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In times of war, one decision can be the difference between victory and defeat.
One tiny slip up or major blunder can completely change the course of history.
As the leaders behind these top 10 worst military decisions have found, when the bullets start
flying and the enemy is advancing, there is no room for mistakes and bad calls.
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10.
Battle of Red Cliffs During the Battle of Red Cliffs, warlord of
the Eastern Han dynasty, Cao Cao, engaged the Sun Quan and Liu Bei in what should have
been a quick victory.
Armed with upwards of 240,000 soldiers (or 800,000 by his account), Cao Cao’s army
could have crushed his opponents, who struck back with a force around 50,000 strong.
Cao Cao’s biggest mistake, however, was turning his experienced infantry unit into
an untried naval force, essentially rendering them useless in battle.
Unfamiliar with sea travel and susceptible to disease within the tropics, the Han dynasty’s
military was far too exhausted and inexperienced to fight back against Sun Quan and Liu Bei.
9.
Attack on Pearl Harbor It seemed like a viable plan – surprise
the United States Naval base at Pearl Harbor and cripple the American fleet to conquer
the Pacific, but Japan’s surprise bombardment of several airfields and Battleship Row may
have been a complete mistake.
Out of the nine battleships moored at the harbor, only three were permanently sunk.
The rest either joined the war effort immediately after or were repaired prior to 1945.
Beyond even the failed attempt to cripple the Navy, the United States’ role in World
War II was likely vital in Japan’s defeat, so by drawing the U.S. in, the country sealed
its own fate.
8.
George Meade’s Indecision When you’ve delivered a hefty blow to your
opponent’s forces, you don’t give them the chance to rebuild.
Typically, you strike while the iron’s hot, lay waste to the rest of their military.
Union general George Gordon Meade either was not aware of this tactic or grossly misjudged
Confederate General Robert E. Lee after the Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg.
After defeating Lee and crippling his army by 1/3, Meade refused to pursue the wounded
Confederate force that could have potentially ended the war two years earlier.
It was a decision that even President Lincoln chided the general for allowing Lee to escape.
7.
Napoleon’s Russian Invasion Even the best military tacticians can make
grave mistakes, but Napoleon’s fumble of invading Russia was a disaster retold countless
times.
In the early 19th century, encouraged by a series of victories won by his Grande Armée,
Napoleon sought to crush Russia once and for all.
Through a series of battles, the French pushed the Russians deeper into the country – but
then they hit Moscow.
Napoleon waited fruitlessly for a Russian surrender but the freezing weather forced
a retreat, allowing the opposition to regroup.
Russian allies took the withdrawal as a sign of weakness and rejoined the fight against
the French, leading to Napoleon’s defeat in 1815.
6.
Charge of the Light Brigade In times of war, good communication can be
the difference between a crushing defeat and victory.
During the 1854 Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War, one simple miscommunication spelled
imminent doom for upwards of 100 of the Light Brigade, or Britain’s light cavalry.
British commanders had their sights set on a Russian brigade that would have been easy
to overtake, but a hiccup in communication sent the Light Brigade head first into a valley
surrounded by Russian troops.
Though many within the cavalry recognized that it was essentially a suicide mission,
the 600-strong force rushed forward anyway.
Before being forced to retreat, the Light Brigade suffered upwards of 270 casualties.
5.
The Battle of Hattin Waging war in a desert environment requires
a hefty supply of water, so when King Guy of Lusignan ordered his Crusaders to march
beyond their camps at Sepphoris, where they had plentiful water and an advantage over
Ayyubid sultan Salah ad-Din, he was making a monumental blunder.
As one can guess, as Guy’s Crusaders walked along a barren path, they suffered from dehydration.
By nightfall, the Crusaders were stuck on a dry hill while Saladin’s forces enjoyed
comfort in a nearby valley.
On the morning of July 4, 1187, Saladin stormed the hill and overpowered King Guy’s weakened
army.
4.
The Battle of Changping Supplies are vital to any military force and
when a supply line is cut, the forces relying on them will likely collapse soon after.
After assuming command of the military of the State of Zhao, Zhao Kuo, son of former
General Zhao She, made a vital mistake by following the retreating State of Qin forces
towards the Qin fortress.
Awaiting the Zhao was a 30,000-strong trap that fatally divided Kuo’s forces.
With his supply line cut and his forces divided due to his ambitious assault, the Zhao were
unable to return to their own fortress.
For 46 days, the Zhao suffered under Qin sieges until their remaining supplies dwindled and
Kuo was killed.
3.
The Battle of San Jacinto Maybe when you’re in the middle of war,
breaking for a traditional mid-afternoon nap isn't the wisest of choices.
The final battle of the Texan Revolution against Mexican forces was a quick one, lasting only
18 minutes before the Mexicans retreated.
The fatal flaw came when Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna allowed his army to break for a
siesta without proper guards keeping watch.
In the cover of the mid-afternoon sun, Texans crept towards the relaxed military force.
With cries of “Remember the Alamo” and “Remember Goliad,” the Texans attacked,
catching the napping military off guard and causing upwards of 850 casualties.
2.
Hitler’s Invasion of Russia As Napoleon found out, invading Russia isn’t
an easy task and comes with dozens of variables.
Hitler didn’t heed the warnings from the French’s failed invasion and made the same
mistake over 125 years later.
Believing Russia just needed one last push before crumbling, Hitler launched Operation
Barbarossa on June 22, 1941.
Despite victories over the Russians, Hitler halted the German advance and diverted forces
towards Kiev.
This allowed enough time to pass for one of Russia’s fiercest winters to roll in.
Unprepared for the subzero temperatures and frozen battlefield, Germany was eventually
forced to retreat and give up the ground it had fought hard for.
1.
The Vietnam War When the United States entered the Vietnam
War to back South Vietnam against North Vietnam and its communist allies, it launched one
of the biggest American military disasters to date.
Outside of a lack of support from both the Vietnamese and Americans, the United States
military completely underestimated the Vietcong.
The United States was unprepared for the guerrilla tactics that were used, so much so that American
troops resorted to destroying entire villages in fear of hidden Vietcong aggressors.
By the time the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam, its military force suffered over 200,000 casualties
and for no discernible reason – Vietnam ended up becoming a communist nation afterward
anyway.