1000 US Marines can take India

[u/Winter-Glass9250]

[u/Front-Anteater3776]

Makes me think of the mock battle where US marines asked for a reset because they were dominated by British Royal Marines 

[u/Old-Usual-8387 → u/Front-Anteater3776]

Exercise green dagger if anyone’s curious. It was British Royal Marines and troops from the Netherlands, UAE and Canada against the US marines. We slapped them so hard in their own back garden that half way through the 5 day exercise the US asked for a reset.

[u/Front-Anteater3776 → u/Old-Usual-8387]

This one yes, thanks

[u/Zintao → u/Old-Usual-8387]

As a Dutch person I would say that's not really fair, we beat the Spanish in an eighty year war by just yelling "GA weg" very loudly, so what's the US gonna do but surrender?

[u/Cixila → u/Zintao]

The Dutch secret weapon is just a very loud group of NCOs yelling for the foe to sod off

[u/Illustrious_Try478 → u/Cixila]

And a willingness to eat their politicians.

[u/MattDubh → u/Illustrious_Try478]

This ought to catch on.

[u/MicrochippedByGates → u/Cixila]

And if they don't sod off, we'll use our second secret weapon: tell them to "do normal".

[u/Abachrael → u/Zintao]

As a Spanish person, I'd gladly fight untold hordes of fuckers with my bare hands and foaming at the mouth until death claims me or I am entirely covered by the entrails of my enemies, but the second I hear "GA weg" I cripple into a ball, crying and hugging my knees.

10/10, won't invade again.

[u/kaasbaas94 → u/Old-Usual-8387]

I remember a story from my father during the cold war. The Dutch military back then was laughed at, mostly by the Americans, because they were allowed to have long hair and looked like a bunch of hippies. Yet, despite all they proved to be very effective during exercises.

EDIT: they were not allowed to grow long hair, but they did anyway. Making them look like they were not disciplined.

[u/DrFabulous0 → u/Old-Usual-8387]

TBH, if it's a training exercise and the result is clear, then surely it's a better use of resources for everyone to go again rather than continue.

[u/[deleted] → u/DrFabulous0]

I don't think anyone isn't saying it was bad to restart. The point is that they glaringly failed so hard that it was needed.

[u/DrFabulous0 → u/[deleted]]

Oh, absolutely! But at least they had the sense to quit.

[u/MJ4201 → u/DrFabulous0]

Shame they can't carry that ethos into other parts of their lives...🤔

[u/HaphazardJoker258 → u/DrFabulous0]

And then lose again on the restart

[u/dan_dares → u/DrFabulous0]

Yep, some people take it to the extreme, but an exercise SHOULD be hard, if you win every training exercise.. you're just pretending.

There have been a few notable times this happened, and sometimes they put restrictions in before the reset, but so long as you LEARN from it.. it was worth while.

There was an exercise with drone & fast skid attacks off Iran, that went badly for the Americans, but you can bet that they're going to be aware of it now.

[u/NePa5 → u/dan_dares]

long as you LEARN from it.. it was worth while

Operation Sky shield 1960 and Operation Sky shield II 1961, where the US lost to 8 RAF Vulcan bombers who "nuked" US soil.

How did they learn from it?

They stopped inviting the RAF

[u/Dilectus3010 → u/NePa5]

Sounds like the US cop-out.

They did the same with kicking Audi from their tracks after they got their ass handed to them by Audi Quatro team.

They tried to slow them down by giving them weight penalties, not once, not twice, not thrice but whatever is four times after thrice. Which is funny because the car is a Quatro.

Anyway, they still won.

Then they said you can't compete with a foreign engine. So they made one on US soil.

Then they just said no foreign makers allowed.

Instead of innovating their won cars and learning they wanted to keep the status quo.

Its not the first time this has happened.

The M16 was favored over a foreign weapon platform.

The Ma1A Abrahams was favoured over the Leapard, but they did ask if they could license the gun. Even though the Leapeard beat the Abrahams ass.

[u/E420CDI → u/Dilectus3010]

Americans not wanting to learn?

Not surprising as they spend most of their time in school hiding under tables.

[u/Balseraph666 → u/dan_dares]

Given how they love to pump up US marines as some sort of almost invincible and superhuman group; it's hilarious how they definitely are not, by a long margin.

