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Quiz about Deception in Warfare
Quiz about Deception in Warfare

Deception in Warfare Trivia Quiz


Throughout history, great commanders have relied not only on the strength of arms, but on deception. This quiz looks at some of the examples of deception: tactical, strategic and operational.

A multiple-choice quiz by StuHern. Estimated time: 8 mins.
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Author
StuHern
Time
8 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
209,737
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Difficult
Avg Score
5 / 10
Plays
777
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Question 1 of 10
1. In his 'Art of War', Sun Tzu emphasises the importance of deception. In 341BC, the Ch'i general Sun Pin put these theories to good effect when invading the territory of Wei.

Which of these deceptions did Sun Pin use to gain victory of the Wei general P'ang Chuan?
Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Many lightly armed forces have made use of tactical deception to overcome more heavily armed troops. The feigned retreat has been particularly well used throughout history and is often cited as the tactic which won the Battle of Hastings for William the Conqueror.

However, one ancient civilisation used this tactic so effectively that it entered the English language to mean 'a wounding remark made on departure, with no time for reply'. What is this term?
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Deception does not always occur on a grand scale. In 1805, two French marshals managed to prevent Austrian engineers demolishing the vital Tabor bridge through sheer bluff. They crossed the bridge, unarmed and in full dress uniform, claiming that an armistice had been reached between the French and Austrians. The Austrian commander was fooled and the bridge was taken without a single shot being fired.

Who were the two French marshals?
Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. During the American Civil War, an army of 120,000 men under Major-General George B. McClellan was held off by just 8,000-15,000 Confederates under John Bankhead Magruder.

Magruder had only 15 guns to defend a 13 mile line but managed to make his defences seem more impressive by the use of 'Quaker guns'. What was a 'Quaker gun'?
Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts movement, gained fame for his defence of Mafeking during the Second Anglo-Boer War. With a force of around 1,000 men facing around 8,000 Boers, Baden-Powell's general instructions to the garrison were 'bluff the enemy ... as much as you like'.

Which of these bluffs *didn't* aid the defenders of Mafeking in their 217 day resistance?
Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. In preparing for the Tet Offensive, the North Vietnamese Army made obvious moves towards an isolated US garrison, prompting a movement of US troops away from the real objective of Tet.

What was the name of this US base?
Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. The British army in 1942 prepared for the Battle of El Alamein by concealing the huge build-up of forces in the northern sector of the allied line whilst simulating a build-up in the south.

This deception plan, codenamed BERTRAM, used many techniques to mislead Germany reconnaissance. Which of these did it NOT use?
Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. The British intelligence service (MI5) had great success finding German spies during World War II. These spies were often used as double agents, sending false information back to their German handlers.

Spaniard Juan Pujol Garcia was instrumental in convincing the German high command that the allied invasion would be aimed at Calais rather than Normandy.

What was Garcia's codename?
Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. The Chinese People's Liberation Army prized deceptive skill and adopted guerrilla tactics in order to maximise their effect. One tactic used on an increasingly grand scale was called 'ch'ien niu' ('pulling a stupid cow').

What was this tactic?
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Returning to ancient history, the Roman Dictator Quintus Maximus Fabius was faced by the great Carthaginian general Hannibal. Refusing to be drawn into a disadvantageous battle, Fabius kept to the high-ground and slowly forced Hannibal into the mountains.
When Fabius was awoken one night to see thousands of lights on the hillsides, apparently moving to escape, he suspected a trick and refused to be drawn. Instead he left the 4000 men details to hold the pass to deal with the situation.

Was Fabius correct in suspecting a trick and what was the result?
Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In his 'Art of War', Sun Tzu emphasises the importance of deception. In 341BC, the Ch'i general Sun Pin put these theories to good effect when invading the territory of Wei. Which of these deceptions did Sun Pin use to gain victory of the Wei general P'ang Chuan?

Answer: He lit fewer fires each day to suggest that his army was deserting

Sun Pin's advisor told him: 'The soldiers of Wei are fierce and bold, and despise the men of Ch'i as cowards ... Let us light a hundred thousand fires when our army enters Wei, fifty thousand the next day, and only thirty thousand on the third day...'

P'ang Chuan took the bait and led his forces through a narrow gorge where Sun Pin had prepared an ambush.
2. Many lightly armed forces have made use of tactical deception to overcome more heavily armed troops. The feigned retreat has been particularly well used throughout history and is often cited as the tactic which won the Battle of Hastings for William the Conqueror. However, one ancient civilisation used this tactic so effectively that it entered the English language to mean 'a wounding remark made on departure, with no time for reply'. What is this term?

Answer: Parthian Shot

Ancient Parthian troops were extremely skilled horsemen and wore down their enemies by showering them with arrows from a distance and then withdrawing in feigned retreat. As their enemy pursued them, the Parthians would turn and shoot again and again whilst still at full gallop.

Only when the enemy had been worn down and demoralised would the heavier Parthian troops engage the enemy.
3. Deception does not always occur on a grand scale. In 1805, two French marshals managed to prevent Austrian engineers demolishing the vital Tabor bridge through sheer bluff. They crossed the bridge, unarmed and in full dress uniform, claiming that an armistice had been reached between the French and Austrians. The Austrian commander was fooled and the bridge was taken without a single shot being fired. Who were the two French marshals?

Answer: Murat and Lannes

The Austrian commander, General Count von Auersperg, was a senile seventy-year-old who was eventually court-martialled. By their brave bluff, Marshals Murat and Lannes secured the vital Danube crossing and allowed Napoleon's armies to advance more quickly.

