As one of the greatest military leaders in history, Alexander the Great led his troops to conquer many lands and achieved numerous resounding victories.
It was believed that the legendary army of Alexander the Great was invincible in every battle and never feared any kind of attack; however, it was a handful of tiny grains of sand that nearly cost the lives of his proud army.
Alexander the Great’s forces attacked with… sand.
Few know that to achieve such glorious victories, Alexander the Great and his powerful army had to confront dangerous and deadly attacks from their enemies. Among these, the incident where Alexander’s forces were attacked with… sand is particularly famous. The tiny grains of sand, which seemed harmless, were used by the people of ancient times as a dangerous weapon.
Specifically, some records document that Alexander the Great’s army, while besieging the city of Tyre, faced fierce resistance from the local military and civilians. The soldiers defending Tyre gathered a large amount of sand from the area. After collecting it in one place, the people of Tyre heated the sand until it turned red.
At that moment, the red-hot sand was poured by the Tyrian soldiers onto Alexander the Great’s troops. As a result, Alexander’s soldiers experienced intense pain when the hot sand came into contact with their bodies. Meanwhile, many of Alexander’s soldiers hurriedly removed their armor to get rid of the hot sand. Immediately, they were shot dead by the archers from Tyre.
The red-hot sand was also used to set fire to the enemy’s ships. Consequently, Alexander the Great’s forces suffered significant losses when facing this dangerous type of attack.
