Top 10 Smartest Military Operations in History
Give us brains over brawn any day of the week. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the greatest military operations in which leaders and armies displayed superior strategic intelligence.
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00:00 To say that there's a lot riding on D-Day, Operation Overlord, is a massive understatement.
00:06 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the greatest military operations
00:11 in which leaders and armies displayed superior strategic intelligence.
00:15 Instrumental to Napoleon's success was his skill as a leader.
00:18 He didn't just inspire people, he made them feel that they were taking part in history.
00:24 Number 10. The Battle of Cannae.
00:27 You might know him as "that Carthaginian with the elephants,"
00:30 but General Hannibal did a lot more than just traverse the Alps to invade Italy.
00:34 Outnumbered during a crucial military engagement at the Italian village of Cannae,
00:39 Hannibal employed the now legendary "pincer technique" against his Roman adversaries.
00:44 He makes sure that the Romans are fighting on an empty stomach.
00:47 He has ambushers who come out behind the Romans at the critical moment,
00:51 and he uses his cavalry and his elephants to encircle the Roman army and all but annihilate it.
00:57 Also called "double envelopment," the clever battle formation involved coordinated attacks
01:02 on both sides of the enemy battalion in a concave formation.
01:06 As more and more Romans drove towards where they thought the breakthrough would come,
01:10 the field cleared in front of the Carthaginian heavy infantry on the flanks.
01:15 Suddenly, the Romans were being encircled.
01:18 They found themselves being assailed from three sides at once,
01:22 bunched together with no room to swing their swords.
01:26 Though this strategy had been implemented before,
01:29 the Battle of Cannae remains perhaps the most famous and successful example of its effectiveness.
01:34 Not only a memorialized addition to Hannibal's resume,
01:37 this devastating defeat of the Roman army is often seen as one of the greatest battlefield maneuvers in all of history.
01:44 "Fifty-five thousand Romans were slaughtered, with men dying faster than in the Battle of the Somme."
01:51 Number 9. The Mongol Conquest of China
01:54 There's a reason that Genghis Khan is one of the most feared names in human history.
01:58 In the year 1205, he and his Mongol Empire began their legendary invasion of China,
02:04 which is now known as the Mongol Conquest.
02:06 "The Mongolian tribes exploded out of the Central Asian steppes with a ferocity never seen before,
02:13 on a campaign of bloodthirsty conquest that would last for the next 100 years."
02:19 For the next 70 years, the Mongol Empire completely eradicated China
02:24 with an effective cavalry and stellar military tactics,
02:27 including the use of skilled horse archers that were universally feared.
02:31 "The Mongolian battlefield tactics and their remarkable courage and resilience have become the stuff of legend."
02:38 This fear grew into the realm of psychological warfare,
02:41 with the Mongol Empire eliciting incredible terror in their opponents.
02:45 Their campaign ended various Chinese dynasties, including the Southern Song,
02:49 and the Mongols took complete control of the country, beginning the historic Yuan Dynasty.
02:55 "The Mongolian army proved themselves to be adaptable, resourceful, astute, and disciplined."
03:01 Number 8. The Battle of Agincourt
03:04 Celebrated as a significant English victory, the battle occurred during the Hundred Years' War on October 25, 1415.
03:11 "Agincourt, or Agincourt, was Henry V's great victory.
03:17 It cemented the young king's reign and turned the tide of English fortunes in the Hundred Years' War against France."
03:25 The English were heavily outnumbered against the French, with their 8,000-odd men up against 25,000 French soldiers.
03:31 But despite the odds, the English emerged victorious due to some smart military tactics.
03:36 For one, the English positioned themselves well on a muddy and narrow terrain.
03:41 "The mass of French infantry made a perfect target.
03:46 Hundreds, thousands of English archers bent their backs and loosed their bows, unleashing an arrow storm."
03:57 The narrowness forced the French to move in a compact and easily fought formation, and the mud significantly slowed their movement.
04:04 Furthermore, the English utilized their famous longbows to rain arrows down on the slipping and sliding French.
04:10 "Most of Henry's troops were archers, only lightly armored if at all.
04:15 Yet they were experts with one of the deadliest weapons of the medieval era, the longbow."
04:22 It's a brilliant example of intelligence overcoming numbers.
04:26 7. The Gallic Wars
04:28 For eight years, between 58 and 50 BCE, Julius Caesar and his Roman Republic invaded the region of Gaul.
