Great Military Battles in History

[jusplay4fun]

On December 13, 1862, in the American Civil War, at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats the Union Major General Ambrose E. Burnside.

Stafford and Spotsylvania, VA | Dec 11 - 15, 1862
With nearly 200,000 combatants—the greatest number of any Civil War engagement—Fredericksburg was one of the largest and deadliest battles of the Civil War. It featured the first opposed river crossing in American military history as well as the Civil War’s first instance of urban combat.

How it ended
Confederate victory. The Union Army of the Potomac suffered more than 12,500 casualties. Lee’s Confederate army counted approximately 6,000 losses. The Federals retreated, losing an opportunity to advance further into Confederate territory and capture the capital of Richmond.

In context
After failing to pursue Gen. Robert E. Lee’s army aggressively after the Battle of Antietam, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan was removed from command of the Army of the Potomac. His replacement, Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, feeling pressure from Washington to move quickly, developed a plan to beat Lee to the Confederate capital city of Richmond.

From his camps around Warrenton, Virginia, Burnside planned to abandon the army’s movement southwest in favor of a quick dash southeast toward the lower Rappahannock River. There, he would cross quickly and position himself between Lee and the direct route to Richmond. The plan had great promise, but, to accomplish it successfully, speed was essential.

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/fredericksburg

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat, between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Robert E. Lee, included futile frontal attacks by the Union army on December 13 against entrenched Confederate defenders along the Sunken Wall on the heights behind the city. It is remembered as one of the most one-sided battles of the war, with Union casualties more than twice as heavy as those suffered by the Confederates. A visitor to the battlefield described the battle as a "butchery" to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

Burnside's plan was to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg in mid-November and race to the Confederate capital of Richmond before Lee's army could stop him. Bureaucratic delays prevented Burnside from receiving the necessary pontoon bridges in time and Lee moved his army to block the crossings. When the Union army was finally able to build its bridges and cross under fire, direct combat within the city resulted on December 11–12. Union troops prepared to assault Confederate defensive positions south of the city and on a strongly fortified ridge just west of the city known as Marye's Heights.

On December 13, the Left Grand Division of Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin was able to pierce the first defensive line of Confederate Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson to the south, but was finally repulsed. Burnside ordered the Right and Center Grand Divisions of major generals Edwin V. Sumner and Joseph Hooker to launch multiple frontal assaults against Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's position on Marye's Heights – all were repulsed with heavy losses. On December 15, Burnside withdrew his army, ending another failed Union campaign in the Eastern Theater.

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

[jusplay4fun]

The Battle of Tricamarum took place on December 15, 533 between the armies of the Byzantine Empire, under Belisarius, and the Vandal Kingdom, commanded by King Gelimer, and his brother Tzazon. It followed the Byzantine victory at the Battle of Ad Decimum, and eliminated the power of the Vandals for good, completing the reconquest of North Africa under the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. The main contemporary source for the battle is Procopius, De Bello Vandalico, which occupies Books III and IV of his magisterial Wars of Justinian.

(...)

Battle
The two forces met at Tricamarum, some 50 km (30 mi) west of Carthage, and the Byzantine cavalry immediately charged the Vandal lines, reforming and attacking two more times. The Byzantine infantry then furiously attacked the Vandal infantry, and the Byzantines gained the advantage. During the third Byzantine cavalry charge Tzazon was killed within sight of Gelimer. As had happened at Ad Decimum, Gelimer lost heart. The Vandal lines began to retreat, and soon were in rout. Gelimer fled back into Numidia with what remained of his army, having lost 800 men.[2] Belisarius then marched on the city of Hippo Regius, which opened its gates to him.

Aftermath
Gelimer realized that his kingdom was lost, and attempted to flee to Spain where some Vandals still remained, not having followed the main forces when they crossed into North Africa years earlier. However, the Byzantines heard of his plans and intercepted him. He was forced to abandon his belongings and take refuge in the mountains of Tunis with the Berbers. The next year he was found and surrounded by Roman forces led by Pharas the Herulian. At first he refused to surrender, even after promises of being allowed to rule. After a particularly nasty winter, he eventually gave up and surrendered to Belisarius. The Vandal Kingdom ended, and their provinces in Sardinia, Corsica, and the Balearic Islands came under the control of Justinian.

