Against All Odds Trivia Quiz

In 52 BCE, the Romans were on their way to 'conquering the world' as they knew it. However, they faced some resistance, especially with the Gauls. This was a part of Julius Caesar consolidating power as he prepared to make a move on Rome and the eventual dictatorship. The Gauls were led by their king and war leader, Vercingetorix, who had amassed a great army to counter Caesar's legions. The Gauls had fortified themselves in the town of Alesia and Caesar laid siege to the town.

According to the accounts of the time, mainly Julius Caesar's, he had around 50,000 men attacking the town. On the other hand, Vercingetorix had about 80,000 inside the town and was reinforced by around 250,000 men. Against the overwhelming odds, Caesar built a system of fortifications that made it nearly impossible for the town to be reinforced and also for the Gauls to escape from the town. After several sorties and skirmishes, the Gauls realized that they were not going to break the siege. The next day, they surrendered.

Sicily had fallen to the Arabs in around 965 CE. It was populated by a variety of people who all prospered and thrived, making it a prime target for conquest. When the succession of rule of the island shook the morale of the inhabitants, the Pope deemed it ripe for takeover and charged Robert Guiscard the task of invading the island. He was accompanied by his brother, Roger de Hauteville, and in 1061 CE, they invaded with a surprise landing.

In June of 1063 CE, perhaps one of the most important battles of the conquest was fought in the town of Cerami. The Norman forces were listed as 136 knights and about as much infantry. Claims about the Muslim forces went as high as 50,000. The Normans had fortified themselves on the high ground that the town offered, and the Muslims had failed at breaching the defences. The Normans, trained in heavy cavalry tactics, managed to hold their position and, with the alleged help of St. George, to break through the Muslim lines and cause chaos amongst the larger force. They then exploited their advantage to slaughter their enemies.

As a part of the back-and-forth Hundred Years' War, the Battle of Agincourt was one of the most significant and influential on the outcome. At the time of the battle, 1415, the English were in full retreat having failed at negotiations and being cut off from Calais by a much larger French army. The English King Henry V led the retreat himself. When he saw that he was surrounded, he decided to dig in and fight. The English numbered around 5 to 6 thousand and the French forces were somewhere between 20 to 30 thousand all told.

Since the French forces relied greatly on heavy cavalry, the English amassed their forces with their flank guarded by a heavy forest and their front facing a recently-plowed field. This severely impacted the effect of the cavalry. Also, the English forces were made up of many longbowmen, approximately 5/6ths of the army. With the French bogged down by the terrain, these were deadly and effective. If a French soldier managed to make the English lines, at that point he must have been exhausted and was easily incapacitated by the fresh English soldiers.

In the end, about 400 Englishmen were killed compared to about 7 to 8 thousand Frenchmen, about a thousand of them noblemen. This led to an era of English dominance in the war since the French were severely hurt (egos as well) and would not win a major battle again for about fourteen years.

When the Spaniards first set foot on the island of Tenerife, they met staunch resistance from the natives that were there. In fact, thinking that the natives were savages and were being pacified by Christianity, the Spaniards walked right into a trap and lost the majority of their forces.

About a month later, in December of 1494, the Spaniards returned with more people and better tactics. Numbering around 700 with about 800 local allies that they had bought, they faced off against 6000 Guanaches. This time, the Spanish commander, Alonso Fernández de Lugo, split his forces and used his technological advantages to his benefit. The use of firearms against the naked Guanaches was devastating and resulted in a decisive victory for the locals. After this battle, Tenerife was absorbed into the Kingdom of Castile.

The Battle of Okehazama took place as a part of the clan rivalries that gripped Japan in the 16th century. Imagawa Yoshimoto and his clan were looking very powerful and sought to capture Kyoto and establish themselves as the dominant clan in Japan at that time. They were allied with the smaller Matsudaira clan and set their sights on the Oda clan, led by the warlord Oda Nobunaga. The Oda clan could only muster about 2 to 3 thousand warriors, about a tenth of the strength of the Imagawa forces.

In June of 1560, Oda Nobunaga realized that defence was not going to be a good strategy against the invaders. Against the advice given to him, he took his warriors and decided to meet the attackers in battle. They mustered around the village of Okehazama (modern-day Nagoya), said prayers, and put a plan into action.

The Oda forces placed banners all around a ridge to give the appearance that their forces were stronger than they actually were. The large part of the Oda forces hid themselves on the other side of the Imagawa forces thus flanking them. Finally, the Oda waited until the Imagawa were celebrating their latest victory and they were unprepared with their armour off and many of them a bit inebriated. The Oda attack took the invaders by surprise. Imagawa Yoshimoto himself was killed when Imagawa tried to organize a defence, further demoralizing the army. The outnumbered Oda clan walked away with a great victory which boosted their prestige.

In the 16th century, the Knights Hospitaller were based out of Malta (the Kingdom of Jerusalem having fallen in 1291). They had been driven out of many places and were being systematically hunted by the Ottomans, who saw them as a great thorn in their side. After failing in the first attempt to take the island, Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent ordered a second attempt, much larger in scope and in personnel. He mustered between 35 to 40 thousand troops to attack the knights whose numbers were about 500 with around 6000 people to support them, some of them trained infantry.

