History Quiz: Warfare

The Char 2C or FCM 2C, was developed during WWI but not deployed until after the war. It had a length of 10.27 metres, a width of 3 metres, a height of 4.09 metres and a weight of 69 tonnes. The Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus, designed in Nazi Germany, was heavier at 188 tonnes but only reached the prototype stage.

Between 5,000 and 6,000 chariots were involved, used by both the Egyptians and the Hittites.

Three ships owned by the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Scimitar, while the same navy also uses Scimitar-class patrol vessels. The Supermarine Scimitar is a fighter aircraft once used by the Royal Navy and the FV107 Scimitar is a tank used by the British Army. Another three ships owned by the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Sabre, while the Sabre tank was used by the British Army. Lastly, the North American F-86 Sabre is a jet fighter that was used in the Korean War. Only ships and an explosive weapon (the M18A1 Claymore) have been named after the claymore, including Claymore-class destroyers used by the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th Century.

Song General Han Shizhong used huochong or hand cannons to capture a city in Fujian province, on 28th January 1132.

He fought against King Porus of the Paurava kingdom of the Indian subcontinent, on the banks of the Jhelum River (known to the Greeks as Hydaspes, giving the battle its name). Alexander won, and as such large areas of the Punjab were absorbed into his empire.

He was one of the most important leaders of the Protestant side, so although the Protestants won the battle, his death caused them to lose direction.

The onager resembled a small catapult and the scorpio or scorpion resembled a ballista.

He retreated two months after the siege had failed and withdrew to Egypt.

The English army, under King Harold Godwinson, fought against a Norwegian force under King Harald Hadrada and Tostig Godwinson, Harold's brother (this was after Harold had exiled him).

The last shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, was under the control of the daimyō Oda Nobunaga, who through conquest had gained control over most of Honshu. Yoshiaki tried to attack Nobunaga to relinquish his control, but failed and was subsequently exiled, ending the Ashikaga shogunate. Nobunaga was later betrayed by one of his retainers and was forced to commit suicide. Another retainer, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, avenged Nobunaga and consolidated control over Japan. After he died, there was a power vacuum which would then result in the Battle of Sekigahara, which Tokugawa Ieyasu won. Three years later, he had consolidated his rule over Japan.

He was a general, who had previously fought for Spain against France, then for France against Spain and Great Britain, until finally he fought on behalf of Saint-Domingue, the French colony where the revolution occurred.

The falx had a curved blade with a sharp inside edge. It could easily get through the armour of Roman legionaries, which forced the Romans use previously unused or modified equipment to help them defeat the Dacians.

They were made out of animal skins, various plant materials, precious metals and had bird feathers hanging from them.

It was fought between a fleet of the Holy League (a coalition of European Catholic states) and a fleet of the Ottoman Empire, in the Gulf of Patras (a branch of the Ionian Sea). It was the last major engagement in the Western world to be fought almost entirely between rowing vessels. The Holy League won the battle.

The purpose of this was to reduce draught while allowing the ship to carry much more armour and a heavier armament than similarly-sized ships.