Your favourite historical battles

[Trollheart]

Battles in general can be a bit boring: line up, charge, hack-slash-hack, one side wins, the end, crows have fun. But some of the best battles in history I know of are so because of how they turned out, ie not how expected; like when the smaller opposing force won against a much larger enemy. Having watched Henry V recently I can definitely include the Battle of Agincourt, where apparently about 12,000 English - in general a pretty rag-tag band with little armour and not too much in the way of military training - took on a well-armoured French force five times their size and kicked the living **** out of them, thus winning one of the most stunning victories for England at that time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt

Then there's the famous Battle at the Pass of Thermopylae, of course, where the legend of the 300 Spartans grew, though in reality there were also about 1000 other soldiers, who together held off the might of the Persian Empire. Sure, they lost (as in, they were all killed) but they delayed the advance of the massive force for as long as they could and eventually forced the Persians to retreat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae

Feel free to add your own.

[bulbasaur]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Rumble_(1998)

[Ol’ Qwerty Bastard]

Originally Posted by bulbasaur

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Rumble_(1998)

wrong answer bud

WWF Wrestlemania 2000 Hardcore Battle Royale

[bulbasaur]

a solid answer, but consider this:

[Ol’ Qwerty Bastard]

no mean street posse = no qwertyy

[bulbasaur]

really tough to make up for the mean street posse omission, but there's always



Los Boricuas mistake Skull for "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in backstage ambush: Royal Rumble 1998 | WWE

[The Batlord]

Peleliu and Okinawa from the Pacific theater of WW2 are pretty fascinating to me. Peleliu had a harrowing beach assault, worse than Omaha beach even from what I hear, but both battles marked a change in Japanese defense tactics, where before they'd been obsessed with repulsing the American Marines at the beach without much in the way of a backup plan, but then they switched to an in-depth strategy, turning tiny islands into impenetrable fortresses that led to what sound like the worst things anyone has ever gone through since the trenches of WW1. Totally waiting for those movies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Peleliu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa

[Ol’ Qwerty Bastard]

Originally Posted by bulbasaur

really tough to make up for the mean street posse omission, but there's always



Los Boricuas mistake Skull for "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in backstage ambush: Royal Rumble 1998 | WWE

hard to beat this one tbh

[Lisnaholic]

Well done, TH Another interesting thread to enliven MB or, as my sister used to say, "to improve the shining hour."

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Peleliu and Okinawa from the Pacific theater of WW2 are pretty fascinating to me. Peleliu had a harrowing beach assault, worse than Omaha beach even from what I hear, but both battles marked a change in Japanese defense tactics, where before they'd been obsessed with repulsing the American Marines at the beach without much in the way of a backup plan, but then they switched to an in-depth strategy, turning tiny islands into impenetrable fortresses that led to what sound like the worst things anyone has ever gone through since the trenches of WW1. Totally waiting for those movies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Peleliu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa

^ I haven't checked the links, Batlord, but I can believe they were tough battles because of the notorious intransigence of the Japanese troops, their refusal to surrender, and the consequent need to fight every inch of the way, foxhole by foxhole, copse by copse.

Like Trollheart's examples in the OP, to read about a battle in which the out-numbered underdog wins is particularly satisfying, especially if that force is using intelligent tactics to defend its own territory against invasion. After all, who does not cheer on Dustin Hoffman as he exacts his nerd's revenge in Straw Dogs?

Until I think of a battle that fits my own description, I'd like to mention a couple of my least favourites: The Battle of Antietam (aka Sharpsburg), 1862, and The Battle of The Somme, 1916:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Antietam

This battle turned into a horrendous slugfest concentrated on one small patch of land, The Cornfield. Southern and Union forces were ranged against each other, pouring into the Cornfield to be shot down or bayoneted in "the bloodiest single-day battle in American history":-

After two hours and 2,500 casualties, they were back where they started. The Cornfield, an area about 250 yards (230 m) deep and 400 yards (400 m) wide, was a scene of indescribable destruction. It was estimated that the Cornfield changed hands no fewer than 15 times in the course of the morning.

And for the British, the most ghastly day of military destruction goes to the Battle of the Somme. Thanks to the ineptitude and folly of the commanders, " British casualties on the first day were the worst in the history of the British army, with 57,470 British casualties, 19,240 of whom were killed."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme

[Oriphiel]

The Battle of He Fei, where Zhang Liao and a force of 800 men took on Sun Quan's army of 100,000, and won. And then later, at Xiaoyao Ford, Zhang Liao ambushed Sun Quan and his 1,000 personal guards, forcing him to retreat. Reading this shit will put balls on your balls:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Zhang Liao led the 800 soldiers on a charge targeting Sun Quan's forces as they set up camp unafraid of Zhang Liao's small detachment. Xu Sheng and Song Qian in the front were routed after a brief skirmish, with Xu Sheng was wounded and disarmed, and Zhang Liao penetrated the camp. After personally killing several enemy soldiers and two officers, he cried out, "Zhang Liao is here!" Chen Wu, the commander of Sun Quan's bodyguards, went out to meet Zhang Liao's challenge. However, Chen Wu's unit was no match for Zhang Liao's and he was killed by Hao Zhao. Sun Quan was shocked by Zhang Liao's onslaught, and Xu Sheng and Song Qian's troops turned tail when they saw their commanders being killed or fleeing, and Pan Zhang killed two deserters. Ling Tong, just arrived on the field, led Sun Quan to a hill and ordered his men to use the long jis to a form a defensive line before he went down to fight Zhang Liao. At the bottom of the hill, Zhang Liao shouted for Sun Quan to come down and fight him, but Sun did not dare to move. When Sun Quan saw that the situation had become more stable and Zhang Liao was only left with slightly more than a hundred men, he ordered He Qi to surround Zhang Liao's men. During the battle He Qi retrieved Xu Sheng's personal mao (矛, a 5m long spear). Zhang Liao fought fiercely and succeeded in breaking out of the encirclement. When his remaining men, still trapped inside, shouted, "Has our general abandoned us?" Zhang Liao plowed back through enemy ranks and rescued his men. Sun Quan's men were stunned by Zhang Liao's valour and did not dare to stand in his way.

He fought 100,000 men, broke through them after they surrounded him, and then went back in to save his buddies. What a fucking bro.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Xiaoyao_Ford