Best army...ever!

MasterSun

Hookey wrote: »

Nah, the Spanish coined the phrase "Guerilla" in the Peninsular War, and the Boer War is widely recognised as the first modern guerilla war.

Guerilla warfare was first widely used during the American Independent war.
even in the very first battle--- Battle of Lexington

http://www.answers.com/topic/battle-of-lexington-american-and-british-accounts-26-april-1775


to come back to the question, i think the best army ever is the Chinese army today. their soldiers are multi-functional. one is trained to throw 20 hand-grenades at a time. haha, it's fecking deadly!!

Hookey

Duck's hoop wrote: »

Not even sure they mention it but I was aware of it alright, bit of an archery legend. 'We've still got our fingers and you French dogs are going to die'. Good psyche out.

Shame its not true though.

twinytwo

Hookey wrote: »

Shame its not true though.

True, Popular legend nothing more

Fratton Fred

twinytwo wrote: »

True, Popular legend nothing more

Since when did truth get in the way of a good urban legend!

Duck's hoop

I don't think we can say definitively that it never happened throughout the 100 years war. It may have happened in isolated incidents. Didn't the French cut the fingers off archers in the service of English crown? Maybe that's a legend also. If it's true then it seems reasonable that the digitally complete archers may brandish their fingers defiance.

Probably both propaganda driven however. Doesn't detract from the devastating efficiency of massed archers.

Hookey

Duck's hoop wrote: »

Didn't the French cut the fingers off archers in the service of English crown?

No, they didn't. Neither the French or the English took prisoners outside the nobility (for ransom). They wouldn't (couldn't, logistically) take men-at-arms prisoner, and if they could, it would only be for ransom, which would make mutilating them a little pointless. There are certainly no records of it from Crecy or Agincourt, and if it was that common that troops had a gesture for it, it would almost certainly be recorded somewhere. Most tellingly, the Americans believe the legend but apply it to the single-fingered gesture (the bird), seemingly unaware that the English gesture with two fingers...

DublinDes

IRISH RAIL wrote: »

Israel defense forces
Sinai Campaign
Six day war
And the counter attack in 73

when you look at the odds stacked against them it is remakable
also the forgotten fact that in 73 the sinai was the biggest tank battle since ww2 also the first ship to ship missile battle. some benchmarking there that was forgotton ( benchmarking for him testing lockheed against Ussr for others )

truly amazing military failuries in 73 from Elazar and a rogue Sharon to save the day which could start another thread about disobaying order to save the nation.

The Sinai Campaign - when Britain, France and Israel attacked Egypt ??

Duck's hoop

Duck's hoop wrote: »

It may have happened in isolated incidents. Didn't the French cut the fingers off archers in the service of English crown? Maybe that's a legend also. If it's true then it seems reasonable that the digitally complete archers may brandish their fingers defiance.

Probably both propaganda driven however.

I think I'm with more or less with you on this Hookey, but you'll find many 'venerable' historical sources (BBC) supporting the theory.

Hookey

DublinDes wrote: »

The Sinai Campaign - when Britain, France and Israel attacked Egypt ??

That was Suez - 1956.

DublinDes

Hookey wrote: »

That was Suez - 1956.

The Sinai Campaign was part of the Suez Crisis ( or the Invasion of Egypt as it should be called).


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

Locamon

Lots of candidates for this

Rommel's Afrikakorps has to be in the running just for the success with lack of resources.
Patton's third army for it's action in France and relief of Bastogne
Zhukov's First Red Army Group for their swift defeat of the Japanese keeping them out of Russia's war and effectively using blitzkreig for the first time.
Richard the Lionheart's beach assault with a hand full of crusaders to finally take Acre, pity about his follow up massacre.
Hannibal has been mentioned before.
Anything Napoleon's army did pre 1812.
Guderian's tank group for the invasion of France.
Petreus' surge in Iraq looks like it will make the military manuals.
Alexander the Great up there with the best of all military leaders.
So many candidates...

patnor1011

the best army in the world is H5N1 or any given flu virus... no doubt it can kill you silently...

Bosphorus

the records state that the french have the best army ratio of wins to losses...but thats because their pussys and never fight, vichey france

lazybhoy

IRISH RAIL wrote: »

Israel defense forces
Sinai Campaign
Six day war
And the counter attack in 73

when you look at the odds stacked against them it is remakable
also the forgotten fact that in 73 the sinai was the biggest tank battle since ww2 also the first ship to ship missile battle. some benchmarking there that was forgotton ( benchmarking for him testing lockheed against Ussr for others )

truly amazing military failuries in 73 from Elazar and a rogue Sharon to save the day which could start another thread about disobaying order to save the nation.

They had Armerican satallites and U2 spy planes telling them where the Egyptian armed formations were, also it was why they destroyed the Egyptian air force before it got of the ground.

neil_hosey

The Finnish Army were hard áss bástards durling WW2... was just looking at stats for the "Winter War" on wikipedia as i heard about it before:

Strenth:

Russia: 1,000,000 Finland: 250,000
Russia: 6500 tanks Finland: 30 tanks
Russia: 3880 aircraft Finland: 130 aircraft

Casualties/loses:

Russia: 126,000 dead Finland: 26000 dead
Russia: 250000 wounded Finland: 39000 wounded



LOL... the fins had quarter the amount of men and killed 4 times the amount of men. thats good going...

I know there were other factors in it but still...

iceage

The Finns, faced the inevitable Russian Armageddon with a grim optimism that must be alien to anyone who has not themselves lived through a desperate land war for their motherland. Of the upcoming casualties, they asked, "There are so many, and our country so small, where will we find room to bury them all?"

Now thats what you call being quietly confident.

Duck's hoop

neil_hosey wrote: »

LOL... the fins had quarter the amount of men and killed 4 times the amount of men. thats good going...

I know there were other factors in it but still...

Spoke to a few older Finnish people about that one time and they reckon the Russians just kept coming at the Finns, like sponging up the lead that was thrown at them. Apparently the Finns would have killed more only their barrels kept overheating.

theirishguy

for me it would have to be the samurai's they fought with honor and pride,
there dedication to there way of life and there dedication to the sword

diverdriver

The Finns have to be up there with the best. Let's looks the facts. They fought the Russians to a standstill in the Winter War although eventually overwhelmed. Then they joined in on the German side during the war, later rapidly changing sides to fight the Germans. Yet the Soviet Union, not only didn't occupy them the allowed them to continue as a western liberal democracy. It seems even old Joe Stalin knew how that they would be endless trouble if the Soviets tried to dominate them. Yes indeed the Finns are to be reckoned with.

Thirdfox

What about the Vietcong? Took on the US and won(ish)...bruised the Chinese army too. Not many countries can say that. Like the Finns, geography played its part I'm sure.