4 ms·

In practicality there was also another solution in the ancient world. If you're going conquering you're probably going somewhere with people to conquer. Those p

In practicality there was also another solution in the ancient world. If you're going conquering you're probably going somewhere with people to conquer. Those people probably have food. Just take theirs.

throwawayffffas 4y ago
It's called foraging, it's what practically everyone did. It's a nasty business and you can't do it to the same people twice, because it typically involved killing and enslaving that people. https://acoup.blog/2022/07/29/collections-logistics-how-did-they-do-it-part-ii-foraging/ https://acoup.blog/2022/07/29/collections-logistics-how-did-...
bombcar 4y ago
The underlying blog post goes into details on that, too. It is covered in "foraging" https://acoup.blog/2022/08/12/collections-logistics-how-did-they-do-it-part-iii-on-the-move/ https://acoup.blog/2022/08/12/collections-logistics-how-did-...
toss1 4y ago
>> "Just take theirs" That "Just" word is carrying a very heavy load . . . (The people whose food you are planning to forage will be objecting, likely with weapons)
- yetanother4968 4y ago
  More likely they are fleeing since they are largely unarmed peasants, who can’t stand up to trained, armed, and armored soldiers.
  - 988747 4y ago
    And when they flee they take some of their food supplies with them and hide the rest. Foraging army might be able to find some of it, but rarely all. Also, if you are in enemy territory it is entirely possible to completely miss some remote village. It's not like they have a satellite map.
    - toss1 4y ago
      >>And when they flee they take some of their food supplies with them and hide the rest YUP! And beyond that, what they can't take or hide, they may very well burn to slow down the advance Just because you have advance spies and they report existing supplies, you just cannot count on having those available when the full infantry arrives.
- Tangurena2 4y ago
  Burning cropland behind retreating troops is the tactic used to deal with "just taking theirs".

throwawayffffas 4y ago

It's called foraging, it's what practically everyone did. It's a nasty business and you can't do it to the same people twice, because it typically involved killing and enslaving that people. https://acoup.blog/2022/07/29/collections-logistics-how-did-they-do-it-part-ii-foraging/ https://acoup.blog/2022/07/29/collections-logistics-how-did-...

bombcar 4y ago

The underlying blog post goes into details on that, too. It is covered in "foraging" https://acoup.blog/2022/08/12/collections-logistics-how-did-they-do-it-part-iii-on-the-move/ https://acoup.blog/2022/08/12/collections-logistics-how-did-...

toss1 4y ago

>> "Just take theirs" That "Just" word is carrying a very heavy load . . . (The people whose food you are planning to forage will be objecting, likely with weapons)

yetanother4968 4y ago
More likely they are fleeing since they are largely unarmed peasants, who can’t stand up to trained, armed, and armored soldiers.
- 988747 4y ago
  And when they flee they take some of their food supplies with them and hide the rest. Foraging army might be able to find some of it, but rarely all. Also, if you are in enemy territory it is entirely possible to completely miss some remote village. It's not like they have a satellite map.
  - toss1 4y ago
    >>And when they flee they take some of their food supplies with them and hide the rest YUP! And beyond that, what they can't take or hide, they may very well burn to slow down the advance Just because you have advance spies and they report existing supplies, you just cannot count on having those available when the full infantry arrives.
Tangurena2 4y ago
Burning cropland behind retreating troops is the tactic used to deal with "just taking theirs".