Most people can name some basic military maneuvers. There’s the ambush, the charge, deception, artillery or aerial bombardment, just to name a few. But some battles have been won with much weirder tactics. The following examples are some of the most bizarre, yet brilliant tactics ever successfully deployed on the battlefield.
10. Operation Mincemeat
It’s 1943, and the Allies were cooking up an elaborate scheme to mislead the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany, about their military intentions. The key ingredient? A corpse and a whole lot of imagination.
Operation Mincemeat involved taking a corpse, dressing it up like a drowned military officer, and equipping it with a briefcase full of fake documents hinting at an impending attack on Southern Europe. Then, they released this “corpse of deception” off the coast of Spain, a region known for its pro-German sympathies. Lo and behold, the ruse worked like a charm. The Germans took the bait, shifted their troops, and, unbeknownst to them, danced to the Allies’ tune.
It’s the kind of audacious plan that makes you appreciate the lengths people will go to in the name of strategy and a good plot twist. The corpse might not have known what was going on, but it played its part in a game that ultimately helped tip the scales of a world at war. Operation Mincemeat, where fact meets fiction in the grand theater of war.
9. The Ghost Army
No, it’s not an army of badass phantoms and wraiths like in Lord of the Rings. But the real Ghost Army is just as cool. It was an Allied ploy during World War II that used inflatable tanks, sound effects, and other deceptive techniques to create a mirage of a much larger and powerful force. Imagine a canvas city, complete with faux radio transmissions, designed to divert the enemy’s attention. They were master illusionists, utilizing tricks of sight and sound to make the Axis second-guess and make costly missteps. They also deployed the “army” in areas that, when photographed by German reconnaissance aircraft and delivered to Nazi high command, made it seem like the Allies were planning to attack far away from their actual target.
Their performances were both gutsy and pivotal, contributing significantly to the Allied success. A reminder that in the theater of war, sometimes the most potent weapon isn’t a gun or a bomb, but an artful and convincing illusion.
8. The Double Siege of Alesia
The year is 52 BCE, and Alesia, a hilltop fortress in present-day France, is the focal point.
Vercingetorix had gathered a coalition of rebellious Gauls inside the fortress, presenting a challenge to Julius Caesar’s legions. To break this deadlock, Caesar devised an audacious plan. He encircled Alesia with a massive fortification: two concentric rings of defenses. One faced outward to repel attacks from Gallic reinforcements, while the other faced inward to contain those within Alesia.
This was a dual siege—a testament to Roman engineering expertise and logistical finesse. The Gauls inside the walls resisted fiercely, while their brethren outside tried to break through. The Romans were severely outnumbered, and being attacked from all sides. Vercingetorix did everything right and… still lost. It was Caesar’s magnum opus, and the reason why he’s one of history’s greatest generals.
7. Hammering periscopes
U-boats, the deadly submarines of the German navy during the World Wars, were the terror of the Atlantic. Like most submarines, their crews used periscopes to scout and target enemy ships.
During World War II, the Allies developed brand new techniques for dealing with U-boat wolfpacks, in order to protect precious shipping lanes. One such innovation was hammering periscopes. You read that right, and no, it’s not a euphemism. This intriguing tactic, employed by the Royal Navy, literally involved patrols of sailors sneaking up on exposed periscopes and smashing them with hammers. In other cases, they’d simply shove canvas sacks over them and tie them tight.
Once blinded, the submarines would be forced to surface, making them easy targets for Allied naval and air units. It wasn’t the most sophisticated strategy, but if it works, it works.
6. The Night Witches
The Night Witches were a remarkable group of female aviators in the Soviet Air Forces during World War II. Officially known as the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, they earned their more ominous nickname from the Germans due to their stealthy night raids and the distinctive sound their planes made, which their victims on the ground compared to a witch’s broomstick.
Composed entirely of women, the Night Witches flew outdated Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes, which were slow and made of wood and canvas, but highly maneuverable. They conducted their daring bombing missions under the cover of darkness, wreaking havoc on German positions with precision and speed, all while remaining virtually invisible in the dark. The pilots often flew multiple sorties in a single night.
5. Flaming camels
Timur, also known as Tamerlane, was a Turco-Mongol conqueror and military genius of the 14th century. One of his notable tactics, involving flaming camels, was employed during the Battle of Ankara in 1402 against the forces of the Ottoman Empire. Yes, you read that right. Yes, it means exactly what it sounds like.
