Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast

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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

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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

This is a preview. For the whole episode support the show on patreon:
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