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To: Pearls Before Swine

Didnt they line the men up of a particular unit that had lost a battle, and randomly pic one guy and count to ten, then repeat and every tenth guy was killed. At least thats how I heard the Romans did it. Thats where the term “decimation” came from?


6 posted on 06/06/2011 3:21:15 PM PDT by Husker24
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To: Husker24

Yes


7 posted on 06/06/2011 3:24:50 PM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
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To: Husker24

The term is also applied in 20th century infantry assaults. As a rule of thumb, the defense has a 3:1 margin over an attacking force and if 10% of either side are killed on the initial assault, the battle is a route.


9 posted on 06/06/2011 4:22:10 PM PDT by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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