Importance
Paul K. Davis writes, "With this victory, the Byzantines regained control of North Africa for the Eastern Roman Empire. This position became a springboard for the Byzantine invasion of Italy, and that invasion reincorporated, temporarily, the Eastern and Western Roman Empire."[3]

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

[jimboston]

Your skillz at utilizing the copy/paste function are impressive.

[jusplay4fun]

Your skillz at utilizing the copy/paste function are impressive.

If I fail to post something, your life that day would be totally devoid of meaning and purpose.

I am merely trying here in this thread to enlighten those who want to learn more about these battles. You are OBVIOUSLY NOT one so inclined to be enlightened. Go back to another thread to insult others, jimb.

For the rest of you, you can read the posts by the Prime Minister of Insult and Trolling, the dishonorable jimb, or read a FEW below. BTW: I did increase the font size on a few for emphasis.

https://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=238323

Re: Disciplinary Measures
Postby jimboston on Thu Aug 18, 2022 3:22 pm

f*ck you all.

Re: Disciplinary Measures
Postby jimboston on Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:26 pm

Nothing.

TeeGee can suck my cock!

User avatar

Sergeant 1st Class jimboston

Posts: 4354

and, to clarify the above quote:

Username:jimboston
Rank:Sergeant 1st Class Sergeant 1st Class
Score:1542 (Range: 835-1938)

Disciplinary Measures
Postby jimboston on Sun Aug 07, 2022 7:01 pm

Disciplinary Measures
Sent: Sun Aug 07, 2022 6:57 pm
From: TeeGee
To: jimboston

Hello jimboston,

You have received a formal disciplinary warning.

Issued by: TeeGee

Comment:

hi jusplay4fun and jimboston
You are BOTH receiving and official WARNING for trolling each other in the CC forums. If either one of you continues from this point, I will start issuing forum bans. We have been very tolerant of your behaviors up to this point. I would suggest you foe each other,

Regards,
The Conquer Club


i was wondering how long it would take… I started attacking him like a month ago assuming I’d get a ban within the week.

Re: Disciplinary Measures
Postby jimboston on Mon Aug 08, 2022 8:42 am

2dimes wrote:
You're not in the good old days when they would have banned you after the second insult.

Twill would have wrote:
Take it to flame wars.


Was that a PM or e-mail?


I just replied to his message…I guess a PM.

I’ve been being an ass (or more of an ass than normal) trying to elicit a ban… what does a guy gotta do?

Hey… go f*ck off!

That a start?

How about more?

Re: Boris J
Postby jimboston on Wed Jul 06, 2022 8:28 pm

jonesthecurl wrote:
jimboston wrote:
Why would US media cover some unimportant scandal in a 3rd rate backwards meaningless country.


Why would they spend all day talking about a mere 7 extra gun deaths?


Psssttt… You know I love you man, and this response was just an attempt to Troll JP4 and BTR.

Don’t tell anyone. BTR didn’t fall for it, I’m kinda disappointed.

https://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=238189

[jimboston]

What’s your point?

I don’t follow.

[jusplay4fun]

What’s your point?

I don’t follow.

Try reading again; your comprehension is certainly lacking.

[jusplay4fun]

The Battle of the Bulge

In late 1944, during the wake of the Allied forces' successful D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, it seemed as if the Second World War was all but over. On Dec. 16, with the onset of winter, the German army launched a counteroffensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Hitler's favor. The battle that ensued is known historically as the Battle of the Bulge. The courage and fortitude of the American Soldier was tested against great adversity. Nevertheless, the quality of his response ultimately meant the victory of freedom over tyranny.

OVERVIEW
victory of
FREEDOM
over tyranny

Early on the misty winter morning of Dec. 16, 1944, more than 200,000 German troops and nearly 1,000 tanks launched Adolf Hitler's last bid to reverse the ebb in his fortunes that had begun when Allied troops landed in France on D-Day. Seeking to drive to the coast of the English Channel and split the Allied armies as they had done in May 1940, the Germans struck in the Ardennes Forest, a 75-mile stretch of the front characterized by dense woods and few roads, held by four inexperienced and battle-worn American divisions stationed there for rest and seasoning.

After a day of hard fighting, the Germans broke through the American front, surrounding most of an infantry division, seizing key crossroads, and advancing their spearheads toward the Meuse River, creating the projection that gave the battle its name.

