Thread : Panipat III, Infantry Square and Military modernisation.

The late 1700s and early 1800s saw the development of weapons, which, if used correctly and in right numbers, could enable an army to overcome odds of 5-1 or even more.

Till that time open field warfare was basically about numbers - outnumbering usually did the trick and overcoming the "odds" was exception, not rule.

Arranged into a tight rectangle , with heavier artillery for support, these musket men became devastating.

Napolean Bonaparte employed the Infantry Square against the Mamluks of Egypt. He had 20000 troops to the Mamluk 30000. He lost 300 men , the Egyptians lost 20000.

The development of the musket enabled a person to shoot dead oncoming cavalry. Then was developed the musket drill - enabling a volley of shots to be fired, thus bringing down entire cavalry charges.

A kill rate of sixty per life lost was managed.

Variants of the Infantry Square were employed by Arthur Wellesley against Napolean himself at Waterloo.

Coming to Panipat

1. Sadashivrao promised to lead the campaign at a cost none believed possible.

2. Sadashivrao had effectively deployed Artillery - Infantry combination at Udgir. (This is Related to point 1)

So Sadashivrao it was ... going north

To make it work however, strong leadership was needed to make the Square function like one single unit. One person to decide what to do.

Also, to keep men in place in the face of wave after wave of Cavalry attacks.

Quite possible he never factored being "outnumbered" on the battlefield, since this new tactic was considered suitable for winning even with 3-1 outnumbering , if not more.

Reference inabiliy (or unnecessary?) to add more soldiers to the Maratha ranks.