Dirtiest Tricks Used in War

the dirtiest tricks pulled in more a common military Maxim states that the best fight is an unfair one those on the battlefield will do everything in their power to gain an advantage over their adversaries sometimes stooping to what can only be considered dirty tricks in order to stack the odds in their favor these are a few of the dirtiest most underhanded tactics ever pulled in war project eldest Sun 1967-69 the Vietnam war is well known for its dirty fighting particularly the use of booby traps by the Viet Cong and NVA forces against their more ponderous American and Allied Forces punji pits tripwires and other traps were employed in great numbers becoming a defining characteristic of the conflict it turns out that the Americans were also willing to use underhanded tactics to weave in the odds years members of the Maccabee SOG had operated in Vietnam conducting covert operations Behind Enemy Lines part of their mission was to sabotage enemy ammunition and Supply caches but these had limited success as any explosive used to detonate ammo dumps would often scatter the rounds rather than destroy them and the SAG teams were too small to carry them away pondering this situation in 1967 Colonel John singlaub came up with an unconventional solution the former OSS operative suggested that instead of destroying or capturing the found ammunition they sabotaged the supplies he was allegedly inspired by a similar plan carried out by the British during the waziristan Revolt in the 1930s designated as project eldest son the plan involved the planting of sabotaged rounds into the VC and NVA storage depots the majority of the rounds would be 7.62 millimeter for use in the ubiquitous AK-47 in use by the gorillas their powder charge would be replaced by a much more potent explosive that increased the chamber pressure from 45 000 PSI to well over 250 000 far too high for an AK to handle causing catastrophic failure this was also done with the 12.7 millimeter rounds for use in heavy machine guns as well as mortar rounds in all around 12 000 of these cartridges were made as well as a reported 2000 sabotage mortar shells went on their infiltration missions The Operators would leave the tainted rounds sometimes in ammo caches and sometimes leaving the rounds on the bodies of gorillas hoping they would be recovered they had to make sure they planted the rounds sparingly with no more than a single round per magazine anymore and there would be a risk that the faulty ammunition would be discovered rendering the operation invalid at the same time rumors were spread of defects in chinese-made weapons and ammunition documents that were made to resemble official reports made mention of weapon failures due to poor manufacturing processes and the Armed Forces Radio which was monitored by North Vietnamese forces issued bulletins urging Americans not to use captured weapons as their shoddy quality could lead to catastrophic failures which only added to the confusion goal of the project was not to necessarily kill or wound but to undermine the relationship between the Vietnamese and their Chinese and other Eastern Bloc allies the fake reports and radio broadcast emphasized the quote poor Metallurgy unquote of communist weapons in 1969 the operation fell into the hands of the press who leaked the story undermining the effectiveness of the project it was renamed project Italian green and then project beam poll but was eventually abandoned it is unknown how many rounds ended up in VC and NVA hands or what kind of damage it caused though there were reports of the confidence of Vietnamese forces being undermined and the relationship between them and their Chinese suppliers strained decades later rumors have surfaced of pro-assad forces in Syria using the same tactic against Rebels planting the faulty rounds in illegal arms markets these may have been inspired by U.S forces repeating project eldest sun in Afghanistan against the Taliban and their supporters Britain's invasion of Tibet 1903 by the turn of the 20th century Britain had been engaged in what was known as the great game with Russia he each side vying for Supremacy in Central Asia Britain was firmly in control of India and was seeking to expand its influence the Viceroy of India George Nathaniel Curzon sought to foster a closer relationship with the neighboring nation of Tibet which was a Chinese protectorate at the time that would provide a buffer zone against foreign encroachment on Britain's most important colony instead of finding welcome in the poor Nation to the east however karzan heard of rumors of Tibet working with the Russian government these rumors only confirmed cruzan's greatest fear that India was vulnerable to a Russian invasion through Tibet though military advisers said bringing a sizable Army through the Himalayas was nigh on Impossible there was still fear that if the Dalai Lama the leader of Tibet forged an alliance with Russia Britain's foothold and India could be threatened though technically a Chinese protectorate this hold was very weak and for all practical purposes Tibet was treated as an independent country in 1903 a military force was assembled and placed under the command of General Francis young husband which consisted of around 3 000 men including British soldiers Indian troops as well as a sizable contingent of gurkhas and Sikhs under British command there were also two Maxim machine guns and four artillery pieces in this force all of which were state of the art for the era all that was needed was an excuse to invade this came when rumors circulated of Tibetan troops crossing the border into Nepal which was a neutral Nation but a de facto British protectorate in reality this incursion was probably a group of Shepherds that had become lost but it was enough to justify a response with this flimsy excuse young husband invaded Tibet with curzon's support in December 1903 the Expedition set out before wintering in the mountains near established Supply bases in March 1904 they set out