Murat tried this trick shortly after but was out-witted by the Russian General Kutuzov into signing an actual armistice. Napoleon was furious with him, writing 'You are causing me to lose the fruits of a campaign. Break the armistice immediately and march on the enemy.'
4. During the American Civil War, an army of 120,000 men under Major-General George B. McClellan was held off by just 8,000-15,000 Confederates under John Bankhead Magruder. Magruder had only 15 guns to defend a 13 mile line but managed to make his defences seem more impressive by the use of 'Quaker guns'. What was a 'Quaker gun'?

Answer: A stripped log, painted black with wagon wheels on the side

In addition to using 'Quaker guns', Magruder moved his units around and ordered musicians to play loudly after dark. One battalion was sent to march in an endless circle along a heavily wooded road to give the impression of a far larger force.

When Magruder eventually withdrew from his position, after a month, his reinforced troops still amounted to just 34,000 men. However, McClellan ignored intelligence reports that he faced no more than 15,000 men believing that nobody, much less a professional soldier, would try to defend such a line with so few.
5. Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts movement, gained fame for his defence of Mafeking during the Second Anglo-Boer War. With a force of around 1,000 men facing around 8,000 Boers, Baden-Powell's general instructions to the garrison were 'bluff the enemy ... as much as you like'. Which of these bluffs *didn't* aid the defenders of Mafeking in their 217 day resistance?

Answer: Fake guns

Baden-Powell created a series of forts around Mafeking, one built with two flagpoles marking it as his own headquarters. It quickly drew much enemy fire despite being a dummy.

As the siege went on, a string of native workers carried boxes around town, telling anyone who asked that they mustn't be dropped. 'Minefields' soon began appearing around town with prominent signs in Dutch and English.

When Baden-Powell noticed Boers stepping carefully over barbed wire attached to wooden pickets, he set out pickets of his own. His men made a great show of stepping over the pickets carefully but they were, in fact, tied with string.
6. In preparing for the Tet Offensive, the North Vietnamese Army made obvious moves towards an isolated US garrison, prompting a movement of US troops away from the real objective of Tet. What was the name of this US base?

Answer: Khe Sanh

Dien Bien Phu was a French base which was besieged by the Vietnamese in 1954. It proved a decisive victory for the Vietnamese and prompted the French withdrawal from Vietnam. The US command believed that Khe Sanh had been selected as another Dien Bien Phu.

Hue was a city close to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which was the site of the Viet Cong's biggest success of the Tet Offensive. The citadel in Hue was held by the VC longer than any other objective.

Cu Chi is a region north of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) known for its tunnels and high level of VC activity.

The Tet Offensive was a major military defeat from the Communists but due to the public reaction it created the result was the strategic defeat of the world's most powerful nation.
7. The British army in 1942 prepared for the Battle of El Alamein by concealing the huge build-up of forces in the northern sector of the allied line whilst simulating a build-up in the south. This deception plan, codenamed BERTRAM, used many techniques to mislead Germany reconnaissance. Which of these did it NOT use?

Answer: Creating dummy artillery out of food tins

Special covers were created for tanks to make them appear like lorries if seen from the air. Food stocks were also stacked in the shape of 3-ton lorries and camouflaged under nets.

Meanwhile, plaited panels of split palm that farmers used as beds were built into 'tanks'. Placed under camouflage nets, they replaced real tanks which had been moved to the front.
8. The British intelligence service (MI5) had great success finding German spies during World War II. These spies were often used as double agents, sending false information back to their German handlers. Spaniard Juan Pujol Garcia was instrumental in convincing the German high command that the allied invasion would be aimed at Calais rather than Normandy. What was Garcia's codename?

Answer: Garbo

Garbo created a fictional network of 27 agents and fed his German spymasters a constant stream of misinformation throughout the war. His codename was originally BOVRIL but was changed to GARBO after his British bosses said he had proved himself "the greatest actor in the world".
9. The Chinese People's Liberation Army prized deceptive skill and adopted guerrilla tactics in order to maximise their effect. One tactic used on an increasingly grand scale was called 'ch'ien niu' ('pulling a stupid cow'). What was this tactic?

Answer: Attacking an outpost in order to ambush the relief force

Liu Po-Ch'eng, commanding the Central China Field Army, used this tactic to good effect in 1946 and 1947, relieving pressure on the East China Field Army. On one occasion in November 1946 Liu's diversionary offensive against Shangkuan and Laoanchen drew eight divisions which were subsequently ambushed and encircled. Nationalist losses were equivalent to a complete division.
10. Returning to ancient history, the Roman Dictator Quintus Maximus Fabius was faced by the great Carthaginian general Hannibal. Refusing to be drawn into a disadvantageous battle, Fabius kept to the high-ground and slowly forced Hannibal into the mountains. When Fabius was awoken one night to see thousands of lights on the hillsides, apparently moving to escape, he suspected a trick and refused to be drawn. Instead he left the 4000 men details to hold the pass to deal with the situation. Was Fabius correct in suspecting a trick and what was the result?

Answer: Fabius was correct. However, Hannibal still managed to escape

Hannibal had, indeed, tricked Fabius but had realised that Fabius would expect trickery. When the guarding force investigated the lights, they found some 2,000 oxen with burning brands of wood and grass tied to their horns.

As the Romans were separated by the cattle, a small force of Carthaginian pikemen fell on them and cut them down whilst they were unable to operate in their usual close formation. Whilst this kept the guarding force busy, Hannibal's main army crossed the pass unmolested.
Source: Author StuHern

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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