Episode 399 - The Battle of Milvian Bridge

Nate emerges from a vat of paprikas boykibble to take the reins and bring us the story of The Battle of Haçova, a decisive clash between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans, the implications of the Hamburger Helper Mascot, and Smurf racism. Get the whole episode on Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/posts/152758527 We still have merch available! Check it out here www.llbdpodcast.com/

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: http://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys In the aftermath of the Sand Creek Massacre, the traditional governance of the Cheyenne people fracture, the pro-peace chiefs lose power, and warrior societies promise revenge against the settlers and military for their crimes. A band of warriors trap a small patrol of American soldiers and frontiersmen leading to a plains siege that forces soldiers to eat raw horse meat and then get violently ill because they were eating raw horse meat. SOURCES: Norris, David. Desperate Last Stand At Beecher Island. Military Heritage. August 2012. Volume 14, No 2. Mort, Terry. Cheyenne Summer. The Battle of Beecher Island: A History Yenne, Bill. The Indian Wars: The Campaign for the American West Monnett, John. The Battle of Beecher Island and the Indian War of 1867- 1869 Grinnell, George. Bent, George. The Fighting Cheyennes. Grinnell, George. Bent, George. The Cheyenne Indians: Their History and Lifeways. https://the-past.com/feature/looking-death-in-the-face-the-battle-for-beecher-island-september-1868/

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SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys US Forces lie to the people of the Great Plains, convince them they are under the protection of the US government for the purpose of negotiations and commit a crime so horrible that it forces congress to investigate. *correction. Several Medals of Honor have been revoked. Specifically in 1917. This had nothing to do with conduct but rather a changing of criteria of what was considered worthy of the medal. SOURCES: Grinnell, George. Bent, George. The Fighting Cheyennes. Grinnell, George. Bent, George. The Cheyenne Indians: Their History and Lifeways. Hatch, Thom (2004). Black Kettle: The Chief Who Sought Peace But Found War. Hoig, Stan (1977). The Sand Creek Massacre. Hoig, Stan (1980). The Peace Chiefs of the Cheyenne Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West Bensing, Tom. Silas Soule: A Short Eventful Life of Moral Courage. Report of the US Congress Joint Committee On The Conduct of the War. 1865. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=ABY3709.0003.001;rgn=full%20text;view=toc;cc=moa

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys A Sierra Leonean rebel group modeled after American West Side Gangsters and ripped out of their minds on drugs, kidnaps a patrol of British soldiers, sparking a rescue mission. Sources: Fowler, William (2004). Operation Barras: The SAS Rescue Mission: Sierra Leone 2000 Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (2009). Who Dares Wins: The SAS and the Iranian Embassy Siege 1980 Utas, Mats; Jörgel, Magnus (2008). "The West Side Boys: military navigation in the Sierra Leone civil war". Journal of Modern African Studies. Reno, William (February 2003), Political Networks in a Failing State The Roots and Future of Violent Conflict in Sierra Leone

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys We visit the 13th century Northern Crusades and examine what happens when Alexander Nevsky and the Livonian Order go head-to-head for a battle on the ice. No, not like that—no pucks, no skates, and way more bog mud than could possibly be healthy. WORKS CITED EBSCO. “Alexander Nevsky | History | Research Starters | EBSCO Research.” Accessed February 9, 2026. https://www.ebsco.com. Fennell, John. "The Crisis of Medieval Russia 1200-1304." Longman History of Russia. Taylor and Francis, 2014. Gore, Terry. “Lake Peipus: Battle on the Ice.” Military Heritage 7, no. 1 (2005). https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/lake-peipus-battle-on-the-ice/. Hellie, Richard. “Alexander Nevskii's April 5, 1242 Battle on the Ice.” Russian History 33, no. 2/4 (2006): 283–87. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24664445. Smith, Jerry C., and William L. Urban, eds. The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle: Transl. with an Hist. Introd., Maps and App. Indiana University Publications. Uralic and Altaic Series 128. Indiana Univ, 1977.

For this week's bonus, Joe, Nate and Tom hole up, safe and sound, behind sturdy city walls to tell the story of the fall of Constantinople and discuss Byzantine great replacement theory, doing nominative determinism on your fortress, and easy 5 Minute Hacks to reassign your attackers somewhere on the lahmacun-doner meat spectrum. Get the whole episode on Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/posts/150311739

In this WWII Prequel, the Empire of Japan and the Soviet Union fight over the Mongolian border, a stretch of lifeless steppe with no cover, trees, or established supply lines. In what has been dubbed a "border conflict" tens of thousands of men, thousands of trucks, and hundreds of tanks are rushed to the frontline that only barely escapes spiraling into a much larger war...at least for a few years. Sources: Edward Drea. Nomohan: Japanese-Soviet Tactical Combat, 1939. Edward Drea. Tradition and Circumstances: The Imperial Japanese Army's Tactical Response to Khalkhin Gol. Glenn Barnett. Russo-Japanese Clash at the Battle of Nomohan. WWII History. May 2005. 4#3 Amnon Sella. Nomohan: Khalkin Gol: The Forgotten War. Journal of Contemporary History (1983) 18#4 Anthony Beevor. The Second World War. Alexi Shishov. Russia and Japan. The history of military conflicts

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SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Constantine has a vision (or not) and takes the Roman throne in an incredibly one-sided battle that may or may not end with a different Emperor being drowned in the river. SOURCES: Lactantius. On the Deaths of the Persecutors. David Potter. Constantine: The Emperor. Ross Cowan. Milvian Bridge AD 312: Constantine's battle for Empire and Faith. Ludwig Heinrich Dyck. The Battle of Milvian Bridge: Battle for the Western Empire. Military Heritage. Feb. 2003. Volume 4, No. 4. http://www.classichistory.net/archives/constantine-christianity https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.xv.ix.html https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iv.vi.i.xxviii.html