Stories spread of the massacre of Soldiers and civilians at Malmedy and Stavelot, of paratroopers dropping behind the lines, and of English-speaking German soldiers, disguised as Americans, capturing critical bridges, cutting communications lines, and spreading rumors. For those who had lived through 1940, the picture was all too familiar. Belgian townspeople put away their Allied flags and brought out their swastikas. Police in Paris enforced an all-night curfew. British veterans waited nervously to see how the Americans would react to a full-scale German offensive, and British generals quietly acted to safeguard the Meuse River's crossings. Even American civilians, who had thought final victory was near were sobered by the Nazi onslaught.

But this was not 1940. The supreme Allied commander, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower rushed reinforcements to hold the shoulders of the German penetration. Within days, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. had turned his Third U.S. Army to the north and was counterattacking against the German flank. But the story of the Battle of the Bulge is above all the story of American Soldiers. Often isolated and unaware of the overall picture, they did their part to slow the Nazi advance, whether by delaying armored spearheads with obstinate defenses of vital crossroads, moving or burning critical gasoline stocks to keep them from the fuel-hungry German tanks, or coming up with questions on arcane Americana to stump possible Nazi infiltrators.

At the critical road junctions of St. Vith and Bastogne, American tankers and paratroopers fought off repeated attacks, and when the acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne was summoned by his German adversary to surrender, he simply responded, "Nuts!"

Within days, Patton's Third Army had relieved Bastogne, and to the north, the 2nd U.S. Armored Division stopped enemy tanks short of the Meuse River on Christmas. Through January, American troops, often wading through deep snow drifts, attacked the sides of the shrinking bulge until they had restored the front and set the stage for the final drive to victory.

Never again would Hitler be able to launch an offensive in the west on such a scale. An admiring British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill stated, "This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory." Indeed, in terms of participation and losses, the Battle of the Bulge is arguably the greatest battle in American military history.

Courtesy of the U.S. Army Center of Military History

[url]https://www.army.mil/botb/[/url]

I made my source and its URL so large that even jimbo can see it without his glasses.

[jusplay4fun]

The Battle of Marion (December 17–18, 1864)[3] was a military engagement fought between units of the Union Army and the Confederate Army during the American Civil War near the town of Marion, Virginia. The battle was part of Union Maj. Gen. George Stoneman's attack upon southwest Virginia, aimed at destroying Confederate industrial infrastructure near Saltville and Marion. Union Cavalry and Infantry regiments—some 4,500 soldiers in total—left Tennessee on December 17 for southwestern Virginia.[4]

Through two days of fighting, a Confederate force under the command of John C. Breckinridge—totalling 1,200–1,500 infantry and cavalry—was successful in holding defensive positions in and around the town of Marion.[5][6] On the first day, successive Union attacks were defeated by a well-coordinated Confederate defenses near a covered bridge outside of Marion.[6] By the end of the second day, dwindling ammunition supplies forced Confederate forces to withdraw from the area. With casualties for both sides approaching 300,[7] Union forces proceeded to destroy the salt mines, lead works, and other beneficial Confederate infrastructure in Marion and Saltville.[8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marion#Battle

[jusplay4fun]

Battle of Caporetto, also called 12th Battle of the Isonzo, (October 24–December 19, 1917), Italian military disaster during World War I in which Italian troops retreated before an Austro-German offensive on the Isonzo front in northeastern Italy, where the Italian and Austrian forces had been stalemated for two and a half years. In the wake of the successful Austrian and German advance, more than 600,000 war-weary and demoralized Italian soldiers either deserted or surrendered.

(...)

At the beginning of December 1917, the British and the French, who had been waiting in reserve in case of a fresh breakthrough, moved forward to take over vulnerable sectors, but the attack was renewed only in the north, and on December 19 it came to an end with the snows. Caporetto seriously damaged Italy but also purged the country, bringing about a change in military command and the formation of a new ministry, which reorganized the condition of the home front. The Central Powers’ victory was correspondingly ephemeral, because the attack lacked a strategic context.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Caporetto

also on this date:

Old Fort Niagara Captured
In the final hours of December 18, 1813, approximately midway through the War of 1812, some 500 British soldiers (regulars) as well as some 500 militia and Indians—crossed the Niagara River from Canada determined to seize Old Fort Niagara on the opposite shore in New York. By sunrise on December 19, the British were victorious and America’s Niagara frontier lay open to attack.

https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/december-19/

and

75 Years Ago—Dec. 19, 1944: In the Battle of the Bulge, US 101st Airborne Division arrives in Bastogne, Belgium to protect the crucial crossroads.

