The strangest military tactics in history

1. Summon the cat god to fight the enemy

King Cambyses II of Persia "summoned the cat god" to help in his invasion of ancient Egypt.

Cambyses II understood that cats were animals with a very high status and were highly revered in Egyptian society at that time. Some families even embalm their cats after death - a ritual only for royal members or nobles to express their condolences.

Understanding this, King Cambyses II ordered his men to draw cats on the shields for the vanguard, tying hundreds of cats to the front of the shield to 'lead the way'.

Egyptian archers could not shoot arrows for fear of divine punishment, causing the Egyptian army to fall and the Pharaohs to be captured.

2. Drive stakes on the river to trap enemy boats

Ngo Quyen (898 - 944) was the man who led the people to defeat the Southern Han army in the famous Bach Dang battle in 938, officially ending more than a millennium of Chinese domination, opening a long period of Vietnamese independence. Male.

After this victory, he ascended the throne with the name Ngo Vuong - the first king of the Ngo dynasty in Vietnamese history. He reigned from 939 to 944.

In history, Ngo Quyen is famous for his strategy of driving stakes on the Bach Dang River to lure the Southern Han army into attacking in 938. He ordered his troops to drive stakes into the riverbed, with sharp iron ends at the ends so that when the tide rose, the pile site would be blocked. cover. When fighting, Ngo Quyen sent a number of small boats out to challenge and secretly arranged large boats to wait around the stakes.

The Southern Han army was lured by our army into the waiting stake-field battlefield. As a result, the Southern Han army lost and fled, the enemy general died along with more than half of his soldiers.

350 years later, this strategy of Ngo Quyen was once again recreated by Hung Dao Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan.

3. Ice trap on Lake Chudskoe​

Prince Aleksandr Yaroslavich Nevsky of Novgorod (1220 - 1263) was a famous general in Russian history.

On April 5, 1242, Teutonic knights led troops to attack Russia in a Northern Crusade. Nevsky lured the Teutonic knights to chase his army across the frozen lake. Although the ice was thick, it could not withstand the weight of the Crusader armored troops, so it broke, causing most of the Crusaders to fall into the lake. At that time, Nevsky's guerrillas rushed out to attack.

The victory of this battle played a very important role in Russian history, making Prince Nevsky a national hero.

4. Thiep Moc Nhi's 'fiery' camels

Camels possess good speed and especially have great endurance when fighting in the desert, being one of the best comrades of Mongolian soldiers in many harsh fronts.

Thiep Moc Nhi (1336 - 1405) - a 'notorious' emperor in West Asia who lived in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, was surrounded by more than 120 extremely fierce warriors in the war with the army. India in 1398 in Delhi.

Even though he was frightened, he still calmly ordered his men to load all their belongings onto the camels and began burning the camels' saddles, directing them to run towards the enemy, before withdrawing.

This scared the elephants of the Indian army and made them mad, trampling on the soldiers and destroying the formation.

This bold decision helped Thiep Moc Nhi and his army escape an attack that initially seemed like there was no way out.

Samuel Daniel

Update 14 July 2024