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In history you see countless occasions of armies getting ambushed on march. How could that happen when your army has a scouting small cavalry units around your army? If you put 3 cavalry riders together as one unit and send about 90 (30 groups) around your army, wouldn't your army basically become immune to an ambush? Even if the enemy takes down some of them, others will notify the main force.
There could be terrains hard to approach for cavalry, but then they could simply dismount to look for an ambush. They could shoot a whistling arrow to report an encounter with an enemy. (so that other scouts around them could hear it and notify the main army) Basically there seems to be so many ways to avoid unexpected ambush that I don't quite understand why so many armies in history allowed such ambushes. Moreover, if a general sees a terrain favorable for an ambush such as a forest and cliff, shouldn't they basically send scouts to see if there is an enemy army waiting? Even if his scouts are intercepted, that could at least hint at enemy presence near by.
How was real time battlefield reconnaissance operation before engagement conducted prior to the gunpowder era? How many scouts were grouped as one unit and sent out? How many units? Is there a reason why such unit size & unit numbers became a norm? I seem to recall in some battles generals sent couple hundreds of cavalry force as an advance vanguard with scouting duty instead of dispatching small sized units; again, why?
I majored in modern European history and watch a lot of historical channels on youtube thanks to my interest in the subject but I've not seen reconnaissance discussed in detail. I would love to know more about it.
The Ottomans being known as a relevant power of the time, was proven more than capable of seafaring expeditions through their previous maritime voyages in the Indian Ocean, East Africa, and Indonesia. The idea of conquering up to Morocco and establishing a coast on the Atlantic Ocean uncontested by Europeans, to be used as a base of operations for colonization efforts in the Americas was floated around, and therefore why did it not come to fruition? Were the Ottomans not worried that the west would try to convert the natives to Christianity, did they not have the foresight to see the immense riches involved in colonization especially after seeing the successes of states like Portugal, Castile, and Aragon?
I read paul cartledge's The Spartans and I feel like I understand the history of sparta a bit more but I feel inadequate that I can't remember most of the names and of people and titles and places in the book.
I feel like I can give a a summary of the events but not as descriptive as I would want since I can't remeber the titles and names. I see redditors , 4channers and youtubers explain events and parts of history in such large detail and I wonder how much is them rereading their sources and how many is it them simply just knowing what the info.
Spreading misinformation always feels bad to me even if it done out of ignorance. Because I sometimes see some people on reddit who spew bullshit that is false and but since it was said and people believe it the false information spreads and people keep spreading it. Since I feel like a can give (somewhat of ) a summary of the book if I don't want to be like how some youtubers who do history channels let their own beliefs and their ignorance spread misinformation.
The Ottomans were a great power in Europe at the time, and had ambitions of conquering up to Morocco to build themselves an Atlantic coast to colonize the Americas from, considering they have been proven fair maritime explorers through their expeditions in East Africa, the Indian Ocean, and later Indonesia, how come they were so uninterested in building colonies in America? Were they not concerned that the west would attempt to christianize the natives? Did they not have the foresight to predict the tremendous profits resulted from colonization, especially after the witnessing the successes of the Portuguese, Castilian, and Aragonese states?
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