again in Earnest and ran into their first major obstacle on March 31st the Tibetans had blockaded the mountain pass near the village of Guru and refused to allow the British Force to pass the three thousand strong Tibetan force was armed with primitive weapons including swords clubs and matchlock muskets weapons that were more at home on 17th century battlefields events are unclear as to what exactly happened but some accounts state that the British leadership convinced the Tibetans to douse the lit match courts which were vital for the operation of the pieces while the British would also unload their rifles and machine guns as a sign of Goodwill during negotiations when this happened young husband ordered his men to open fire and were able to do so quickly as they possessed modern bolt-action rifles on the Tibetan match locks were rendered inoperable there is some controversy as to whether the Tibetans were disarmed in this manner but either way the resulting engagement was little more than a massacre in what would later be known as the massacre of tumikshenko around 700 Tibetans were killed while the British Force suffered 12 wounded the entire incident occurred within four minutes much of the rest of the conflict went the same way with young husband and his Force easily overmatching the woefully outclass Tibetans within six months Tibet was forced to sign a humiliating treaty paying an Indemnity and seeding a portion of land into British control operation grief 1944. by December 1944 Nazi Germany was faltering with Soviet armies pushing steadily from the East and the Western allies making significant Headway after the successful Landings at Normandy in this desperate situation Adolf Hitler and German High command Drew up plans for a counter-offensive through the Ardennes forest in Belgium with the ultimate goal of the vital port and Logistics Center of Antwerp in order to stack the odds of the operation further in Germany's favor Hitler turned to SS obashtamban fuhrer Otto scores Ana to lead an operation behind the Western allies lines scorcity was no stranger to these types of missions having led a daring raid to rescue Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity and was given his orders by Hitler personally as early as October 1944 plans were formulated for operation grief one of the objectives for scorsing and his men was to seize at least one important bridge over the Muse River but the main objective was to sow confusion among American forces in the weeks leading up to the Ardennes offensive scorzeny recruited large numbers of English-speaking German soldiers who would be organized into the 150th Panzer Brigade though he received about 2500 such men only about 400 could speak passable English and only about a dozen could speak it fluently these men were sent to a six-week training program where they learned as many americanisms as possible they watched American newsreels and practice speaking with American accents and were taught American slang all communication was done in English they also learned other behaviors such as how to hold a knife and fork the American way to tap cigarette packs like gi's and other nuances of American behavior in addition the force was equipped with uniforms taken from American pows and they drove captured American vehicles their main objective would be to blend in Behind Enemy Lines and so as much confusion as possible before the offensive hopefully making the operation more successful that was the hope in reality many of the men still retained their German accents causing scorsonate to lament that quote they could certainly never do but American not even a deaf one end quote many of the uniforms still had blood stains from the previous owners or had pow markings on them many wore British or Russian clothing as there were too few American uniforms available they did manage to acquire some jeeps and trucks but only one Sherman tank with the Germans being forced to use their own Vehicles disguised as an American one in spite of these limitations operation grief began the wider Arden's offensive caught the Allies off guard and German forces penetrated deep into Enemy Lines allowing some of the Commandos to infiltrate American positions once there they committed acts of sabotage delivered false orders and changed road signs which resulted in at least one regiment getting lost adding to the confusion was a rumor that these Commandos would attempt to capture or kill General Eisenhower which hindered his and other high-level Commander's ability to respond to the unfolding crisis the actual numbers of Commandos were few and their effect limited but rumors soon blew their actual Effectiveness utter proportion in this chaotic environment already bewildered American forces became paranoid that German infiltrators were everywhere to combat this hidden threat checkpoints were established and those stopped there would be asked questions that only Americans would know such as the state capitals celebrities and other pop culture facts one American General Bruce Clark was detained for half an hour after he failed to give the appropriate answer about the Chicago Cubs in spite of this confusion operation grief as well as the rest of the Ardennes offensive was a dismal failure most of the Commandos of the 150th panzerberg game were withdrawn and attached to a conventional unit by January the German forces were thrown back and the end of the war became an inevitability Battle of the marshes 1984. in 1984 the bloody Iran Iraq war had been raging for four years with both sides suffering tremendous losses eager to break the stalemate the Iranian military launched an offensive directed at the Hawaii's a marsh and majnoon Island located in Southeastern Iraq dubbed operation K Bar on February 15th Iranian forces began a concentrated push against Iraqi forces using speed boats to move rapidly through the flooded terrain one of their main objectives was much noon Island a patch of dry land in the swampland with a bit of prophetic foreshadowing