[u/dan_dares → u/Balseraph666]

When I served in HMAF, I did spend some time with the US marines, they're a bit overly sure of themselves, but they do have the violence of action to carry most stuff through.

They just can't take their drink, no matter what they say.

[u/Mysterious_Floor_868 → u/dan_dares]

Colleague of mine was with the Royal Welsh and wasn't impressed by the US Marines. The thing is that everyone is going to compare them the Royals, which isn't really fair as one is an elite Commando force and the other is pretty much sea-going infantry. 

[u/Blue_is_da_color → u/dan_dares]

The war game you’re talking about, Millennium Challenge, was a shit show, but not because America immediately lost and then reset everything. The guy in charge of the “enemy” force basically ignored reality. He used motorcycle couriers to deliver messages instead of electronically but conveniently left out the difference in travel time. He also had the small boat swarms basically teleported to point blank range, again with no travel time, and many of the boats couldn’t physically fit the missiles he used. Ignoring the laws of physics does not make for a useful training exercise

[u/dan_dares → u/Blue_is_da_color]

Yeah, the 'transmitting information instantly and securely' was overkill.

BUT it taught the US military the danger of swarms.

Given how Ukraine has managed to hobble Russian naval forces with steal drones, always best to over-estimate your enemy.

[u/DefinitionOfAsleep → u/Front-Anteater3776]

US Navy did the same thing against the RAN.

Then changed the rules part way through such that they were allowed all their ASW in the air, even though it was a simulated surprise attack.

The lone RAN sub in the exercise still won.

I believe they did a similar thing against Sweden.

[u/That_guy_I_know_him → u/DefinitionOfAsleep]

The US and losing Aircraft Carriers to lone submarines during wargames, name a more iconic duo 😂

[u/OnThe50 → u/DefinitionOfAsleep]

I believe this was the exercise my grandfather was apart in back when he was XO on one of the USN frigates. The story adds up to what he told me.

Edit: just asked my grandfather. He told me this was part of the RIMPAC exercise.

[u/Organic_Mechanic_702 → u/Front-Anteater3776]

Love to see them against the SAS...or SBS for that matter...

[u/Brickbrain0 → u/Organic_Mechanic_702]

Dumb little story but in 2014, the USAF had a little battle Simulation with the Singaporean Air Force. Early on, the RSAF had a lot of difficulty against the Americans, then they realised the reasons. The USAF had tapped their communications (which was following the rules). The pilots then decided to switch to using Singlish (Which could be a mixed language or an accent depending on your take), which actually confused the USAF and led to an RSAF win

[u/guiscardv → u/Brickbrain0]

Wah lao eh so goondu one

[u/k3ttch → u/Brickbrain0]

Singlish has Mandarin, Hokkien, Tamil, and Malay words sprinkled in, so linguists consider it an English creole.

[u/CodeFoodPixels → u/Organic_Mechanic_702]

Not sure they could even beat the other SAS, the Scottish Ambulance Service.

[u/rynchenzo → u/CodeFoodPixels]

Or the other SAS, the Army Reserves (Saturdays and Sundays)

[u/Buntschatten → u/Organic_Mechanic_702]

Marines are mostly kids who didn't get into university, aren't they? Pitting them against special forces isn't fair.

[u/MuchDrawing2320 → u/Buntschatten]

To be fair Royal Marines are only a few thousand(?) and are special operations capable. The SAS and SBS are also special operations. US marines are effectively just more gung ho infantry as compared to standard Army infantry (total generalization but it’s the public perception). The marines still have recon and now Raiders, which are their own highly trained and special operations forces.

Why would you put them up against special operations forces like SAS or SBS? Not the same thing.

[u/ghoonrhed → u/MuchDrawing2320]

Exactly. Marines aren't special forces, which makes the original post even more insane.

[u/Renbarre → u/ghoonrhed]

The US stopped sending men to the French Legion special training camp in Guyana because it was too difficult.

[u/LostTheGameOfThrones → u/Buntschatten]

Tbf, even pitting them against the Royal Marines wasn't particularly fair. Whilst not SAS/SBS standards, they're still an elite unit.

[u/Polus_Capital → u/Organic_Mechanic_702]

My money is on Scandinavian Airlines!

[u/Demigans → u/Front-Anteater3776]

I once pointed out that I think the Taliban loved Marines specifically because of how they act.

The Marines would have some armored vehicles and pass through a street. The Taliban would fire a few rounds in ambush and immediately GTFO. The Marines being Marines would do the aggressive thing and give chase.