In 1565, the Second Siege of Malta, later known as the Great Siege, began in earnest. The Ottoman problems began even before the fighting. The Sultan had split the command between three of his leaders which caused dissenting views and in-fighting about the tactics. Though the Ottomans were experts at defeating fortifications, the Knights Hospitallers were known as experts in holding the walls and in tactics. The Ottomans started with a success against the fort of St. Elmo, then proceeded up the coast.

That was when the attack started to fall apart. Splitting their forces with no communication between the commanders, the Ottomans tried to subdue forts and towns, eventually trying to reach the former capital, Mdina. The defenders, however, managed to repel most of the attacks. In the end, Malta remained in the custody of the Knights Hospitallers, who lost about a third of their force, and the Ottomans returned home with estimates of their casualties from 25 to 35 thousand.

The War of 1812 was a bitter struggle between two places who today have the longest undefended border in the world. The Americans faced off against the British forces stationed in Canada. The war was a costly back-and-forth affair and the situation in 1814 had the Americans pushing to try and conquer Montreal and the British pushing them back. American General James Wilkinson, fresh off of a defeat in the St. Lawrence campaign, was eager to prove himself and perhaps keep his position. He planned incursions into Canada, one of these to the Lacolle River where the British had a small outpost.

Wilkinson's forces numbered around 4000 troops which were supported by eleven pieces of artillery. He was met by Richard Handcock's British defenders, numbering around 80. The Americans were bogged down by the soft ground so the defenders took the initiative and fired rockets and led a charge. Hearing their compatriots charge, a nearby company of around 400 Canadians joined in and reinforced the defenders. With their attack halted and facing bombardment from naval units, the Americans retreated back to Plattsburg.

The Battle of Kapyong was a confrontation that occurred in 1951 as a part of the Korean War. It was a confrontation between a Chinese division (about 10,000 to 20,000 troops) and a UN Commonwealth group consisting of about a brigade (1000 to 2000 troops). When the Chinese were pushing their Spring offensive, the UN forces occupied the area near the village of Kapyong to protect access to Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Prior to the battle, intel was pouring in that a confrontation was imminent so the UN forces were able to fortify their positions.

Despite the overwhelming odds that the People's Volunteer Army from China had, the UN forces eventually won a decisive victory. The main reason for this was superior training and effective use of artillery against the PVA forces. With the PVA attacking on all fronts, the UN forces were able to coordinate and use their limited resources to great effect. In fact, the UN forces lost 49 people with 111 injured, and estimates of casualties to the Chinese forces were from 1000 at the most conservative, to about 5000.

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a short but vicious war that happened in present-day Bangladesh between Pakistan and India. Pakistan objected to Bangladesh's independence and sought to conquer that territory, and India and her allies saw themselves as protectors. Pakistan pre-empted the strikes and one of the first engagements was at the Battle of Longewala. Longewala was an outpost near the border that was manned by 120 Indian regular army men. The Pakistani attackers numbered somewhere between 2000 and 3000 infantry and between 30 to 40 tanks.

When the commander of the Indian forces saw the Pakistanis approaching, he was faced with the dilemma, fight or retreat. He chose the former, and hunkered down until he could be reinforced; the expected time that he needed to hold out was about six hours. The Indians laid down a hasty minefield, but it was largely ineffective. However, as the Pakistanis approached with their tanks first, the Indians held their fire until the tanks were very close increasing the damage and accuracy of their weapons.

The Pakistanis were plagued by bad intel and terrible tactics. Their choice to attack under the light of the full moon allowed the defenders to target them with mortar and small arms fire. By the time the sun came up, the Pakistanis had not yet overrun the outpost and now had to face attacks from the Indian Air Force. They also approached the outpost over sand, impeding their advance. By the end of the battle, three days later, the Pakistanis lost 36 tanks and about 200 soldiers. On the other side, India lost only two soldiers, one anti-tank gun, and five camels.

In 1973, Israel faced its greatest challenge as it was attacked on the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur. Attacked on all fronts by overwhelming forces, Israel had to do everything in order to not capitulate and allow time for its reserve army to be mobilized. One such front was on the northern border with Syria, in the Golan Heights. The Syrian plan was to overwhelm the Israeli defenders by use of the element of surprise and a huge advantage of numbers.

Having an intelligence report that hinted at an attack, Israeli General Ben-Gal surveyed the land and told his commanders where to deploy defensively. He put together a makeshift battalion (about 30 tanks) out of parts of the two battalions he already had. He then set up defences as the Israelis prepared for a day of prayer. On the other side, the Syrians had two divisions (about 400 tanks each) with a third in reserve, the 7th Division under Brigadier General Omar Abrash. Attacking, they met the Israeli 7th Brigade in the southern part of the Golan Heights.

Four days of fighting ensued. The Israelis, having better knowledge of the land and the defences, used these to their tactical advantage. The Syrians, having the sheer force of numbers, pressed the attack. Most of the fighting between the two units occurred in a valley in between the Booster ridge and the Hermonit, a minor peak. After the second day of fighting, the sheer number of burning tanks in the valley caused someone to call it Emek HaBakha or 'The Valley of Tears'. The Israeli forces, which numbered about 100 tanks and few support personnel in that area were reduced to about 20. The Syrians started out with about 1260 tanks and withdrew after losses totaling over 500.