The Battle of Rorke's Drift -
Imagine this: you are a Lieutenant, a junior officer; you have never had an independent combat command; you have one company of infantry and a small
detachment of engineers at a river crossing; you also have a hospital with
20+ sick and wounded who cannot travel; there are some medical and supply
personnel at this post who are not trained to fight; a courier arrives and tells you that 10,000 Zulus have wiped out a 1,600 man British force that was equipped with rifles, field artillery and mounted troops; 4,000 Zulus are on the way to attack your post.
If 1,600 combat troops were destroyed almost to the last man at odds of only 9:1, what chance does your tiny garrison have of winning a battle at odds of 30:1? Lieutenant Chard was an engineer, and had never commanded combat troops. Lieutenant Bromhead was overage for his rank, partially deaf,
and was due to be forced out of the Army soon for his partial disability and
lack of promotion to Captain. Bromhead and Chard had served on the Northwest Frontier in India [Khyber Pass area] against Afghan tribesmen, but
always under the command of more senior and more experienced Majors and
Colonels.
The battle of Rorke's Drift is the finest example of determined defense [and defense in depth] of a position by a vastly outnumbered force. The British should have lost, but those two officers were brilliant in moving their troops
to counter each attack, and in organizing both a mobile reserve and a final fall back position. They inflicted 20 times more casualties than they suffered.
This battle is still taught in the UK and the U.S. to officer cadets as the right
way to win when the odds are against you.