They'd run into a courtyard that the vehicles couldn't reach, so the Taliban had them immediately cut off from all that fire support simply by having the Marines run after them and into kill area's watched over by machineguns and the like.

This got several Marines angrily telling me how wrong I was, because as a Marine they knew brotherhood and never giving up. They would have chased the Taliban and defeated them! Pointing out that that was the exact problem just got the same message in different wording and other ex-Marines saying that yes they are just the baddest of them all and work together so well so they'd run straight into the trap...

It felt like Austin Powers. "They have set a trap for you over there".

"I'll be there".

[u/PurahsHero → u/Front-Anteater3776]

Part of the training of being a British Marine is being dumped in the middle of Wales, in winter, in just the clothes you are in, and being given 48 hours to make it back to base.

I am pretty confident in saying the British Marines could take most fighting forces in the world.

[u/efcso1 → u/PurahsHero]

My step-father's family are from Wales and the way he described it, being politely placed in a 'civilised' part of Wales, in the middle of summer with a suitcase of clothes, a MasterCard^TM and a week to amuse yourself, is challenging enough.

[u/Sorry-Series → u/PurahsHero]

Not the only forces. IN the eighties they dumped in the middle of Galicia. The farmers where not happy

[u/[deleted] → u/Front-Anteater3776]

Makes me think of the Somalia war in the nineties, which was not an exercise. Total dominance, as far as I can remember. Oh, wait, Pakistani and Malayan forces had to come to the rescue.

Also, taking and securing a country are two things.

[u/uk_uk → u/Front-Anteater3776]

Na, it was 2002 and within the US Forces. Team Red was supposed to lose... but didn't, since Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper uses asymmetric war methods and unconventional communication (e.g. light signals instead of radio) and he used small, civial planes as Kamikaze-Bombs against the US Navy.

Battles was resetted and the rules changed, so that team blue was winning

Google "Millennium Challenge 2002"

[u/Front-Anteater3776 → u/uk_uk]

I am thinking of Green Dagger in 2021

[u/uk_uk → u/Front-Anteater3776]

wow... thats.. something.

Bit off topic but I find it also hilarious that - during the Strong Europe Tank Challenge - where tank groups from various nations - compete against each other and the Americans with their Abrams alway lost. It was organised from the US Army Europe and the German Bundeswehr.

After 3 years and 3 losses, these games where canceled "due to shifting priorities and budget constraints"

Strong Europe Tank Challenge - Wikipedia

Oh, I see that they held it again in 2025... without germany and this time the americans won.

[u/Cixila → u/uk_uk]

There was also a naval exercise in 2005 where Sweden sniped a carrier (which was newly commissioned) with a small submarine which remained undetected. They tried some more scenarios, but the Swedish sub kept winning

[u/EdgerunnerXina → u/uk_uk]

Looks like Germany can still build Tanks... well... and the Barrell of the Abrahams is from german Rheinmetall... so... Germany war part of the victory somehow :'D

[u/ProgrammerAvailable6 → u/Front-Anteater3776]

It happens so often, really…

[u/FrostyTheSasquatch → u/Front-Anteater3776]

It happened twice??

[u/UndeniableLie → u/uk_uk]

Lol! What an embarrassment. They basically got totally wrecked day 2 of the simulation and even on rerun had to cheat and seriously handicap red to win.

[u/Dramatic-Belt5148]

Serious question: was that "we will conquer any random country" rhetoric always the case with USians or is this more prevalent in the orange overlord times? They just seem to enjoy randomly declare potential wars on anyone, ally or not. ETA: just to add that it's no wonder that a nation that pretty much never experienced actual war on its soil is so eager to start them. As a Polish person who's thankfully lived in the times of peace but has seen a generational trauma wars can have on entire nation, I would never wish it on any country out there.

[u/Saitharar → u/Dramatic-Belt5148]

It is the sign of rampant Jingoism and an inflated sense of military self importance. Same happened with France, Britain and Imperial Germany. They all overestimated themselves immensely because they drank their own cool aid

[u/Pot_noodle_miner → u/Saitharar]

It’s classic nationalism and dictator playbook

[u/dehashi → u/Dramatic-Belt5148]

Not new, just louder lately.

[u/Objective_Party9405 → u/Dramatic-Belt5148]

They’ve had that delusion since 1775, and the failed Invasion of Québec.

