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Could the South have won the Civil War with 100 AK-47s?
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:31 am
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:31 am
This is loosely lifted on an already written book called Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove, but it raises an interesting proposition:
Could the Confederacy, in the late stages of the war (1864) have won the Civil War with 100 AK-47s and a million rounds of ammunition?
How could Lee best unveil them on the battlefield to make the biggest difference? And how could he keep them from falling into Union hands?
Could the Confederacy, in the late stages of the war (1864) have won the Civil War with 100 AK-47s and a million rounds of ammunition?
How could Lee best unveil them on the battlefield to make the biggest difference? And how could he keep them from falling into Union hands?
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:32 am to ClientNumber9
What they really needed was nukes
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:36 am to ClientNumber9
Questions like this are why I come to the OT.
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:37 am to ClientNumber9
What about 100 30-06's with 12 power scopes, we could have picked the Yanks off from 250-300 yards.
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:38 am to ClientNumber9
Could deez new yawk giants beat a team full of midget Ditkas if theyz had one hundreds AK 47s?
I say it would be a close one...
Mini Ditkas 70
Giants - Tree
They would run out of ammo after da first drive
I say it would be a close one...
Mini Ditkas 70
Giants - Tree
They would run out of ammo after da first drive
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:38 am to ClientNumber9
I don't think so. Its still short range small arms. Its still ineffective against entrenced enemy. All the other caveats still apply like needing horses and supply lines and artillery and all that stuff. The gulf and the river are still blockaded. Zinging a million more rounds over the unions head wouldn't have mattered. The south lost an industrial war of attrition. A few modern small arms wouldn't have changed that.
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:39 am to ClientNumber9
Would they be riding pterodactyls while using them?


This post was edited on 2/24/25 at 7:40 am
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:40 am to ClientNumber9
Who gets the AKs? Cavalry or infantry?
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:41 am to ClientNumber9
Easily.
Formations would have been easy to put multiple soldiers down quickly
Formations would have been easy to put multiple soldiers down quickly
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:42 am to ClientNumber9
The North probably would have just changed their battle tactics to something a little more un-gentlemanly than marching single file into some deserted field and lining up in tight column formations.
It was always going to be a war of attrition.
And this post reminded me of the opening scene from the classic Jean Claude Van Damme movie, Timecop.
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:42 am to The Torch
quote:
What about 100 30-06's with 12 power scopes, we could have picked the Yanks off from 250-300 yards.
The south had hundreds of English made .32 caliber octagon barrel sniper rifles with 3x scopes. They routinely killed officers and other high value targets at ranges of 500 plus yards. Those weapons weren't war winners.
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:43 am to ClientNumber9
The south lost the war due to infrastructure and logistics. The south likely would have won if England and France hadn't backed out of assisting the Confederacy in destroying the blockade and providing the south with supplies.
So no, 100 AKs likely wouldn't have helped.
So no, 100 AKs likely wouldn't have helped.
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:44 am to No Colors
quote:
The south had hundreds of English made .32 caliber octagon barrel sniper rifles with 3x scopes. They routinely killed officers and other high value targets at ranges of 500 plus yards.
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." Whoops
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:49 am to Fat and Happy
quote:
Easily.
Formations would have been easy to put multiple soldiers down quickly
Line formation was largely abandoned by the end of the civil war. And that is just with the causalities from the Minié ball. if one side had AKs then the line formation would have been abandoned much sooner in the war.
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:49 am to ClientNumber9
I doubt it. The Confederacy's issue wasn't really firepower. It was the lack of being able to properly supply their troops. Once the blockade was in place and the manufacturing/transportation infrastructure took some damage, it was pretty much a wrap.
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:50 am to ClientNumber9
Harry Turtledove is that you?
The answer is probably.
There’s no way the Union wins at Gettysburg (1863) if the south has AK47s and they could’ve broken the siege of Vicksburg with them by using mounted strikes to interdict the federal supply lines as well. If those two are southern victories the Union sues for peace and Lincoln isn’t re-elected.
1864 is harder. They definitely win at Chattanooga, but can they open up the Mississippi again? I’m not sure.
They would’ve won outright at the Wilderness so the overland campaign would’ve never happened so it’s a stalemate, but I’m not sure they could’ve invaded the North again given their supply situation. Likely it would’ve been mounted raids to destroy Union cities and I don’t think Grant could’ve forced Lee out of a fixed position so I’d argue you’re looking at a stalemate most likely.
The answer is probably.
There’s no way the Union wins at Gettysburg (1863) if the south has AK47s and they could’ve broken the siege of Vicksburg with them by using mounted strikes to interdict the federal supply lines as well. If those two are southern victories the Union sues for peace and Lincoln isn’t re-elected.
1864 is harder. They definitely win at Chattanooga, but can they open up the Mississippi again? I’m not sure.
They would’ve won outright at the Wilderness so the overland campaign would’ve never happened so it’s a stalemate, but I’m not sure they could’ve invaded the North again given their supply situation. Likely it would’ve been mounted raids to destroy Union cities and I don’t think Grant could’ve forced Lee out of a fixed position so I’d argue you’re looking at a stalemate most likely.
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