04:36 This is now known as the Gallic Wars, and they ended in a significant Roman victory.
04:40 Caesar started the wars mostly to gain political clout, and well, he certainly succeeded.
04:45 "Caesar had proved his success as a general in Spain.
04:49 Now he would seize the opportunity to lead a Roman army northwards into the very heart of the Celtic lands."
04:57 The Romans were superior to the Gallic tribes in nearly every way, having better leadership and unity,
05:03 more advanced technology, better resources, and wider mobility.
05:07 The Romans also utilized siege warfare, often cutting off resources and forcing multiple surrenders.
05:13 "Thus far, Caesar had been spectacularly successful in picking off the Gallic kingdoms one by one."
05:20 Caesar also took advantage of the general Gallic disunity, as their armies faced fierce internal divisions.
05:27 It was an easy victory that expanded the Roman Empire and boosted the respect for and power of Julius Caesar.
05:33 "The only point of the campaign for Caesar was to enhance his reputation in Rome.
05:38 Military success was key to popularity with the people."
05:42 Number 6. The Soviet invasion of Manchuria.
05:46 Serving as the largest campaign of the Soviet-Japanese War,
05:49 the Manchurian operation saw the Soviet Union invading the region of Manchuria in northeastern China.
05:55 "The Soviet attack on Manchuria may be one of the least well-known episodes of the Second World War,
06:01 but the offensive provides us with a brilliant example of how to unleash an overwhelming invasion force
06:07 with brilliant organization, planning, and execution."
06:12 Between August 9th and August 20th of 1945, the Soviets took control of Manchukuo, Inner Mongolia, and Northern Korea,
06:20 all of which were under the control of the Empire of Japan.
06:23 "Fasilyevsky's objective can be easily understood. His task was to drive the occupying Japanese out of Manchuria.
06:32 He knew that this would hasten the end of the war against Japan."
06:36 While the Japanese army was stretched thin in the midst of the Pacific theater,
06:40 the Soviets were well-equipped, numerically strong, and backed by the support and coordination of the Allied forces.
06:46 The Soviets had better arms, complete with over 5,000 tanks and rocket launchers,
06:51 and they surprised the Japanese by declaring war just one hour before the invasion began.
06:56 "For the Manchurian population, the Soviet offensive was a great act of liberation, and the invaders were greeted as heroes.
07:05 With the Japanese ejected, the path was clear for the restoration of Chinese sovereignty over the Manchuria region."
07:12 Number 5. The Battle of Thermopylae.
07:15 Popularized by the film 300, the Battle of Thermopylae occurred in the summer of 480 BCE during the Greco-Persian Wars.
07:23 "The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many.
07:31 And before this battle was over, that even a god-king can bleed."
07:38 While the outnumbered Spartan army lost the battle, their bravery and creativity earned wide respect,
07:43 and it is now regarded by some as a Pyrrhic Persian victory.
07:47 The Spartans had positioned themselves well at the narrow pass of Thermopylae,
07:51 effectively negating their numerical disadvantage and forcing the Persians to attack in a funneled and linear manner.
07:58 "The Persian cavalry could not operate in the pass, and Xerxes' infantry were too lightly equipped to make any impression on the heavily armed hoplites."
08:08 The pass was made even more narrow thanks to some strategically located defensive walls.
08:13 Finally, the Spartans fought in their well-known phalanx formation, which gave them an advantage on the field.
08:19 Despite the Spartan loss, the Battle of Thermopylae is still regarded as an ingenious example of strategic warfare.
08:26 "In the bitter aftermath of defeat, the Greeks learned the awful truth.
08:31 Leonidas had in fact been betrayed by a traitor named Ephialtes, who showed the Persians the way for a purse of gold."
08:40 Number 4. The Conquests of Alexander the Great
08:43 There's a reason why he's known as Alexander the Great.
08:46 Between 336 and 323 BCE, Alexander III of Macedon spread his influence east and completely decimated the Achaemenid Empire.
08:56 "Alexander's victory sends a very strong message to the rest of the Persians.
09:02 They may think this is a young general, an upstart, a child, a boy. He's a force to be reckoned with."
09:10 "Alexander!"
09:13 By the time he was done, the Macedonian Empire stretched to Central Asia and India and brought about the influential Hellenistic period.
09:20 Alexander won battles with siege warfare, the aforementioned phalanx formation,
09:25 and his feared companion cavalry that used shock tactics to their advantage.
