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Great Battles - Underdog wins...

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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Great Battles - Underdog wins...
    Posted: 28-Jul-2005 at 23:40
Not just any battle - a real edge-of-the-seater, where the underdog wins.

I'm an aspiring screenwriter putting the polishing touches on The Script and
I'm told I need to flesh out my climactic battle scene.

I've never even BEEN in a fight - but if you've got a suggestion for a well
documented pre-rifle battle where the underdog wins the day - from Europe
to Alex the Great to Khan - I'm listening. Educate me.
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  Quote Constantine XI Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Jul-2005 at 08:48
I found this a fascinating example of one man's ability to be very adaptable and imaginative to ensure he defeated an enemy many times the size of his own force inspite of a range of problems. Count Belisarius was certainly a man to watch:

http://historynet.com/mh/blbelisarius/index.html
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  Quote Constantine XI Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Jul-2005 at 08:49
Also, how do i post links so it takes you to the site when u click on it? I'm having problems with this.
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  Quote azimuth Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Jul-2005 at 08:56

 

you can just copy it from the URL and paste it here or just try to put the www there

http://www.historynet.com/mh/blbelisarius/index.html

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  Quote Constantine XI Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Jul-2005 at 10:23
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh *smacks head realizing own technical ineptitude*. Many thanks!

Anyway I found that particular article to be a great read, Belisarius really comes out as a man who is as fascinating as he is impressive.
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  Quote Heraclius Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Jul-2005 at 22:36
 Just goes to show how great a general and a man Belisarius was, of all his qualities the one im most impressed with is his loyalty, few men would have stayed loyal to a man as jealous and as paranoid as Justinian, by refusing the offer of Western Emperor he ensured his honourable reputation which he has today.
A tomb now suffices him for whom the world was not enough.
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30-Jul-2005 at 02:26

The Spartans at Thermopylae. They didn't win, but they've killed a helluva of Persian soldiers.

http://www.customscorruption.com/thermopylae.htm

The battle of Haengju (keep scrolling down for english translation). This was at a time when the Choson army was very weak.

http://hangjusung.co.kr/hangjumountain_first.html

And the ROK Marines at Battle of Tra Binh Dong. They started out with guns, but when they ran out of ammo, they starting killing the NVA soldiers with their bare hands. There was only 300 Korean Marines, but they fought off more then 2200 NVA regulars.

http://www.mca-marines.org/Gazette/2005/05durand.html



Edited by vindicator
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  Quote Ikki Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30-Jul-2005 at 06:19
Alesia, 51 BC, romans vs gauls

http://www.unrv.com/fall-republic/siege-of-alesia.php


Edited by Ikki
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  Quote oodog Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30-Jul-2005 at 15:39

The 2 typical "underdog win" wars:

Battle of Guandu(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guandu)

Battle of Chi Bi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chi_Bi)

But ironically, the winner in the former was just the loser in the latter.



Edited by oodog
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  Quote Bishop Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-Aug-2005 at 00:27
One of the greatest battle of all time was the battle of Cannae 216bc. Hannibal was massively numbered, and the Roman infantry was better quality than Hannibal's mercenaries . The Romans built the largest army they could muster  to crush Hannibal once and for all.

Hannibal surrounded the Romans and destroyed the entire army by encircling them and attacking them from all sides.

50,000 Romans lay dead at the end of the day. The Roman army just vanished, there was nothing left.


Edited by Bishop
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  Quote Maju Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-Aug-2005 at 01:35
I would suggest the battle of Roncesvaux/Orreaga... it is well documented, being known even the exact date Aug-15-778, at dusk and it's also a traditional source of European Medieval legends.

The actual facts say that Charlemagne, who had been promised the surrender of Zaragoza and Barcelona lead an expedition to the first of these cities but found that the traitor Muslim governor had been discovered and deposed, so he was powerless with him mighty army but unable to take the strategic city.

In the way back home he decided to destroy the walls of Pamplona, capital of southern Basques, maybe because he distrusted them or maybe just because he feared it could fall in Muslim hands. This grievance cause that the Basque clans prepared an ambush in the Pyrenees: the major part of the Frankish army, including the Emperor and the bagagge crossed without problems but the rearguard, made up of some of the best cavalry of the Empire, lead by Senescal Hroudland (Roland), who some make nepehew of Charles himself, was ambushed and annihilated... when the bulk of the army could turn back and arrive to the place found no one alive (you can imagine the scene, vultures included).

The story was later romanticied in the Song of Roland, where Basques are substituted by Muslims to better fit with the crusading spirit of the age.

Links:


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  Quote Batu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17-Sep-2006 at 07:40
the battle of Mohacs.a great army of Hungary which contains many heavy knights were killed in 2 hours.
A wizard is never late,nor he is early he arrives exactly when he means to :) ( Gandalf the White in the Third Age of History Empire Of Istari )
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  Quote Turk Nomad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17-Sep-2006 at 10:43
Battle of İstanbul
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  Quote Constantine XI Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17-Sep-2006 at 11:49
Originally posted by Turk Nomad

Battle of İstanbul


Which one? That city has been the scene of nearly countless battles (or rather sieges) in its long history.
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  Quote Desimir Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17-Sep-2006 at 12:23
The Battle for Shipka.
About 5000 russians and bulgarian rebels defended the hill for 3 days against 40,000 ottoman army in 1877.When on the third day reinforcements of about 300 cossacks arrived Ottomans fled the battlefield and retreated.
It is known that during the last hours when defenders were almost defeated,russian and bulgarian soldiers used rocks,stones and dead bodies as a weapons.