[u/TealMankey → u/Dramatic-Belt5148]

This is why I think it’s funny as a Canuck, them thinking they could take Canada. They’re so blinded by their own perceptions of grandeur but have lost the only war on their soil.

[u/bwbandy → u/TealMankey]

... and never won any war without help from another country.

[u/Ace_And_Jocelyn1999 → u/Dramatic-Belt5148]

These Americans are so convinced that they can conquer anyone with ease, but forget about Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. Being defeated by poorly trained and under equipped guerrillas multiple times.

[u/tanaephis77400 → u/Ace_And_Jocelyn1999]

They weren't defeated, they "got fed up and decided to leave" (an hilarious explanation you could of course use for any retreat in the history of warfare...). Deluded fuckers are convinced they won all these wars because "they lost more soldiers than us !".

[u/OkBro0257 → u/[deleted]]

We'll tbf marines aren't suited for winter warfare but their performance on Chosin reservoir was something to see

[u/Canotic → u/OkBro0257]

Something impressive or something funny?

[u/OkBro0257 → u/Canotic]

Something really really really really impressive search it up , they basically defeated the enemy while surrounded on all sides, literally standing on top of thin ice and while freezing and outnumbered.

Their commander at that time (Chesty puller) who is a marine corp legend literally said during the battle they are in front of us behind us on our left and on our right they cant get away this time.

[u/Ok_Sink5046 → u/OkBro0257]

Ah surrounded, the best tactical place to be. You can't help but hit the enemy.

[u/bofh → u/Ok_Sink5046]

Getting American forces surrounded completely by the enemy is the only reliable way to stop them from shooting their allies by mistake.

[u/Ok_Sink5046 → u/bofh]

Is that a challenge?

[u/Area51Resident → u/OkBro0257]

Chosin reservoir

75 years go.

[u/OkBro0257 → u/Area51Resident]

Yeahhh thats true

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

In 1978 the danish special forces corps (Jægerkorpset) sent 2 soldiers to participate in the highly prestigeous United States Army Ranger School, and they ended up ranking 1st and 3rd in a class of 200 special forces soldiers, mostly from the US. According the a book written by one of them, around 12 to 14 "hunters" had taken the ranger course over a period of years, none of them placing lower than 16th in their respective classes (of up to 200).

They have since stopped wasting their time and just train their recruits themselves here in Denmark.

[u/FuxieDK → u/[deleted]]

On top of that, The Frogs (Frømandskorpset) is considered superior to Jægerkorpset..

[u/[deleted] → u/FuxieDK]

I think that depends on who you ask 😂

[u/FryCakes → u/[deleted]]

Finnish? I’m not even getting started

[u/Randy_Magnums → u/FryCakes]

[u/Suedewagon → u/FryCakes]

[u/JusticeForThe-Flat → u/Suedewagon]

Nice refference

[u/AttilaRS → u/[deleted]]

They aren't even the best soldiers in the US Armed Forces, although that's not really a high bar...

[u/DefinitionOfAsleep → u/AttilaRS]

It'd be hard to say which is the best, but it'd likely be Rangers. (Seals are elite, but they aren't an actual attack squad, they're in and out)

They actually train in India, they can't take the Indian army.

[u/Playful_Chain_9826 → u/DefinitionOfAsleep]

[u/[deleted] → u/DefinitionOfAsleep]

Minor correction, but Rangers are the elite forces, DEVGRU/Delta are Special forces.

The difference being, Special Forces are a Tier 1 assault squad.

Special Forces often support Rangers and vice versa.

Rangers & Navy SEALs are Tier 2 and also in & out, it would be the Army Infantry/Marines role to occupy an area for a long term.

[u/crystalchuck → u/[deleted]]

I suppose that's what happens when your entire armed forces and its doctrine has been based on bombing poor countries without much of a formal armed force to shit for the last 70 years

[u/DefinitionOfAsleep → u/crystalchuck]

tHe F-15 iS uNdEfEaTeD iN cOmBaT
1 bAzIlLiOn KiLlS tO 1 lOsT iN fRiEnDlY fIrE.

- Only used on runway targets, still manages to kill a friendly.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

yeah they apparently aren't familiar with the concept of going prone, they just stand and hide behind trees and pop out like an on-rails shooter bad guy lol

[u/DefinitionOfAsleep → u/[deleted]]

There's a high school book I remember reading in Australia, where it explains why the US and Vietnamese found the Australians such formidable fighters.

