We're back from the massive Wombat family wedding/beach-fest, about which more later (supplemented by photos from our redoubtable mom-in-law's camera, as ours is on the fritz -- we'll post when the CD arrives. Hopefully, the tide-pool pictures will be worth the wait).
In the meantime, I've finally managed to unpack the Sekret Booke of Quiz Questions (for security reasons, we had to take it with us), and thus can finally deliver today's cognition-corker, with apologies for those of you who are now already too far into your weekend benders to type legibly.
The last recorded instance of a particular tactic in warfare was in 1710, in a city which is now a national capital and whose name has been changed. The losing side -- and the victim of this particular tactic -- were the Swedes, who had held dominion over the city for approximately 150 years. The forces that took it from them were from a nation that (in various guises) then held hegemony over it until quite recently (with one three-year interruption).
What was this tactic? For bonus points, what is the name of the city? If you get the bonus question, you shouldn't have too much trouble figuring out the nationality of the conquering nation.
First correct answer to comments wins a surprisingly party-oriented playlist of early morning music as enjoyed by the staff of Sleep Monk Coffee Roasters in Cannon Beach, OR (featuring "Roses" by Outkast). No Googling or sending a text message to that new reference librarian you have such a crush on, even though this would be such a good excuse to start a conversation. And one guess per comment, please, although of course you can combine main-answer and bonus-answer guesses in the same one.
Posted by BT at August 26, 2005 01:22 PMUsing a large wooden animal to gain entrance to the city.
Posted by: Sara on August 26, 2005 01:34 PMCatapulting heads of slain enemies over the city walls.
Posted by: Sara on August 26, 2005 01:51 PMNope.
Posted by: BT on August 26, 2005 01:54 PMGooglebombing?
Posted by: bootsy on August 26, 2005 03:55 PMSince this is clearly going to go into the weekend, I should add that we are looking for a very specific tactic here -- and one that while not the most famous aspect of pre-industrial warfare, was certainly well-known (and horrible enough) to have been amply recorded and written about.
Incidentally, did you know that Hannibal is said to have catapulted clay pots full of poisonous snakes onto the decks of the Pergamene ships?
Posted by: BT on August 26, 2005 05:09 PMLacking both clue and bender, I'll rule out bayonet charge, since this one was used by the French, with predictable results, in WW I.
Le pantalon rouge, c'est la France!
Pouring hot oil on one's attackers from the top of the castle wall. (But wait, that's a defender's tactic rather than an attacker's tactic--sounds like the Swedes were evicted from their castles).
Posted by: art on August 26, 2005 10:15 PMHmmmm. I'm going with horde of monkeys. And Turkey. Because I think that Constantinople bit was pretty brief.
Posted by: KF on August 26, 2005 10:17 PMThe city is Kiev, was formerly owned by the Russians, and the battle technique was to pour Swiss Cheese on one's foes after pummelling them with raw chicken meat.
Posted by: art on August 26, 2005 10:22 PMI thought of Istanbul too but that has changed hands "quite recently" has it?
Flaming arrows? (Maybe just arrows themselves?)
Posted by: art on August 26, 2005 10:25 PMOK, I've neglected our native Americans again. And my grammar is falling by the wayside.
Dropping things on the enemy from balloon.
Posted by: art on August 26, 2005 10:27 PM...which would be pretty vulnerable to counterattack by arrow, flaming or otherwise.
Posted by: art on August 26, 2005 10:28 PMI'm going to guess that Sara was really close, but that the tactic was catapulting plague-infested corpses over a city wall.
Has anyone guessed Riga yet?
Boxjam's long interest in the gross-outs of history brings him the laurels here; the attackers catapulted plaguey corpses over the walls of a city at that time called Reval by the Swedes and the Germans. It's called something else now -- not, in fact, Riga. It's incidentally, roughly half the size of that city.
Any guesses on the nationality of the victorious weilders of this fiendish tactic?
Posted by: BT on August 28, 2005 12:26 AMSomewhere in Alsace-Lorraine? Man, my high school French has deserted me. Um, yes, the French used this dastardly trick, right?
Posted by: art on August 28, 2005 06:51 AMTallinn?
Posted by: Scraps on August 28, 2005 11:51 AMGive that man an Estonian kroon. Scraps takes the bonus with his answer of Tallinn. Here's a photo of part of the Old Town:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tallinn02.jpg
If you hadn't figured it out, that makes the Russians the corpse-tossers...
Posted by: BT on August 28, 2005 11:36 PMWell, you know the saying, "the sun never rises on the Swedish empire, what with them being mostly nice, quiet folk and their country basically in the Arctic Circle anyway," so I've got to believe it was someplace really close to Sweden.
So I'll guess the capital of Latvia, Latvia City.
Big money. No whammies.
Posted by: boxjam on August 28, 2005 11:40 PMWhat the hell are you doing checking answers at this time of night?
Posted by: boxjam on August 28, 2005 11:41 PM