Germans capture two regiments (7000 men) of US 106th Infantry Division on Schnee Eifel, including writer Kurt Vonnegut, the largest US mass surrender of the war except at Bataan.

So, overall, not a great day for the American military. But we won WW2 and did okay in the War of 1812.

[jusplay4fun]

Relevant; Today in History, December 21:

1944 – On Leyte, advances by US 10th Corps and US 24th Corps link up in the center of the Ormoc Valley. Isolated Japanese forces continue to resist in the area.

1944 – US B-29 Superfortress bombers attacked Mukden in Manchuria.

1945 – General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. 3rd Army, dies from injuries suffered not in battle but in a freak car accident. He was 60 years old. Descended from a long line of military men, Patton graduated from the West Point Military Academy in 1909. He represented the United States in the 1912 Olympics-as the first American participant in the pentathlon. He did not win a medal. He went on to serve in the Tank Corps during World War I, an experience that made Patton a dedicated proponent of tank warfare. During World War II, as commander of the U.S. 7th Army, he captured Palermo, Sicily, in 1943 by just such means. Patton’s audacity became evident in 1944, when, during the Battle of the Bulge, he employed an unorthodox strategy that involved a 90-degree pivoting move of his 3rd Army forces, enabling him to speedily relieve the besieged Allied defenders of Bastogne, Belgium. Along the way, Patton’s mouth proved as dangerous to his career as the Germans. When he berated and slapped a hospitalized soldier diagnosed with “shell shock,” but whom Patton accused of “malingering,” the press turned on him, and pressure was applied to cut him down to size. He might have found himself enjoying early retirement had not General Dwight Eisenhower and General George Marshall intervened on his behalf. After several months of inactivity, he was put back to work. And work he did-at the Battle of the Bulge, during which Patton once again succeeded in employing a complex and quick-witted strategy, turning the German thrust into Bastogne into an Allied counterthrust, driving the Germans east across the Rhine. In March 1945, Patton’s army swept through southern Germany into Czechoslovakia-which he was stopped from capturing by the Allies, out of respect for the Soviets’ postwar political plans for Eastern Europe. Patton had many gifts, but diplomacy was not one of them. After the war, while stationed in Germany, he criticized the process of denazification, the removal of former Nazi Party members from positions of political, administrative, and governmental power. His impolitic press statements questioning the policy caused Eisenhower to remove him as U.S. commander in Bavaria. He was transferred to the 15th Army Group, but in December of 1945 he suffered a broken neck in a car accident and died less than two weeks later.

1948 – Seishiro Itagaki, Japanese General and minister of War, was hanged.

[jimboston]

Ding ding… 5 unanswered posts.

With JP4 it’s not “in before double post” it’s “in before quintuple post”.

[jusplay4fun]

Ding ding… 5 unanswered posts.

With JP4 it’s not “in before double post” it’s “in before quintuple post”.

jimbo is too dumb to realize that I am currently doing DAILY posts on battles for the dates in question. GO find a better argument.

SAD and PATHETIC. Find something else TO WHINE about, Jimbo Scrooge.

[jusplay4fun]

NUTS..!!

This story retraces the events of December 22nd, 1944 at Bastogne, Belgium; the day we received German surrender ultimatum and issued the subsequent "Nuts!" reply.

The story of the NUTS! reply
By Kenneth J. McAuliffe, Jr.
December 8, 2013

On December 22, 1944, at about 11:30 in the morning, a group of four German soldiers, waving two white flags, approached the American lines using the Arlon Road from the direction of Remoifosse, south of Bastogne.

(...)
The Americans defending in that location were members of F Company of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

https://www.army.mil/article/92856/the_story_of_the_nuts_reply

[jimboston]

Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt the discussion you were having with yourself.

[jusplay4fun]

Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt the discussion you were having with yourself.

You're NUTS.

[jusplay4fun]

On this date:

1476 400 Burgundian soldiers freeze to death during siege of Nancy

https://www.onthisday.com/events/december/24

Nancy was quite the attraction, right?


from another source:

1979 - Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan in support of the country's Marxist government.

also:

1814 - The War of 1812 between the U.S. and Britain was ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium.

1865 - Several veterans of the Confederate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, TN, called the Ku Klux Klan.

1914 - In World War I, the first air raid on Britain was made when a German airplane dropped a bomb on the grounds of a rectory in Dover.

1943 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt appointed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces as part of Operation Overlord.