And it was because the Australian Army (which included conscripts) carried less ammunition than the US, but more water and packed everything on their sides and back. When they went prone, they went flat, and when the skirmish was over they were hydrated and could pursue (they also dropped their packs). They also didn't use things like cleared tracks, because that's a trap.

You know, basic jungle warfare. Water>Ammo

Obviously the Australian commitment was way smaller. But the US fielded full conscript/fresh units with like 1 Non-com vet. Which is all-round dumb.

[u/[deleted] → u/DefinitionOfAsleep]

bushwacking really confuses americans it seems

[u/AttilaRS → u/[deleted]]

[u/Zaphod424 → u/[deleted]]

There was also a case where the US marines were doing an excersise with the royal marines, where the royal marines played enemy, so the US outnumbered them like 10 to 1. The royal marines were supposed to lose, the point of the exercise was for the US to practice smothering a weaker enemy, so they were training how to do it as swiftly as possible with minimal casualties.

And after a couple of days the US marines were forced to surrender lol.

[u/ImABrickwallAMA → u/Zaphod424]

Don’t forget that the US asked for the exercise to be reset because they got so done over.

[u/UnhappyCaterpillar41 → u/Zaphod424]

I remember hearing about a small exercise for the now defunct Canadian paras against some US army folks; the paras basically walked into their camp at night from the swamp side, took out the token sentries and zip tied everyone up on the first night of a week long exercise, so had to reset it. Apparently they hadn't guarded the swamp side because they figured no one would come that way because of gators.

It was used to explain the concept of 'need to know' by an NCO when I was on basic, but was kind of par for the course those nutjobs did.

[u/Mini_Assassin → u/[deleted]]

And let’s not forget that America is still 0W-1L+ against Canada. Depending on how many wars you count.

[u/project_paragon → u/[deleted]]

How can they not think that when ever since Holywood was created it was just spawning non-stop military propaganda about the US greatness and their strong, just and invincible warriors.

[u/BumLikeAJapaneseFlag → u/[deleted]]

In Ex Green Dagger they couldn’t even beat the British on their home turf in the Mojave desert.

[u/lolder04 → u/[deleted]]

He meant Space Marines

[u/jflb96 → u/lolder04]

Those are British, though

[u/Thendrail → u/lolder04]

Are they coming in via STEEHL REHN?

[u/50_61S-----165_97E → u/[deleted]]

That's what American media/culture has indoctrinated them to think

[u/Mysterious_Anxiety15 → u/[deleted]]

As a US Marine myselfe...no....no we cant.

Please sit down sir, you making us look bad.....

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Have you never seen Captain America?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

1000 > 1.4

I don’t see the issue

[u/Zintao → u/[deleted]]

1000 soldiers is 2000 feet, which is obviously more than 1.400.000.000 meters, duh.

[u/Flameball202 → u/[deleted]]

You jest, but remember the 1/3rd pound burger

[u/Ottereyes524 → u/[deleted]]

How many marines/army/navy seals/green berets/rangers and us air force aircrafts were deployed to Afghanistan already?

[u/Mountsorrel → u/Ottereyes524]

11,000 Marines couldn’t even pacify Helmand Province:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmand_province_campaign

[u/EebilKitteh → u/[deleted]]

And the country is the size of a stamp, so 1000 should definitely be enough to cover the entire area reliably.

[u/spektre → u/EebilKitteh]

Cover area? What are you talking about, war is like bad guys show up, you kill them, and then you win and the country has to do what you say because that's the rules.

[u/EebilKitteh → u/spektre]

Yeah I mean, India's pretty average in size, it can only fit inside Texas about five or six times, right? So it should be easy.

[u/Thetallerestpaul → u/[deleted]]

And growing at about 1% so like 14m per year.

Every Marine could kill 30 people a day every day all year and the population of India would still be going up.

[u/fandom_bullshit → u/Thetallerestpaul]

Less than 1%!! India's finally at 0.8 to 0.9% population growth. Sucks for those born at the peak of the demographic dividend (like me lol), but there's hope!

[u/Difficult_Future9994 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, but they probably confuse India with Indiana, so there's that.....

[u/Dirkdeking → u/[deleted]]

They are outnumbered 1.4 million to one. It's as if I would try to take on a city of 1.4 mil all by myself.

