Most powerful military in history?

[Arms Longfellow]

Your ignoring the fact that the UN forces were over stretched at the time of the Chinese attack. They were in no way concentrated nor were they prepared for such an assualt while the Chinese came in in full strength and pretty much all at once.

So at begining of the Assault the Chinese did outnumber the troops it was attacking. Kind of like the battle of the Bulge.

And their tactics were pretty much to encircle fleeing pockets of enemy and then use human wave attacks to wipe them out. Nothing special.

Once they had regrouped and rallied, the US and UN forces stopped them dead in their tracks and the Chinese casualties were massive due to their human wave tactics.

Yeah, but the fact that the Chinese were able to launch that surprise attack is because they managed to move a huge amount of troops into North Korea completely undetected using extraordinary camouflage techniques. Also, they only attacked during the night to make the UN's air power null, and often infiltrated enemy lines to attack command posts. AND OTHER NEAT STUFF.

 

[Komandante]

FOR today of the USA, and tomorrow Russia!

 

[Komandante]

USA definently. I mean, the USSR lost in Afghanistan. Afghanistan!

The USSR has not lost for war in Afghanistan, it has simply disengaged the armies!

 

[Odin2006]

Rome during the 2nd centiry AD.

 

[Odin2006]

America did not lose to Vietnam, America lost to hippies; its pretty hard to lose a war fought on foreign soil when you have such a staggering resource advantage. Putting aside moral considerations, it would not have been terribly difficult to burn North Vietnam to the ground. Having to send soldiers into the jungles at night and fight VC guerillas only once they've already been ambushed was the difficult part.
Look at the Tet (sp?) Offensive. Militarily, it was a complete and utter failure for the Vietnamese on a Pickett's charge scale. But it angered enough hippies to be a problem for the US as well.

On another note:


Rome, Britain, American Colonies, Prussia, Germany. I'm pretty sure that if France had a win/loss ratio over 1.0, it would only be because of Napoleon, Charles the Hammer (or was he Burgundian?) and maybe a few others. Aside from a few booms, France got stomped on quite a bit...

We lost Vietnam because we sucked at geurilla warfare and because crushing the North Vietnamese outright would of risked war with China. Most people against the war were not the relatively small bunch of radicals the Right likes to blame.

 

[Xanikk999]

FOR today of the USA, and tomorrow Russia!

Russia? You must be joking.. There economy is in ruins and they have a very weak military now.

 

[cyrusIII85]

Parthian and Sassanid forces continually defeated Rome. I have no idea why people say that Rome had the best military when they were defeated by both the heavy cavalry, known as the cataphract, that existed under the Sassanids and the light armored arching cavalry under the Parthians. Ever heard of the Parthian shot??? If anything Persians under Khrosow I developed a far better army than the Romans could ever come up with.

 

[Sisonpyh]

We lost Vietnam because we sucked at geurilla warfare and because crushing the North Vietnamese outright would of risked war with China. Most people against the war were not the relatively small bunch of radicals the Right likes to blame.

Basically.

Also, America's 65,000 casualities compared to the 2,000,000 the other side lost. Yet they won the war!

 

[Komandante]

Russia? You must be joking.. There economy is in ruins and they have a very weak military now.

If we believe to western propaganda, then yes. Than is weak Russian army?

 

[Verbose]

If we believe to western propaganda, then yes. Than is weak Russian army?

If you intend to shoot for superpower status again you might want to do something about the present Russian demographics as well.

You need the financial and demographic strength for a come-back, and at present Russia doesn't have it.

You can depend on Russia's smaller neighbours not to make any rosy calculations about a lack of Russian military strength — and they are frankly entirely unconcerned right now.
That's good enough for me. If the Finns don't think Russia has Got It right now, then it doesn't.

Of course, what they really want is a big, happy Russia, feeling good about itself and full of democratic-minded people too busy making money and babies to have any truck with misguided ideas about empire.

That's the thing for Russia — to regain it's greatness within its present borders. Much better than trying to take over someone elses country.

 

[silver 2039]

If we believe to western propaganda, then yes. Than is weak Russian army?

The Russian Army has degenerated since 1991 in terms of firepower, dicipline, morale, technology, and numbers. The Russian military of today is a mere shadow of its former strength so don't delude yourself. If Russia can't crush a Checnyan insurgency even with strong arm tactics then it ain't going to be a superpower anytime soon.

 

[Gelion]

Silver as nationalistic as I am I think that no country can ever win an insurgency like that especially if it is supported from abroad (for reference see Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq). Russian army now focuses on two opposite tasks; global war and ensuring local stability. That is hard.

Good stuff Verbose!

 

[silver 2039]

Silver as nationalistic as I am I think that no country can ever win an insurgency like that especially if it is supported from abroad (for reference see Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq). Russian army now focuses on two opposite tasks; global war and ensuring local stability. That is hard.

Good stuff Verbose!

It is quite possible to win such an insurgency however you would have to use tactics considered "unacceptable" in the modern world. Such as large scale genocide, massive carpet bombing, large chemical gas attacks wiping out entire cities, firebombing of villages, usage of concentration camps and so on...
Of course the bleeding heart liberal society of today frowns on that. Twas not like this a before....

 

[Komandante]

The Russian Army has degenerated since 1991 in terms of firepower, dicipline, morale, technology, and numbers. The Russian military of today is a mere shadow of its former strength so don't delude yourself. If Russia can't crush a Checnyan insurgency even with strong arm tactics then it ain't going to be a superpower anytime soon.

WE war not against the people of Chechnya, but against the terrorists of partisans. 2300 people already lost THE USA in Iraq, and indeed you consider as the its most powerful power!
Ps: You from Russia?

 

[Hornblower]

I wouldn't count out the Russians from making a comeback. Considering that they are sitting on massive untapped mineral resources in Siberia I wouldn't be surprised if we see them invest heavily in exploration and exploitation of these resources. They have a willing customer for their energy stores in China but will need to defend against their growing Superpower customer. A powerful economy could rise from the ashes. With the power of the wealth we should then see a refurbished defence force. Of course this is all just a theory....

 

[Azash]

I voted Rome. They were uberleet - in their age. You can't make them less respectable because Einstein had not yet applied his theory of relativity.

 

[cyrusIII85]

I voted Rome. They were uberleet - in their age. You can't make them less respectable because Einstein had not yet applied his theory of relativity.

Well...that's interesting. However, the question arises, if relativity DIDN'T exist, how can you say they are "uberleet" with no comparison to a zero point .

And, once again, my posts are not noticed...epsecially on subject of Persians beating up other people...

 

[Favorius]

Most powerful military in pre-industrial age is I think the Mongols. None of their contemporaries were able to meet them at the battlefield. As for post-industrial age USSR used to be unmatched but they lost their lead. and today America is the most powerful but, they can taste the bitter defeat.

 

[GoldEagle]

I don't get France's Pre-1954 option. Their military strength declined WAY before then.

 

[gatomarado]

I think USA military wins in terms of technology and the economy.
China is power by the numbers and becoming everyday more technologicaly developed.
Russia is the sleeping bear, just don't mess with it.

BTW Portugal didn't had a great military and was internationaly isolated but fougth in 3 war fronts during colonial wars (60's & 70's) against guerrila forces suported by the US and USSR.

I think US soldiers (not all of them but some) are a litle bit stressed. I say this because in recent armed conflicts (like the 2nd Gulf War) there were a lot of friendly fire. I think everyone here can distinct an american armor or a truck from a soviet one.