[Ovaj tekst na srpskom]
Cruelty is present in every war. I haven't told you anything new, but the less known is the fact that the animals were very active in wars from the earliest times to this day. For example, 11 million horses, 100,000 dogs and even 200,000 pigeons were involved in the conflicts in the First World War! There were cases where animals were warriors like humans.
Horses, mules and oxes
Of all the animals, horses were mostly with a man in the history of warfare. During the Second World War about 6 million horses were lost in the German and Soviet Union military units! For example, Germans used them in the First World War as a cannon base.
Mula is a modest and intelligent animal, highly skilled in mountainous areas. Since 18th century, this animal has been serving military service. In the First World War, mules were used to transport cowards, ammunition, shells and foodstuffs, but also mail and wounded.
The oxes in Serbian history played a big role. Without their help, the Serbian army could not retreat from Serbia through Albania under attack by the Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian armies. This picture shows oxes with soldiers, cargo and the Serbian king in Jankovo Gorge in Kosovo.
Elephants
One of the oldest cognition is the use of elephants and their role as a precursor to the tank. Their use has improved over time. Shields were put on the elephants, with extra spears and chains, to make them more raw in the attack on the first enemies lines. They were most celebrated in the Hannibal army. It's noted that this famous warlord used snakes in battles, by throwing cages with snakes on enemies.
Bees
In Montenegro, during the war with the Ottomans, the Montenegrins used bee hives. They threw hives it on the Ottomons from the hills.
Pigeons and falcons
In modern wars, pigeons played a major and important role. In the First World War, they were used to transmit information and messages. In the Second World War, their role was improved. First, the German army began to use them for the same purposes, so the British troops during the preparation of the D-Day using them exchanging information with the French Resistance in Normandy. German troops decided to stop it, so they began to dress the falcons to catch English homing pigeons.
Pigeons were used as the precursor of drones. Cameras were placed on their chest and they were let go over enemy lines.
SourceThis is Cher Ami. He saved the lives of 200 American soldiers in WWI.
Dogs
During the World War II in the USSR mines are placed on dogs, which are trained to stand under a tank with a mine on the backs. In that way, with a strong explosion, they destroyed tanks.
Bats
During the Second World War, Americans practiced "bombing" Japanese towns with bats. They dropped them in packages, with parachutes, on the original model of one Japanese town, which was made in the desert in America. When the package drops to the ground, the bats would fly out of them, and flew under the roofs of the houses. At that moment, the small bombs that were on their backs were activated, and houses were burnt. This experiment was 100% successful, but after that, nuclear bombs were thrown to Japan, so the bats did not have practical use in the war.
Chickens
In the recent history of warfare US Army used chickens in the Gulf War. A large number of cages with these animals was set up in places where American soldiers were, because of the fear that the Iraqi army will use chemical poison gas. The chickens were an alarm in that case. Chickens are more susceptible to chemical poisons than humans. If they started to die in cages, that would mean that the attack began. Many chickens died in this way.