09:30 "Alexander has the phalanxes that his father had created. This incredibly hardened and experienced battle force that is at his disposal."
09:45 He also utilized innovative techniques, combining units to create a swift-moving military engine.
09:51 Finally, Alexander himself was fiercely ambitious and deeply charismatic, which lent fantastic unity to his army.
09:58 They were literally unstoppable. In fact, the only reason they did stop was because they were tired and didn't feel like fighting anymore.
10:05 "Alexander's troops demand to turn around and go home. He tries to get a handle on the situation, but this is too big for him."
10:14 "His charisma that had driven his army for ten years across all of the known world had essentially run out at this point."
10:21 3. Operation Desert Storm Iraq invaded the oil-rich country of Kuwait in August 1990, kick-starting the famous Gulf War.
10:30 "At 2 a.m. on the 2nd of August, 1990, Iraqi forces crossed over the border into Kuwait. The entire country was occupied in six hours."
10:42 To help liberate Kuwait from Iraqi influence, the United States and a number of other countries launched a devastating air campaign-ground offensive combo
10:50 that swiftly ended the war. The aerial assault targeted many key locations important to the Iraqi military,
10:56 effectively decimating their power and allowing the ground forces to move quickly and effortlessly.
11:01 "Instead of gradual build-up and instead of sending messages, the message that would be sent by instant thunder
11:09 was a sudden, devastating, simultaneous attack on all kinds of targets."
11:15 The coalition forces also owned superior weapons, utilizing Tomahawk cruise missiles and high-tech advancements
11:21 like laser-guided smart bombs to strike with extreme precision. It wasn't much of a fight, and the campaign was over within weeks.
11:29 2. The campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte If there's one name that rivals Alexander the Great in terms of military dominance, it's Napoleon Bonaparte.
11:38 "Napoleon had spent almost the whole of the last 11 years at war against various combinations of the forces of Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Holland, and Italy."
11:49 The famous French commander is widely regarded as one of history's greatest military leaders,
11:54 mostly dominating the French Revolutionary Wars and later Napoleonic Wars.
11:59 His operations and tactics are still being taught in military academies around the world,
12:04 a reputation that is bolstered by his exceptional record.
12:08 "Napoleon could simply direct his core commanders on their mission or objective.
12:14 This made the French army far more responsive and flexible than the armies that Napoleon faced."
12:22 Of the 81 battles he fought, he lost only 11.
12:26 He won these battles with exceptional tactics like surprise attacks, rapid maneuvering, flanking enemies, and devastating artillery attacks, just to name a few.
12:35 While he ultimately lost, Napoleon is often called a military genius who changed the methods of warfare forever.
12:42 "His strategic vision, timing, and his consummate grasp of every one of the variables which influenced the behavior of a vast army have made him a legendary figure to rank alongside Alexander the Great, Caesar, and Hannibal."
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13:13 Ladies and gentlemen, number one, the Normandy Landings.
13:18 History was made on June 6th, 1944.
13:22 Widely known as D-Day, it saw humanity's largest seaborne invasion when the Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France.
13:30 "It is the largest military operation ever undertaken in history.
13:34 It involves so many people, so many layers of military apparatus from transports and tanks, ammunition, soldiers and sailors, communication devices."
13:46 It may seem like we just threw soldiers at the Germans, but the truth is far more complex.
13:51 The landings required extensive planning and thorough research, like deciding what beaches to land on and secretly gathering intelligence from the Axis powers.
14:00 "Since 1941, the Allies have been able to crack the codes used by the enemy to encrypt its radio messages.
14:07 The Germans didn't know this, but many of their top-secret exchanges were intercepted and decoded by the English."
14:16 Furthermore, they planned around the moon phase and the resulting tides, ensuring a precise date and time for the landings.
14:23 And speaking of, the Allies successfully fooled the Axis with Operation Bodyguard, which masked the real locations and times through clever deception.
14:32 "The Allies create all kinds of diversions, all kinds of fake radio traffic, even using fake tanks and things like that to create the illusion that this may be a three-pronged or a two-pronged operation."
14:44 Ingenious planning resulted in what was the most important victory of World War II.
14:49 What do you make of these operations?
14:51 Let us know in the comments below.
14:53 "Just two hours ago, Allied air forces began an attack on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait. These attacks continue as I speak."
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