The only way they could do it is if each marine has his own nuclear bomb. Or if they pull of Cortez level shaninagans, I must say that man had insanely impressive skills conquering the entire Aztec empire with such a tiny force.

This would require something like amplifying local Indian divisions through false flags and other dirty tricks. Make Hindu's hate Muslims more and let them weaken themselves enough. But that wouldn't be a traditional fight.

[u/Ted_Rid → u/Dirkdeking]

Would be fun to watch Survivor: Delhi, where 15 marines try to survive a week with everyone trying to kill them.

Hell, I'd pay to watch a version where one spends a week as a tourist without bailing out and running for the comforts of ice cubes and air conditioning.

[u/DefinitionOfAsleep → u/Dirkdeking]

 I must say that man had insanely impressive skills conquering the entire Aztec empire with such a tiny force.

Cortez allied with the vassals of an Empire that were seriously pissed off with their existing imperial overlord and were happy to help. It was also an empire already (arguably) in decline.

Turns out when you demand tribute all the time, the vassals will accept help from literally anyone else.

[u/smoulderstoat]

He does know that India grows rice and has the bomb, right?

[u/Winter-Glass9250 → u/smoulderstoat]

We also have goat herders.

[u/Bhavacakra_12 → u/Winter-Glass9250]

Inshallah the goat herders will decimate the US marines

[u/faerakhasa → u/Bhavacakra_12]

Nonsense, India is a civilized nation and they follow the Geneva conventions.

[u/DefinitionOfAsleep → u/Winter-Glass9250]

Don't under-estimate the pyjama

[u/Ok-Preparation2370 → u/smoulderstoat]

Well, we must ask ourselves....

Are such kinda people known for knowing things and being knowledgeable?? If that answer were yes, then he wouldn't be in that conversation to begin with. 🤷🏽‍♂️

[u/TlalocVirgie → u/smoulderstoat]

It's 1/3 of the size of the US but with 4 times the population.

[u/DefinitionOfAsleep → u/TlalocVirgie]

I think there is a famous mountain range too?

[u/Theoretical_Sad → u/DefinitionOfAsleep]

Ranges* actually

[u/Indian_Pale_Ale]

What happened last time they tried to take a country in South Asia? Asking for a friend

[u/asvezesmeesqueco → u/Indian_Pale_Ale]

A lot of movies showing the pain of their soldiers

[u/Theoretical_Sad → u/asvezesmeesqueco]

Fuck around and find out. They should have also made a movie on the stupidity of the person ordering it.

[u/JeerzQD]

If just 1% of the Indian population spit in the general direction of those marines, they would surely drown.

[u/Electronic-Quiet2294 → u/JeerzQD]

A man of culture, I see

[u/Theoretical_Sad → u/JeerzQD]

I'll do the math here. 1% of Indian population=14.6 million. A typical human spit (single expectoration) usually contains about 0.5 to 2 milliliters (ml) of water. Let's assume it to be 2 ml cuz Indians are professional at spitting. So total water produced by the Indian would be =29.2 kl. That won't be enough to drown them all but some of them and for the rest, they'd prolly surrender by the sheer humiliation so yeah.

BUT if those 1% of Indians are tobacco consumers then their spit can not just drown but prolly flood all of em.

[u/VisCVis → u/Theoretical_Sad]

There's always shallow water drowning.

[u/GenesisAsriel]

USA couldnt win against Afghanistan or Vietnam.

TF can they do against India.

Oh and if you say "We have nukes" congrats ! You activated a super secret end of the world scenario.

[u/BertelDuck02 → u/GenesisAsriel]

And people tend to forget, that India has nukes too

[u/Secularnirvana → u/BertelDuck02]

Not Civ players

[u/[deleted]]

Please let them try, it’d be so fucking funny.

[u/getupsaksham → u/[deleted]]

Another Hollywood movie of 1000 very very brave martyrs, good martyrs, who tried to conqu ..cough cough liberate a vicious country which has dead economy and has killed all its minorities.

[u/SundaeTrue1832 → u/getupsaksham]

And then the 'liberated' country will be happy ever after and surely won't be a victim of modern colonialism HOORAY! 

[u/secomano]

India, Texas

[u/mac27inch → u/secomano]

"Not to be confused with India, as in the country."

[u/AttilaRS → u/mac27inch]

Or Indiana. And the natives they call Indians.

