Alexander almost conquered India, why did he withdraw his troops at the critical moment?

First, the Macedonians came all the way and were not used to the weather and soil in India.

Arrian, the ancient Greek historian and author of "The Battle of Alexander", believes that rainfall in India is heavy, especially in winter, when rivers surge and swamps spread. In the Gobi area, the fire umbrellas are high, the heat is unbearable, and the dry season is dry and cold for a long time, which sharply reduces the combat effectiveness of the soldiers. With such an army to go to war, the future is indeed difficult to predict. In response to this, Alexander withdrew his troops just in midsummer when the Assishenes River flooded.

The second is that the soldiers are warlike and the generals are in a great mood.

When fighting the Persians, Alexander's soldiers had a very disharmonious mood externally.

Many junior Macedonian generals expressed dissatisfaction with Alexander's promotion of a small number of Persian nobles. He was even more resentful towards Alexander for rejecting his comrades who fought together in the past. The conflict brewed and intensified in this way, and later led to the murder of Parmenius, the deputy commander of the Macedonian army, his son and others.

Alexander defended his actions to eliminate dissidents. He said in a letter to Aristotle: "I feel sorry for them, but there is no other way, because of this kind of behavior among the Macedonians. The dissatisfaction is threatening our next move. Here's the thing, I'm preparing to march to India."

After arriving in India, the dissatisfaction in the army even caused the soldiers to go on an underground strike. At the military meeting held by Alexander for this purpose, no one of his subordinates was willing to support his next move. It is said that Alexander locked himself in a military tent and did not visit anyone for three days, but the generals still refused to give up their opinions, and the entire camp was as quiet as death.

The third is the stubborn resistance of the Indian armed forces.

In "The Biography of Alexander", the reasons why the soldiers supported the march to the Ganges are recorded. The soldiers thought that the Ganges was deep and wide, and that the Indians were well prepared on the other side of the river. The kings of the Gandalitan and Plesian tribes were waiting for them with 80,000 horse teams, 200,000 infantry and 6,000 war elephants.

It can be seen from this that the Indians' resistance is durable and tenacious.