Zulu

Movie of the Battle of Rorke's drift, ~150 British soldiers defending a mission station against ~4000 Zulus.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Zulu
• Caine
• Chard
• Bromhead
• Rorke's
• Drift
• Battle
• British
• Army
• Sergeant
• Bourne

[yammyrob]

this is like coventry now

[slideharp1]

@oddersisadog The skirmishers on the hill are keeping a good portion of the Brits down while they attack another part of the line. It's called a feint and is standard practice, it's been done for as long as there've been armies. The Zulu commander wasn't waiting for reinforcements, his regiment had not shared in the carnage at Isandlwana a few hours before and so sallied forth to get some - RD seemed like an easy target, and quite close. They also had more firearms than the Brits.

[slideharp1]

@daneredaxe No they couldn't. The battle was fought mainly at night 22nd-23rd and not as portrayed here. After they'd shot their bolt, they saw a relief column on it's way to Rorke's Drift and left. So they couldn't "have won the battle if they attacked again", you know. You might prefer "Zulu Dawn" - you can see the Brits losing for a change.

[daneredaxe]

@DDFF232 yes because NOBODY killed each other before the white man showed up. as we all know Africa, middle east, and the Americas were COMPLETELY peaceful before the white man. and all the fighting in Africa and the middle east only happened because of the white man.

[daneredaxe]

@Paganfuckingsexgod they could have won the battle if they attacked in the end you know...the British wouldn't have stood a chance then, all they could do was fight on for as long as they could. then die. preferably surrounded by dead enemies. thankfull for them the Zulu showed incredible honor by, you know, not killing them all despite they could. the zulus were fantastic fighters, but its hard to beat an enemy that can efficiently slaughter you far beyond your range.

[daneredaxe]

@oddersisadog testing the fire was a common tactic by the Zulu to try and get a rough estimate of how many guns you have in an area,AKA how many guys are defending that spot.

its a basic tactic to take the higher ground and shoot down at an opponent, any time you can kill them and not loose as many guys, its generally a good idea.

the warriors falling back is not because the commander said, but because they don't want to die by trying to charge over a wall into a line of muskets.

[oddersisadog]

Outstanding that one British man sent to build a bridge can manage to hold off a army with such a small force.

[oddersisadog]

Why did the Zulu troops taunt and test the fire from the British? also the skirmishers on the hill seemed unnecessary.

Did the Zulu commander have all his men at the battle site together or was he awaiting reinforcements from further away?

I would have surrounded the base and hit them from all sides and pressed the attack until a breech was made then shifted the majority of the men to the breech. There's no reason to fall back when you outnumber the enemy 26 times.

[SuperMikey1960]

133 years since the battle was won 1879

[slideharp1]

@comradebot I'd love to have a Mammoth - there's nothing around here but cats, rabbits, gerbils etc.....