much noon is the Arabic word for crazy or Madness the Iraqis unable to use their vast quantities of tanks in the Marshland were stretched to the breaking point their positions only held due to an extensive defense in-depth system that held the Iranians in place as well as the repeated use of chemical weapons this was not the only tactic at their disposal Mar Feynman a journalist covering the conflict spoke to an Iraqi officer about their plans to hold this important territory the officer proudly showed him and other members of the press a network of electrical cables that snaked from Iraqi positions to the water in the marshlands and the huge generators that powered them you wait until night time and you will see how we are killing these Iranian dogs he said proudly to the journalist we are frying them like eggplants that night Feynman witnessed one of the Iranian assaults in response the Iraqis fired artillery at the approaching boats forcing the Iranians to LEAP from their vessels into the chest deep water once they were waiting through the Marshland an order was given and the generators were powered up sending electricity coursing through the water into the Iranian soldiers in seconds hundreds were electrocuted killed instantly by the high voltage Powers surging through their bodies the next day the bodies would be gathered and stacked into piles and broadcast on Iraqi State television there was at least one report that the bodies were also stacked as makeshift roads piled together to allow tanks and other heavy Vehicles passage over the Soggy terrain though this is difficult to confirm when the fighting had finished the Iranian forces had captured the Hawaii's marshes though a drive towards Basra was repulsed overall the operation was seen as a pyrrhic victory for Iran who suffered major losses during the operation the Battle of pilosium 525 BC even commanders in the ancient world are no stranger to the use of dirty tactics in order to win in 525 BC after a series of diplomatic Ventures the Persian Emperor can buy Seas II invaded the ancient land of Egypt where the two armies clashed for Supremacy at this point Persia was a rising power ever expanding into territory and influence in contrast Egypt's Glory Days were well behind them and could do little to withstand The Invasion he historians doubt the validity of the following story but at the Battle of Coliseum it's alleged that cambisi stacked the odds in his favor even further by the use of a strange form of Hostage taking the ancient Egyptians believed in the sacred nature of all life and though they did eat meat it made up a very small portion of their daily diet they would keep numerous animals as household pets which were treated with a high degree of reverence in particular cats were seen as sacred being the manifestation of the goddess bastet bastet or sometimes Bast was depicted in iconography as a woman with a cat's head and was the goddess of fertility childbirth the home and protection of the family and was popular among both men and women cats must that sacred animal would be treated as part of the family and their death would lead to mourning among the household and would even be mummified in the event of a house fire all efforts would be made to save the animals even if it means allowing the Flames to spread unchecked so strong was the belief in the sacred nature of animals that according to the historian Herodotus to deliberately kill a cat carried a death sentence in addition harming a cat could also bring the wrath of bastet upon the soul of the transgressor in addition to cats other animals such as dogs gazelles and baboons were also considered sacred and treated with great reverence Hawks and ibises were so sacred that killing one even accidentally would result in execution regardless of circumstances was well aware of the significance these creatures played in Egyptian culture and also knew what lengths they would go to in order to avoid blasphemy against their gods so when the Persian and Egyptian armies met at the Battle of Coliseum cambisis ordered his men to release large numbers of cats in front of their advancing Army according to the historian Palio nails they also drove dogs sheep ibis's and other animals that the Egyptians believed to be sacred as a final measure canbyesis also had his men paint images of cats on their Shields as he knew that defiling an image of a feline was also blasphemy against busted in the face of this unusual tactic the Egyptians were unwilling to risk offending the deity and were soon routed from the battlefield the survivors including the Pharaoh semitech III fled to Memphis where they were soon besieged eventually they would be defeated and though semitech would be captured and treated well by kambisis he would be executed after attempting a rebellion giving the ever-expanding Persian Empire control over the rich and ancient land of Egypt whether on Ancient battlefields or in modern conflicts soldiers are willing to do whatever they can to gain an advantage over their opponents and even if these tactics may seem dishonorable pragmatism often wins out and soldiers will do whatever necessary to achieve victory hey it's Chris Anne you're probably used to hearing me during one of our advertising spots but today I want to talk about something a little bit different every video that we create is more than just content it's a blend of research of creativity of passion for history we do it because we believe in the power of History because it's lessons it's stories and its ability to connect everybody is what we're all about sometimes the reality of operating a YouTube channel uh presents challenges uh in the form of demonetization occasionally which impacts the ability to produce content that we're passionate about now we're looking at you our 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Channel: Simple History

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Length: 20min 10sec (1210 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 01 2023