1944 - A German submarine torpedoed the Belgian transport ship S.S. Leopoldville with 2,235 soldiers aboard. About 800 American soldiers died. The soldiers were crossing the English Channel to be reinforcements at the battle that become known as the Battle of the Bulge.

and, on a more Pleasant Note:

1818 - Franz Gruber of Oberndorf, Germany composed the music for "Silent Night" to words written by Josef Mohr.

https://www.on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/dec24.htm

[jusplay4fun]

5 big military moments that took place on Christmas Day

1776 — George Washington crosses the Delaware River

In 1776, Washington led his troops across a 300-yard stretch of the Delaware River in the dead of night between December 25 and 26.

The surprise move would put Washington's men a 19-mile march away from a garrison of Hessians — German mercenaries hired by the British to help them retain a hold on the rebelling colonies — that the Continental Army took completely by surprise.

The Hessians' quick surrender at the Battle of Trenton, just 90 minutes into the fight against Washington's 2,400 soldiers, would be the first of two rebel victories in New Jersey, the other being the Battle of Princeton a week later, as the Continental Army regained control of the colony.

This effectively reversed the British drive that had pushed the rebels across the state in the previous months. The daring crossing of the Delaware ended up being one of the turning points of the Revolutionary War.

1914 — German, British, and French soldiers make temporary peace to celebrate Christmas together

1941 — Japan seizes control of Hong Kong at the expense of the United Kingdom

1941 — News breaks that Admiral Émile Muselier captured Saint Pierre and Miquelon, an archipelago near Canada, for the Free French Forces

1868 — US President Andrew Johnson pardons former Confederate soldiers

https://www.businessinsider.com/christmas-day-military-battles-2017-12

[jusplay4fun]

Historic map of The Battle of Trenton

The Battle of Trenton took place on December 26, 1776, after British forces captured New York City and George Washington’s Patriot army retreated to Pennsylvania. In a daring surprise attack, Washington crossed the Delaware River on Christmas, and surprised German mercenaries garrisoning Trenton, New Jersey in support of the British. The one-sided victory restored the patriots’ flagging morale, and provided Washington with captured supplies.

Sketch of the engagement at Trenton, given on the 26th of December 1776 betwixt the American troops under command of General Washington, and three Hessian regiments under command of Colonell Rall, in which the latter a part surrendert themselves prisoner of war.

Wiederholdt, Andreas, 1752?-

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/maps/trenton-december-26-1776#:~:text=The%20Battle%20of%20Trenton%20took,Patriot%20army%20retreated%20to%20Pennsylvania.

[jusplay4fun]

January 3, 1777 - During the American Revolution, General George Washington defeated the British at Princeton and drove them back toward New Brunswick. Washington then established winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey. During the long harsh winter, Washington's army shrank to about a thousand men as enlistments expired and deserters fled.

https://www.historyplace.com/specials/calendar/january.htm

The Battle of Cockpit Point, the Battle of Freestone Point, or the Battle of Shipping Point, took place on January 3, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the blockade of the Potomac River during the American Civil War.

After victory at First Battle of Bull Run, the Confederate States Army (CSA) established a defensive line from Centreville along the Occoquan River to the Potomac River. The Confederates used the Potomac’s banks as gun positions to halt Union traffic on the river, protecting Manassas Junction to the west and Fredericksburg to the south and to close the Potomac River to shipping and isolate Washington.

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

[jusplay4fun]

What Happened on June 2

455 King Gaiseric and the Vandals sack Rome - Rome looted for 14 days

https://www.onthisday.com/day/june/2

In a surprise move on Oct. 19, 439, Gaiseric captured Carthage, thus throwing off Roman overlordship and striking a devastating blow at imperial power. In a 442 treaty with Rome the Vandals were recognized as the masters of proconsular Africa, Byzacena, and part of Numidia. Gaiseric’s fleet soon came to control much of the western Mediterranean, and he annexed the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily.