During the battle, Timur’s army faced a formidable opponent in the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I. Timur loaded camels with straw and hay, setting them ablaze before releasing them into the enemy ranks. The sight of these flaming camels charging towards the Ottoman forces panicked their war elephants and horses, causing disorder and chaos among their ranks.
The confusion created by the flaming camels threw the Ottoman formations into panic, allowing Timur’s forces to capitalize on the disarray and gain the upper hand. Timur won the battle, capturing Bayezid and dealing a significant blow to the Ottoman Empire.
4. Bring your pets to war day
Yes, cat paintings. See, the Ancient Egyptians revered cats and believed they possessed protective qualities.
At the Battle of Pelusium in 525 BC, the Persian Empire, led by Cambyses II, fought against the Egyptian Dynasty under Pharaoh Psamtik III. It unfolded near Pelusium, a pivotal location on Egypt’s eastern border, acting as a gateway to the Nile Delta. The Egyptians had extensive fortifications. But the Persians had cats. Yes, cats.
What set the Persians apart was their innovative battle strategy, revealing a keen grasp of Egyptian culture. Understanding the Egyptians’ veneration of animals like cats tied to their religious beliefs, Cambyses II directed his troops to drive these sacred animals ahead of them, and some accounts suggest they even depicted cat images and other sacred animals on their shields. This psychological tactic struck deep into the hearts of the Egyptian soldiers, instilling fear of harming these revered animals and invoking divine retribution. This hesitation proved advantageous for the Persians, enabling them to breach the Egyptian defenses and claim a major victory.
3. Self mutilation
Zopyrus was a Persian general who played a significant role during the siege of Babylon in 482 BC. He decided on a daring and brutal plan to weaken Babylon’s defenses: he deliberately mutilated himself. Zopyrus believed that this act would enable him to gain the trust of the Babylonians and infiltrate their city from within.
And it worked. He executed this plan by cutting off his own ears and nose, making it appear as though he had suffered severe punishment from King Darius. Presenting himself to the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar as a defector, claiming mistreatment by the Persians, he gained the trust of the Babylonians. Over time, he was given a position of authority within the city.
Exploiting this newfound position, Zopyrus orchestrated the sabotage of Babylon’s defenses, ultimately leading to its capture by the Persian forces. Losing the war seems like a better fate, but hey – at least it worked?
2. Releasing one prisoner
World War I was defined by stalemate, where neither side could gain an upper hand. But it wasn’t for lack of men to hurl into the teeth of enemy machine guns. Both sides improved too. Poison gas, tanks, and airplanes all made their debut here. But the most decisive tactic employed by anyone in the entire war was arguably when the Germans released a single prisoner back to Russia.
His name was Vladimir Lenin, and he did exactly what the Germans intended: sparked the Bolshevik Revolution which began the Russian Civil War, destroyed the Czarist empire and knocked Russia out of the World War One. Just like that, the entire eastern front was brought to a close, and Germany was able to focus fully on the western front against Britain and France. With all their troops freed up, the Germans moved over to the offense in the west and advanced in the 1918 Spring Offensive, which nearly brought the Allies to their knees. Unfortunately for them, they ran out of steam just as the Americans arrived, and it all fell apart. But still, by simply releasing Lenin, the Kaiser’s army very nearly defeated all her mighty enemies single handedly.
1. Hannibal beats an enemy fleet with snakes
In one intriguing episode of Hannibal Barca’s military campaigns during the Second Punic War, he demonstrated his flair for unconventional tactics. During a naval skirmish against King Eumenes II of Pergamon, Hannibal took an audacious approach to unsettle his opponents.
Rather than relying solely on traditional naval strategies, Hannibal directed his troops to collect venomous snakes from the local terrain. He then ordered his men to hurl these venomous creatures onto the enemy ships. The effect was immediate and chaotic. The Pergamene sailors, freaked, abandoned their posts in a hurry, leaping into the sea to escape the animals. The result? The ships were deserted and Hannibal was left in command of the area. It wasn’t his most famous victory – Cannae or Lake Trasimene likely has that honor – but it was one of his most innovative. And it’s proof that he wasn’t just good at his job. He was one of the most innovative commanders in history.