6 In 1026, during the Battle of Helgeå, King Olaf II defeated King Cnut using a man-made Tsunami that destroyed Cnut’s massive naval fleet. Olaf ordered a dam to be built of peat and lumber on the river. When Cnut sailed in, the dam collapsed and water smashed into the Anglo-Danish fleet and they drowned in the deluge.
In the painting of St. Olav the king of Norway by Pius Adamowitsch Welonsky, the Image to the right is used for representational purposes only. Image credits: Renata Sedmakova/Shutterstock, Shutterstock.
After the conquest of England in 1016 and his recognition as King of Denmark in 1018, King Cnut made various visits to England to permanently claim his control. His absence from Denmark resulted in threats to his Danish kingdom.
On the other side, two Scandinavian kings, King Olaf II of Norway and King Jacob of Sweden gathered men from various corners of the world and revolted against Cnut because they wished to take over Denmark.
When Cnut heard of these two kings attacking his kingdom, he arranged his naval forces to fight these two. He prepared a large fleet which included 600 ships, a vast number of men, and his Dragon Ship which was twice the size of ships in Norwegian. On the other side, Olaf roughly had 450 ships.
When Cnut learned that Olaf II and Jacob had taken refuge in a river estuary on the coast of Sweden, he sailed with his vast army along the Helgea River where Jacob spies saw them. They started preparing for war, and Olaf II set an unpredictable trap for Cnut. Olaf ordered a dam on the river made of peat and lumber.
When Cnut’s army sailed in, Olaf ordered the dam to be collapsed, and the water flooded towards Cnut’s fleet. The Anglo-Danish fleet was shocked watching water charging towards them and ripping everything in its path. The navy drowned in the deluge. This allowed King Olaf II and Jacob to escape by keeping much of their navy intact. (1, 2)
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7 In 1965, during the Indo-Pak War, Pakistan lost despite having high-range military tanks as compared to India. An Indian general ordered the flooding of sugarcane fields which slowed down Pakistan’s tanks. They were not able to move due to muddy ground. This made them easy targets. Pakistan lost nearly 100 tanks, whereas India lost only 10 tanks.
The Battle of Asal Uttar which was fought between India and Pakistan in 1965 is considered one of the largest tank battles. The battle was fought between 8 to 10 September, when the Pakistani Army captured Khem Karan, which was five km from the International border and was eyeing the city of Amritsar.
India gathered all their possible reinforcements but was still outnumbered in terms of tanks and men. On the other side, Pakistani had modern, American Patton tanks, which were more advanced and big as compared to the tanks India had.
When Pakistan forces were advancing, Indian Maj. Gen. Gurbaksh Singh ordered the division to fall back and form a defensive position in a horseshoe shape, using Asal Uttar as the focal point. Taking the advantage of darkness, he ordered his troops to flood the sugarcane fields and lured Pakistan forces to attack.
On September 10, 1965, the Pakistani took the bait and attacked the soldiers hiding in the field. As the Pakistani tanks approached, they slowed down and were not able to move due to muddy or swampy ground. They fell into this horseshoe trap and became easy targets. The Indian army took advantage and destroyed their tanks. As a result, the Pakistan army lost nearly 100 tanks whereas India lost only 10 tanks. (1, 2)
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8 In 1999, during Kosovo War when Yugoslavia feared attack from NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), they made fake fortifications, war machines, artillery, used vehicles as decoys, made planes from wood and plastic, and used obsolete tanks as decoys to waste the enemies munitions on these fake military.
Wreck of Soviet-built 122-mm self-propelled howitzer 2S1 Gvozdika destroyed during the Kosovo war, located in small village near city of Glogovac. Image credit: Mika Rantenan via Wikimedia.org
During the Kosovo War in 1999, Yugoslavia developed a large number of deception and concealment tactics to fight against NATO attacks. When Yugoslavia faced invasion from NATO in March 1999, the Yugoslav strategists started developing a large number of deception and concealment tactics.
They made fake fortifications, fake bridges, and air bases, fake tanks, and artillery from old tires and plastic. Old cars were used as tanks to produce engine heat, obsolete tanks and old airplanes were used to draw enemy munitions and expose them to AA (anti-aircraft) fire. All of this camouflage was created during the fights with Albanian KLA guerillas on the ground.
The NATO planes usually fly at higher altitudes than 3,500 m due to strong AA fire and because of this, the decoy target was successful. Around 90% of decoy targets were destroyed, whereas very few real armored vehicles and artillery pieces were destroyed. Out of 1,300 tanks, only 14 tanks and 22 armored vehicles were destroyed. This decoy strategy worked for Yugoslavia, but they had to eventually retreat from Kosovo because of international pressure. (1, 2)
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9 In 1915 during the Battle of Ypres, Germans used chlorine gas on the French territorial troops to break the standoff. When soldiers died, a six km gap was created. When Canadian soldiers rushed to fill the gap, they saw a greenish cloud approaching to which a medical officer ordered troops to urinate in cloth and hold it to their faces, which eventually saved them from deadly gas.
During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from 22 April to 25 May 1915. The battle was fought at the Western Fort in Belgium. Less than a year after fighting the battle, the armies of British, France, and Germany were unable to break through each other’s defenses. On 22 April, to deal with this situation, Germany used a new weapon, chlorine gas, to break the standoff. Germans deployed the chlorine fas on the French territorial troops.
Around 6,000 soldiers died from asphyxiation during the first ten minutes, which created a six km gap. German soldiers moved from behind the cloud breathing through sodium thiosulfate solution-soaked cotton pads. However, French and Algerians somehow managed to stop Germans from marching on the city of Ypres.
On April 24, a second gas attack was launched on Canadians, this time, as they saw a greenish cloud approaching, a medical officer ordered the troops to immediately urinate in a cloth and hold over their mouths and noses.
This technique saved them from deadly gas because urea in urine reacts with chlorine and neutralizes the gas. The power of pee saved Canadians against the chlorine gas attack, and they successfully defended Ypres. (Source)
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10 During World War I, warships were painted with complex patterns in contrasting colors to form a camouflage that is called “dazzle camouflage.” This is comprised of complex patterns and geometric shapes making it difficult for the enemy to estimate their speed, range, and heading.
Image credit: Kevin Shipp/Shutterstock
“Dazzle camouflage” was extensively used during World War I and to a lesser extent in World War II. The idea was introduced by British marine artist Norman Wilkinson. It consisted of warships painted with complex patterns and geometric shapes. The patterns were in contrasting colors that are interrupting and intersected with each other.
This camouflage is intended to mislead the enemy about a target ship’s speed, range, and heading. This will cause them to be unable to calculate a good aiming point. The pattern of each ship was unique to avoid being recognizable to the enemy. The success of the experiment was, at best, mixed. (Source)