    
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  Quote Timotheus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19-Sep-2006 at 21:39
I would recommend reading some works about Skanderbeg, the Albanian who kept the Mehmet II from conquering Italy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skanderbeg

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  Quote tsar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19-Sep-2006 at 21:49
Desimir -

Just shows the heroism of our soldier


Another great one was the battle of Adrinople 1912
It took the bulgarians just one night to push the turks out of adrinople, afterwhich the so called "Great Powers" were stunned at how a nation who had no military in 1877 could assemble such a strong armed force by 1912, despite the low annual budget that we had. For 4 weeks in 1912 at the time of the First Balkan War we managed mannaged to put together on the field 400 000 volunteers and win 2 great battles against an enemy who was considered a superpower at the time (Ottoman Empire) and later go on to defeat the ottoman army almost single handedly.


    
    

Edited by tsar - 19-Sep-2006 at 21:51
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  Quote Turk Nomad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20-Sep-2006 at 09:58
Originally posted by Constantine XI

Originally posted by Turk Nomad

Battle of İstanbul


Which one? That city has been the scene of nearly countless battles (or rather sieges) in its long history.
With Turks.
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  Quote Batu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20-Sep-2006 at 10:07
which Turks?
 
 II.Mehmet?

A wizard is never late,nor he is early he arrives exactly when he means to :) ( Gandalf the White in the Third Age of History Empire Of Istari )
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  Quote Desimir Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20-Sep-2006 at 12:04
The volunteers at Shipka:

What if we still carry shame on our forehead,
Marks of the whip, signs of bondage abhorrent;
What if remembrance of infamous days
Hangs like a cloud over all we survey;
What if in history no place we're allotted,
What if our name be a tragic one, what if
Old Belasitsa and recent Batak
Over our past throw their deep shadows black;
What if men mockingly laugh in our faces,
Pointing to newly lost fetters, to traces
Still on our necks of the ages-long yoke;
What if this freedom was gives our folk?
What of it? We know a recent true story,
A shining new symbol, a symbol of glory,
That proudly within every bosom pulsates
And noble strong feeling within us awakes;
There on a mounting that glows in the distance,
Heaven's blue vault on its broad shoulder lifting,
Rises a famous wild peak with blood on its moss,
A monument huge to a deed that's immortal,
Because a deep memory lives in the Balkans,
Because there's a name that shall live for all time,
As bright as a legend in history it shines,
A new name, its roots to antiquity tracing,
As great ad Thermopylae, all fame embracing,
A same to wipe shame away, with its plain truth
Smashing to smithereens calumny's tooth

O Shipka!For three days out youthful battalions
The pass have defended. The high mountain valleys
Re-echo the battle's tumultuous roar.
The onslaught's ferocious! Again the dense hordes
Along the ravine for the twelfth time are crawling
Where warm blood is flowing and bodies are sprawling.
Assault on assault! Swarm on swarm they advance!
Once more at the towering peak Suleiman
is pointing: "Rush forward! Up there are the rayahs!"Away race the hordes in a rage wild and dire,
A thunderous "Allah" re-echoes afar.
The summit replies with a rousing "Hurrah!",
A hail of fresh bullets and tree trunks and boulders;
Spattered with blood, our battalions boldly
Retaliate, every man in his own way
Striving to be in the front of the fray,
Each, like a hero, death bravely defying,
Determined to leave one more enemy dying.
Cannon are pounding. The Turks with a cry
Rush up the slope where they tumble and die;
Coming like tigers, like sheep they go flying,
Then come once again: the Bulgarians fighting
Like lions are running along the redoubt,
Neither heat, thirst nor toil are they worried about.
The onslaught is fierce, the rebuff no less stout.
For three days they fight but no help is arriving,
And no hope is visible on the horizon,
And no brother eagles come swiftly with aid.
No matter. They'll die, but die true, unafraid -
As died the brave Spartans who stood against Xerxes.
Fresh waves are now rolling up; all are alerted!
A last effort's needed: the moment is grave.
And then does Stoletov, our general brave,
Roar words of great courage: "Young volunteer fighters,
Now crown Bulgaria with laurels of triumph!
The Tsar has entrusted the pass, the whole war,
Himself even, unto these muscles, of yours!"
Thus heartened, our proud and heroic battalions
Courageously meet the next thrust of the rallying
Enemy hordes! O heroic time!
Fresh waves of assailants the cliffs now climb.
Our men have no bullets, with bravery girded,
Their bayonets broken, their breasts ever sturdy,
They're all to a man ready gladly to die
On the ridge which the whole of the world can descry,
To die here like heroes triumphant, victorious .
"The whole of Bulgaria watches, supports us,
The peak is a high one: if we run away,
She'll see us – so better to die here today!"
No weapons are left! What remains is the slaughter!
Each stone is a bomb and each tree-trunk a sword is.
Each object – a blow, and each soul – flame that sears.
From the peak every tree, every stone disappears.
"Grab hold of the bodies!" they hear a voice crying,
At once through the air lifeless corpses are flying,
And over the hordes like black devils they dive
And tumble and roll as if they were alive!
The Turks quake and tremble, not having seen ever
The living and death fight a battle together,
And raise a shrill cry of demoniac rage.
In life and death combat the armies engage.
Our heroes, there standing as steady as boulders,
Meet bayonet steel with steel breasts no less boldly,
And sing as they cast themselves into the fray
When they realize Death shall now snatch them away.
But still our young heroes rebuff, sink and swallow
The hordes that is wave upon wave swiftly follow.
The peak any minute shall ours be no more.
Then suddenly Radetzky arrives with a roar.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

And today, every time there's a storm in the mountain,
The summit recall this grim day and, recounting
The story, its echoing glory relays
From valley ti valley, from age unto age!
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