don't give ultimatums unless you can follow through

What we can learn from the defeat of the Ottomans at the Battle of Vienna to ensure our victory in these upcoming tournaments.

1 - never leave your big cannons behind
Mustafa made a critical error when traveling to Crimea to overtake the city. Due to unforeseen rains, he could not drag these heavy cannons to attack. After setting an ultimatum of surrender or face total annihilation, his army was too weak to take down the walls; and his troops suffered greatly.

Looking at this from a debate perspective, we can see that it's a bad idea to leave behind critical information. You must build up your artillery of logical fallacies, topical current information, and Ks that will certainly knock the walls of the opponents down, leaving the floor wide open for your military men (disadvantages) to lead to total destruction. (win!)

2 - don't let your logic get cholera
After realizing his army needed new tactics, Mustafa set to starve the city to death. Yet, while he waited for the opposition to die on it's own - His own army suffered greatly. The camps deteriorated over time, and diseases spread wide throughout his mighty army. Poor sanitation and long, unproductive weeks led to unnecessary degredation of troops.

Debate-wise, we know that letting your mind sit around for too long is bad for the brain, and definitely bad for the army of knowledge in your mind. Facts will get bored, or worse diseased, and run out of your ears. Or become so sick that you mix up information. Keep that logic well maintained, and clean. Update your mental data-base often.

3 - don't let your opponent through the narrow passes in the alps
This was a critical mistake in Mustafa's planning for troops. He underestimated the power of the army coming to save the city, and left the only two extremely narrow passes in the alps to get to Crimea wide open for troops to come through. Sobieski and his men waltzed through those mountain passes unharmed, and surrounded Mustafa's army. Trapping them, and leading to their inevitable defeat.

Don't let those technicality get away. Maybe you think you can drop an inane point, but it will be this that comes back to corner you against the opposition's argument that you were sure you were going to defeat. But now, you are left surrounded with no strong points. If only you had closed up those gaps in the Swiss Alps of your plan. Definitely make sure your argument is rock solid, before finishing the job of destroying their already weak counter-plan.


We can also learn from Sobieski here, to know that the underdogs have a historical precedent of winning. So even when all hope is lost, join forces with Austria, and kick some Ottoman ass.