His most famous exploit, however, was the capture and plundering of Rome, June 455. Subsequently the King defeated two major efforts of the Romans to overthrow him, that of the emperor Majorian in 460 and that led by Basiliscus in 468. He was succeeded by his son Huneric.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gaiseric

[jusplay4fun]

Battle of Nicopolis

The Battle of Nicopolis took place on 25 September 1396 and resulted in the rout of an allied crusader army of Hungarian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, French, Burgundian, German, and assorted troops (assisted by the Venetian navy) at the hands of an Ottoman force, raising the siege of the Danubian fortress of Nicopolis and leading to the end of the Second Bulgarian Empire. It is often referred to as the Crusade of Nicopolis as it was one of the last large-scale Crusades of the Middle Ages, together with the Crusade of Varna in 1443–1444. By their victory at Nicopolis, the Turks discouraged the formation of future European coalitions against them. They maintained their pressure on Constantinople, tightened their control over the Balkans, and became a greater threat to central Europe.[17]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nicopolis#Aftermath

[jusplay4fun]

The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states arranged by Pope Pius V (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta), inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of the Ottoman Empire in the Gulf of Patras. The Ottoman forces were sailing westward from their naval station in Lepanto (the Venetian name of ancient Naupactus – Greek Ναύπακτος, Turkish İnebahtı) when they met the fleet of the Holy League which was sailing east from Messina, Sicily.

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

[jusplay4fun]

Brrrrrrrrrrrtt

From Popular Mechanics:

A single Apache can carry up to 16 Hellfire missiles, each of which has about an 90 percent kill probability against a typical tank.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a43700635/how-to-kill-tanks/

The link is only for members, but supports my point.

I hope ConfedSS is happy. Did I add enough emojis?

[Lonous]

WW2 battle of Malay & Singapore -Largest surrender in British history

While 07 December 1941 brought war to the Americans at Pearl Harbor, that was only an attack to neutralize the U.S. fleet so they would not be able to intervene in Japan's upcoming invasions elsewhere.

08 December 1941, those invasions began in a massive scale over a large front. In the center of Japan's targeting sights was the city of Singapore.
A British possession that was dubbed 'The Gibraltar of the East', it was a very strategic point that controlled sea lanes and trade route for 500 miles in each direction.
The Brits also believed that the thick jungle made the area impossible for a modern army to maneuver, akin to the Ardennes forest in Europe protecting France.
The British believed that when fully garrisoned and with their navy present, that Singapore was unconquerable.

The Brits manned it with 85,000 men, the East Indies fleet, and a token wing of 2 dozen aircraft.

The Japanese
When planning for these invasions, group commander Count Hisaichi Terauchi was offered a 4th division for the campaign.
He declined, and said that 3 army divisions would be sufficient, giving him roughly 35,000 men.
He also had Japan's 2nd fleet at his command, with their 1st fleet being at Pearl Harbor
and Japan massively outnumbered the brits in the air with several hundred fighter bombers available at the beginning of the invasion, and several hundred more that eventually joined the campaign.

The secret weapon of the Japanese
The machine of war that allowed the Japanese to conquer southeast Asia?
The bicycle
Pre-invasion reconnaissance by the Japs had show that the peasants of the area relied on tens of thousands of bicycles for travel.
He calculated this into his strategic planning, and when they landed for the invasion he tasked entire units to searching civilian homes and confiscating all bicycles.
He soon had his improvising bonzai troops peddling like mad and outmaneuvering the British infantry.

The Brits did their best attempt at a fighting retreat, trying to travel down the Malay peninsula to get to the city of Singapore and entrench themselves into siege mode, but the Japanese movement speed and constant engagements costs the Brits tens of thousands of the casualties/pows.

After the Japs took the peninsula, they took a bit of time to regroup and prepare for the D-day type assault Singapore itself, but that came soon enough, with their air power kicking the Brits hard with repeated crotch shots to the british navy, air power, and fortified defenses.

For the attack on Singapore itself, the Japanese had used a rough version of 'shock and awe', and were actually running low on munitions. Rather than pause the attack for a week to get resupplied which would have allowed the brits a chance to recover and regroup, Japanese commander Hisaichi Terauchi used the moment to negotiate with the Brits, "giving them the chance to save themselves from annihilation by agreeing to an unconditional surrender".

It worked, and British Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival surrendered.

Trying to get this frigging site to accept these image links is painful.
>.<
https://cilisos.my/wp-content/uploads/2 ... -bikes.jpg
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... en-Lin.jpg

[jusplay4fun]

A bit early, as this battle was in late April, BUT:

Battle of the Imjin River
Fought during the Korean War (1950-53), the Battle of the Imjin (22-25 April 1951) was the bloodiest engagement endured by the British Army since the Second World War. For three days, the 29th British Independent Infantry Brigade Group thwarted the Chinese Spring Offensive.

https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/battle-imjin