Circle of Willis
Well-known member
History is replete not only with glorious victories and crushing defeats, but also conflicts where one side was so overwhelmingly, laughably outmatched by the other that it's very difficult (to put it charitably) to figure out how they could possibly win, and in many of these cases, it may even be difficult to determine why the inevitably defeated party thought it was a good idea to fight their war in the first place. Well, as the title of this thread suggests - this seems like a good day () to try to find a way, any way (ideally in the most ASB-free way possible), to turn the following lopsided wars around. In order from (probably) least difficult to most to win:
1) The Russo-Georgian War of 2008. After mounting hostilities between the Georgians and separatist forces in South Ossetia, the Georgians launched an attack on said separatists and the Russian peacekeepers who'd been in the region since the 1990s (when ethnic conflicts resulted in the massacre or expulsion of many thousands of Georgians from SO and Abkhazia, another breakaway region). Despite having been trained and equipped by NATO after joining in both the Afghan and Iraq Wars, the Georgians were massively outnumbered (at least by 7-8 times if the Wiki figures are anything to go by) and outgunned by their adversaries, and were routed in less than two weeks while President Mikheil Saakashvili infamously ate his tie during a nervous televised address. In the face of a 1:8 disadvantage and with the risk that Russia will send ever more troops to the Caucasus in case their starting forces somehow prove insufficient, how can Georgia be made to beat the odds and reconquer one or both separatist regions?
2) The Italian invasion of Albania, 1939. In one corner, you have Fascist Italy: a modern military force which has recently avenged their humiliating past defeat in Ethiopia by conquering that country, just wrapped up a victorious intervention in the Spanish Civil War, and is now looking to annex Albania so as to not be outdone by Nazi Germany (which has just consumed Austria, the Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia in the preceding years). In the other corner you have Albania, whose totally invincible army was ironically trained by Italian officers and compromised by Italian agents who stole their ammo & disabled their artillery - 'oops' doesn't even begin to cover it. Nevertheless they managed to survive for five days (despite losing their capital and royal family, who immediately fled to Greece, on the first day of the invasion) against a little less than a quarter of the 100,000-strong army Mussolini had prepared for them. How can Albania be made to successfully throw the Italians back into the sea?
3) The Anglo-Zanzibar War, 1896. Fought in the wake of a succession crisis in Zanzibar (which gave Britain an opportunity to impose a protectorate on the island sultanate), this is famously the shortest known war in history. The British launched a 38-minute bombardment which destroyed the Zanzibari navy (consisting of one armed yacht) and palace, after which the Zanzibaris surrendered, having sustained 500 casualties to Britain's one (an officer was wounded). How can Zanzibar be made to prevail, ideally in as little or even less time than Britain did historically?
4) The German invasion of Luxembourg, 1940. While Hitler and his generals may consider the little country no more than a stop on their road to Paris, the Luxembourgers have resolved that they must not be underestimated and to actually fight against a German takeover this time, unlike in WW1. Their mighty army consists of a little over 400 soldiers and 200 gendarmes, surely that's enough for a fair fight against 50,000 Germans under Heinz Guderian's command right? Well apparently not, as they were overrun in a single day - truly astonishing, I know. Regardless, how can Luxembourg be made to withstand the Nazi onslaught for the entirety of WW2, with as little Anglo-French help as possible or even none at all? (It's not like whatever help they got historically amounted to much, anyway)
1) The Russo-Georgian War of 2008. After mounting hostilities between the Georgians and separatist forces in South Ossetia, the Georgians launched an attack on said separatists and the Russian peacekeepers who'd been in the region since the 1990s (when ethnic conflicts resulted in the massacre or expulsion of many thousands of Georgians from SO and Abkhazia, another breakaway region). Despite having been trained and equipped by NATO after joining in both the Afghan and Iraq Wars, the Georgians were massively outnumbered (at least by 7-8 times if the Wiki figures are anything to go by) and outgunned by their adversaries, and were routed in less than two weeks while President Mikheil Saakashvili infamously ate his tie during a nervous televised address. In the face of a 1:8 disadvantage and with the risk that Russia will send ever more troops to the Caucasus in case their starting forces somehow prove insufficient, how can Georgia be made to beat the odds and reconquer one or both separatist regions?
2) The Italian invasion of Albania, 1939. In one corner, you have Fascist Italy: a modern military force which has recently avenged their humiliating past defeat in Ethiopia by conquering that country, just wrapped up a victorious intervention in the Spanish Civil War, and is now looking to annex Albania so as to not be outdone by Nazi Germany (which has just consumed Austria, the Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia in the preceding years). In the other corner you have Albania, whose totally invincible army was ironically trained by Italian officers and compromised by Italian agents who stole their ammo & disabled their artillery - 'oops' doesn't even begin to cover it. Nevertheless they managed to survive for five days (despite losing their capital and royal family, who immediately fled to Greece, on the first day of the invasion) against a little less than a quarter of the 100,000-strong army Mussolini had prepared for them. How can Albania be made to successfully throw the Italians back into the sea?
3) The Anglo-Zanzibar War, 1896. Fought in the wake of a succession crisis in Zanzibar (which gave Britain an opportunity to impose a protectorate on the island sultanate), this is famously the shortest known war in history. The British launched a 38-minute bombardment which destroyed the Zanzibari navy (consisting of one armed yacht) and palace, after which the Zanzibaris surrendered, having sustained 500 casualties to Britain's one (an officer was wounded). How can Zanzibar be made to prevail, ideally in as little or even less time than Britain did historically?
4) The German invasion of Luxembourg, 1940. While Hitler and his generals may consider the little country no more than a stop on their road to Paris, the Luxembourgers have resolved that they must not be underestimated and to actually fight against a German takeover this time, unlike in WW1. Their mighty army consists of a little over 400 soldiers and 200 gendarmes, surely that's enough for a fair fight against 50,000 Germans under Heinz Guderian's command right? Well apparently not, as they were overrun in a single day - truly astonishing, I know. Regardless, how can Luxembourg be made to withstand the Nazi onslaught for the entirety of WW2, with as little Anglo-French help as possible or even none at all? (It's not like whatever help they got historically amounted to much, anyway)