I was watching The Guns of Navarone over the weekend and had a thought (I know a dangerous pastime). In the fictional movie, a small squad destroys a somewhat important strategic target. Now, it is obvious that many of the largest battles in history have been pivotal turning points in their respective wars. However, what battle has included the least number of combatants but been the most pivotal. I’m not much of a history expert so I don’t really have any position, but I am interested in insights from the experts on here (I considered making the FQ but it feels like it will be debated), and I thought it might be a fun somewhat less serious debate.
A few rules (they be more guidelines than rules, yarr):
- Duals don’t count regardless of the numbers involved.
- Military forces used to be much smaller so some consideration should be given to the size of the force relative to the typical force of the day.
- Impact should probably be relatively decisive to the overall conflict. Domino effect allowed. I.e., if the guns of Navarone had not been destroyed, then the troops would not have been present for X, which would have been a disaster for Y! But the least dominoes the better.
So, any thoughts? What battles had few combatants but a large impact?