Battles won by much weaker side
score:5
This is kind of a tough question because to some degree the side which wins a battle is kind of by definition the "stronger" side. That being said, a couple examples from the American Civil War:
Chancellorsville: Probably the best example of the bunch. Confederate General Robert E. Lee had a force of around 60,000 opposing a Union force led by "Fighting Joe" Hooker (120,000). Amazingly, in the face of these long odds Lee chose to split his army in two, having somewhere around 35k of his troops sit in the front and withstand a Union attack while the other ~25k went through a purportedly impenetrable wilderness and caught the flank of the opponents. That group, led by Stonewall Jackson, succeeded in "crossing the T", as they call it in the navy, and routed a huge chunk of the Union army.
Fredericksburg: This one wasn't quite as lopsided as Chancellorsville, but it was still a clear Confederate victory in the face of long odds at the end of the day. This time the Union army was led by Ambrose Burnside, a man probably best remembered for his facial hair (his name is the origin of the term "sideburns"). Burnside basically ran his men up a hill at the entrenched Confederate forces, suffering heavy casualties and gaining no ground at the end of the day.
Cold Harbor: This came a good year after the Fredericksburg/Chancellorsville debacles (also, Second Bull Run is in there, was also a Confederate victory against long odds, and I'm only leaving it out due to the Rule of Three), and the Union commander in chief was overall a lot better at his job. This was Ulysses S. Grant, opposed as ever by Robert E. Lee. Grant did much of what Burnside did at Fredericksburg, though, attempting a series of frontal assaults on entrenched positions which were bloodily repulsed. There was some method to this madness, as Grant knew that even if he lost troops at a 2:1 rate vs. Lee he'd eventually win, but in this battle casualties were worse than 3:1.
Upvote:2
There are two episodes from WW2 in Russia come to mind.
Panfilov's Twenty-Eight Guardsmen
This is an episode every school kid from former Soviet Union studied in history course. The story is that 28 soldiers were able to withstand the attack of German tanks of Panzer Division while destroying many tanks and a lot of infantry. Almost all of them perished. That delay of German advance to Moscow outskirts provided much needed time for organizing of counter offensive that proved to be very successful.
This is another case of long-standing resistance against far more superior enemy forces right on the border between USSR and Germany (Poland and Belorussia's border presently). Brest's fortress was able to fight for several weeks after the war began and was doing so in isolation when the front line moved hundreds kilometers to the East. Strategic gain of that event was not immediate though for the war lasted for 4 years after that.
Upvote:2
How can you discount the "2 tanks vs. 1 million spearmen" and still take into account Rorke's Drift? A breech-loaded rifle is a very massive technological improvement over a spear, regardless of whether or not you're in favorable terrain (which the missionary station can HARDLY be counted as one)
In anycase, most of Britain's battles fit into your 'category', as vague as it is. The reason being that soldiery was seen as a punishment in Britain, so usually only the dregs of society were thrown in, where they bonded over their common backgrounds and harsh punishment. A few of their achievements come to mind:
- Battle of the Dunes 1658 (Turenne's right was mostly uncommitted, most of the action was done by the English against Spanish veterans)
- Battle of Minden 1759 (Six British and 2 Hannoverian regiments against the entire French left wing)
- Battle of Assaye 1803
- Battle of Plassey 1757
- Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt
Upvote:6
The Battle of Strasbourg when the Roman army of Julian the Apostate fought the Alamanni in 357 AD. Outnumbered 2-1 the Roman army nevertheless routed their opposing army with minimal losses.
Also most of Belisarius' battles were fought against vastly larger forces.
Upvote:7
A prime example would be the Siege of Malta by the Ottomans in 1565. The Ottomans outnumbered the defenders 5 to 1, according to the numbers given by Francisco Balbi di Correggio, but did not succeed in conquering the island.
Upvote:9
Taking this to mean numerical inferiority and restricting to cases where the weaker side won, these are the biggest disparities I can find.
The easiest way to win while significantly outnumbered is to defend a strong fortress in a siege, as shown in Eger where 2100 to 2300 Hungarian defenders held out against an Ottoman force with 35000 to 40000 men.
In field battles, armies have to rely on superior arms, training and tactics. In the Battle of Watling Street, 10000 professional Roman soldiers crushed Boudica's rabble of 100000 or 230000 (depending on the source). Without the advantage of substantially superior arms, the 30000 men under Xiang Yu surprised and defeated Liu Bang's force of 560000 to recapture Pengcheng.
Amongst naval battles, Phormio's Athenian fleet of 20 defeated a Peloponnesian fleet of 77 at the Battle of Naupactus. This was particularly impressive given they were already down to 11 ships before inflicting any damage on the Peloponnesians.
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