LightSpectra
me autem minui
Because I hate myself.
(one of my professors assigned works by E. A. Goerner on Thomism; the prompt was to identify a least three factual or logical errors per page).
They've been stock in trade for awhile. You can find them all over during the Peloponnesian War. The Athenian general Demosthenes was a particularly good night-fighter, and successfully conducted such attacks on the Spartan-allied Ambrakiotes in his famous Aitolian Campaign in 426 BC. During the siege of Syrakousai in 413 BC, Demosthenes led an army of Athenian reinforcements to try to restore the situation from Nikias' bungling, and settled on a night attack on the Syrakousan fortifications on the Epipolai. The Epipolai attack demonstrated how night attacks could go horribly wrong despite everything; the Athenians enjoyed great success at the beginning, but became disorganized and lost coordination; some Syrakousans were able to rally and counterattack, while some of the Athenian units lost their way and were chased over cliffs to their deaths. So you have the dilemma of a night attack: if it works, you can achieve a great deal of surprise over your opponents, potentially a decisive advantage; but keeping your army together and on track is heavily reliant on luck, and the slightest misstep can spell doom for the attacking force.Okay, I don't know a single thing about the history of night attacks. Were they generally successful? Were night watches an uncommon thing back in ye olden days, or were they common sense since Biblical times?
This kinda doesn't apply, but classical armies fighting the Jews enjoyed great success by attacking on the Sabbath, when Jewish soldiers were not under arms. More than one siege of Jerusalem was resolved this way (once by the Seleukids, and once by Pompey).flyingchicken said:Unrelated: was there any instance in history where a country in the middle of a war would have one of its forts near-completely abandoned in celebration of any kind?
Was there any real, concrete reason for the British to be worried about Denmark leading to the Battle of Copenhagen? Was the Danish fleet going to be used for nefarious purposes against Britain?
Nonexistent. In that year, Manouel I invaded Norman Apulia and captured Ancona, backed up by an alliance with the pope and with Friedrich I. It took Gugghiermu I until the next year to patch up his relationship with the papacy and to win a signal victory over the Byzantines at Brindisi.I'm going to repeat my last question in case it got lost. Does anyone know how relevant the Papal-Norman alliance was by 1155
Thanks a ton. Saved me a bunch of research to find out a vague notion turned out to be wrong.Nonexistent. In that year, Manouel I invaded Norman Apulia and captured Ancona, backed up by an alliance with the pope and with Friedrich I. It took Gugghiermu I until the next year to patch up his relationship with the papacy and to win a signal victory over the Byzantines at Brindisi.
If memory serves, Stalin made some disasterous mistakes early in the war when he insisted on having military command. Later, as the war went on, he shifted that responsibility to actualy military generals.