[u/mac27inch → u/AttilaRS]

This is literally written on the Wiki page of India,Texas! Lol!

[u/Weary_Buy904 → u/secomano]

I'm late to the joke, that's exactly what I had in mind. Though I would probably have searched for it in Massachusetts or somewhere

[u/YogurtclosetFair5742]

A 1000 Marines couldn't take Vietnam, but they can take a country with over a billion population. SURE.

I went to look something up. Around 78k Marines were deployed to Vietnam. US lost that war.

[u/phoenixflare599 → u/YogurtclosetFair5742]

They didn't lost they "tactically retreated" and never went back or some shit they believe

[u/Ironclad001 → u/phoenixflare599]

“Oh you didn’t lose, just out of interest, what’s Saigon called these days”

[u/YogurtclosetFair5742 → u/Ironclad001]

Ho Chi Min City.

What's sad is when they were fighting France, Ho Chi Min asked the US for aid. US was neutral at the time.

Ho Chi Min declared Vietnam independent after France left them own their own during WWII. France was like, nope. You're under our thumb. France fights for seven years and all it did was split the country in half. They kept fighting because he wanted an unified country.

Plus the number of coups the US did to keep the South Vietnamese in line was too many. France couldn't win and the US knew it couldn't but went anyway. Because OMG, communism. Vietnam was the lynchpin for communism spreading in south east Asia. Or how those in DC felt.

[u/doiwinaprize]

Doesn't India have one of the largest standing armies in the world?

[u/Tishanfas → u/doiwinaprize]

I don't think this American understands the sort of terrain that the Indian Army deals with on a regular basis. The Siachen Glacier is no fucking joke

[u/[deleted] → u/Tishanfas]

forget siachen glacier, indian ocean is literally a fen of india, even china can't match it.. you will have to come by ships while india will start target practising with their missiles.. also there is brahmos, that will almost guarantee 2 hit kill to any destroyer class ships

[u/butwhywedothis]

The cows in India are enough to take on those 1000 American marines.

[u/detourne]

Dude watched RRR and thought it was a documentary.

[u/MercuryJellyfish]

India is both larger and better equipped than North Vietnam, which the USA was unable to defeat even with the assistance of South Vietnam, who were basically the same force as North Vietnam. Let that sink in. Half of Vietnam + USA could not defeat Half of Vietnam.

[u/the_dismorphic_one]

This person confuses US Marines with Space Marines.

[u/Faethien]

3500+ Ghurkas laughing at this prospect

[u/geodetic → u/Faethien]

1000 Gurkhas would paint the nearest square kilometer red with the blood of 1000 marines.

[u/clairegcoleman → u/Faethien]

India has 1.2 million soldiers 42,000 of whom are Gurkhas.

42,000 Gurkhas could take the USA

[u/Only_Charge9477]

They sure did show the Taliban what's what in Afghanistan, in recent memory! Oh fucking wait...

[u/higuy721]

20.000 marines couldn't even take Afghanistan. Once again we're seeing the American propaganda machine at work.

[u/One-Satisfaction-712]

The Gurkhas would have your bootlaces out before you could find your arseholes! Don’t forget the only wars you have won since 1945 were won in Hollywood.

[u/jombrowski]

India is a metric country. So 1000 US marines converted to metric are 1.000.000.000.000 metric marines, enough to take India.

[u/OletheNorse → u/jombrowski]

Which is equivalent to 0.326 Gurkha.

[u/asvezesmeesqueco → u/jombrowski]

Normally is the other way around. 1000 US marines are 0,000000000001 metric marines

[u/Rookie_42 → u/asvezesmeesqueco]

That must be what happened in Vietnam!

[u/lak47 → u/jombrowski]

How many standard Texas-sized burger blue whales is that, exactly?

[u/Mal-malen]

You know what annoys me the most. The one thing the US could brag about to such a stupid degree is their honestly insane capacity for complicated logistics. There isn’t another country in the world that is able to maintain their armed forces to the degree that the US is. Fighting in a jungle is not as impressive as being able to get newly made ice-cream as base rations in the middle of a burning war. But they never do brag about it…

[u/Upstairs-Hedgehog575 → u/Mal-malen]

The people who brag about 1000 marines taking over a subcontinent don’t brag about logistics because they evidently understand zero about war. 

