus began with a feint by the cavalry and peltasts of the Macedonian left, under the command of Parmenio. The Persians reinforced this flank - further reducing the combat power of their center - and repelled the Macedonian advance, but then, Alexander led the “King's Companions”, in a wedge formation, in a charge against the center of the Persian line. Despite the numerical disadvantage, the satraps would hardly have stopped fighting the Macedonians, particularly in the hope of being the bearers of good news for King Darius III, that is, the death of Alexander. But at least they could have been more cautious in the operational strategic deployment before the battle, starting the actions through a line of light cavalry on the river bank – instead of all the cavalry –, acting as a covering force; in a second line, the center would be held strong with heavy infantry, around which light infantry and cavalry forces would carry out combined counterattacks of destruction and/or disengagement.