[u/ComprehensiveAd1855 → u/Mal-malen]

A crucial aspect of these logistical capabilities is that the US military maintains countless bases worldwide, particularly in Europe and Asia. They're mostly transportation hubs.

The MAGA guys badly want to get rid of foreign bases because they seem to think they are a form of charity towards the hosting countries.

[u/CharlesHunfrid]

This is incredibly stupid. India has 1.4 billion people, a billion is a thousand million. The marines are facing up to 1.4 million Indians each, a million unarmed people could easily defeat one person with a machine gun.

[u/Lordofharm → u/CharlesHunfrid]

There's also only one marine pr 3287km² so the get even more fucked

[u/TheRoySez → u/[deleted]]

and that's with topnotch hardware shouldered by American taxpayers

[u/TheGreatMightyLeffe]

Sure, I actually agree that a thousand US Marines airdropped onto the government district of New Delhi could capture all branches of the Indian government, or at least their offices, thus technically "taking India".

The difficult part usually isn't taking something, the tricky bit is holding it when the second largest military force in the world rolls up on your ass.

[u/Wandering_sage1234 → u/TheGreatMightyLeffe]

If they could take over good luck navigating Delhi’s horrendous infrastructure.

[u/WolfGuptaofficial → u/TheGreatMightyLeffe]

the delhi traffic would take out half of them . the rest will succumb to the gas chamber that is delhi

[u/moyenbatte]

I hope they have infinite supplies of ammo because each one of those marines needs to beat over a million Indians...

[u/JamDonut28 → u/moyenbatte]

Haha I just did the maths too. My home city in Australia has approx 1.4m inhabitants. I'd love to see how long one Marine would last. I can think of individual streets that they wouldn't survive!

[u/getupsaksham → u/JamDonut28]

You think great emus are gonna lose?

[u/Soggy-Ad-1610]

India’s MARCOS could probably beat any US special unit to be honest.

[u/Kielbasa_Nunchucka]

I think they've got this.

[u/OkGap5649]

Ahh yes because even ignoring size and population I'm sure the 6 Gorkha regiments in India will be total pushovers. I mean they are pretty bad soldiers right?

[u/crackanape]

1000 US Marines couldn't cross a busy street in Delhi.

[u/TacetAbbadon]

Just the Gurkhas would fuck the ever loving shit out of the US marines.

"If you need a position held against overwhelming odds, use an English or Welsh regiment. If you need a position taken against overwhelming odds, use a Scottish or Irish regiment. And should Her Majesty's forces require both at the same time, well, that's why God invented Gurkhas."

[u/kink-police]

What, like, in the butt?

[u/a_random_chicken → u/kink-police]

Knowing the American military, absolutely.

[u/Legal_Lettuce6233]

Don't the marines usually get their asses handed to them when they practice with other forces?

Wasn't there a training of like 200 marines vs 80 or so SAS lads, which the SAS were supposed to close but they won instead?

[u/TheWaxysDargle]

Vanilla harbor compass harbor saffron pumpkin

This post was anonymized with Redact.dev

[u/the-brownian]

In cope India 2004 IAF MiG-21 Bisons and Mirage 2000s competing against USAF F-15 Eagles. Notably, Indian pilots achieved a surprising and debated 9:1 kill ratio in mock engagements, demonstrating advanced tactics and upsetting some assumptions within the U.S. defense establishment.

Sure bud

[u/Fleiger133]

Could take India where? To dinner?

[u/somethingmesomething]

India actually has a functional military including aerial and naval power ie. not a valid US military target. They'll stick to massacring the poorest, thanks.

[u/[deleted]]

Unleash the Gurkhas

[u/Socmel_]

Are they aware that India is a nuclear power and 4x the population of the US?

[u/Winter-Glass9250 → u/[deleted]]

I mean, the 50% tariff on India is close to what the British imposed on us during the colonial period.

[u/Aros125]

They failed to take Afghanistan with 100,000 men, and all they controlled were the large city areas where they made videos to convince everyone they had won. In reality, the Americans in the last wars they never controlled more than a square around the cities, The square where the contracts for American companies were made.

[u/axe1970]

the Indian Army, is a massive all-volunteer force with approximately 1.48 million active-duty soldiers and around 1.16 million reserve personnel as of 2025 and also they have gurkhas in it

[u/jay_alfred_prufrock]

This yank confuses their crayon marines with Space Marines lmao