Bom, antes de mais, aqui está uma pequena descrição dos poderes do Homem Elástico (Plastic Man):
"Can stretch and shape his highly resilient body into any shape he can imagine, even ones with moving parts. Immune to telepathy. Possible immortality."
Isto, obviamente permite-lhe fazer coisas como esta:
"Plastic Man can "redistribute" bodily functions elsewhere throughout his mass. On multiple occasions, he has commented that he was able to recover instantly from catastrophic damage to his head (such as burning or dispersal) because his brain "wasn't anywhere near it at the time". In the JLA' arc "The Obsidian Age", Plastic Man, while in the past, is destroyed into separate molecules at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The Justice League finds most of his molecules 3,000 years later and re-assembles him."
E no que toca à discussão entre cavaleiros e samurais...
Informem-se mais um bocado... As coisas não são assim tão lineares. A maioria do pessoal parece julgar que os guerreiros ocidentais eram brutos deslavados que andavam por aí a balançar espadas aleatoriamente pelo ar.
Se procurarem pela net, encontram facilmente histórias que mostram o formidáveis que os guerreiros europeus eram na verdade.
Deixo-vos aqui algumas sobre os nossos antepassados:
Portuguese Man at War
This is the name given to a very dangerous species of jelly fish. The real reason behind it resides in how well equipped this creature is, and is a comparison to the way the Portuguese ships fought in India.
Vice-Roy of India, D. Afonso de Albuquerque, a military genius of the highest degree commanded a fleet of six ships manned by four hundred men, and entered Ormuz Bay, being surrounded by 250 warships and a 20.000 men army on land ready to dispatch the small Portuguese flotilla.
When the King of Ormuz sent aboard an emissary to question Albuquerque, the great Commander told the messenger one phrase: Surrender yourselves !!!
This must have provoked an inner laugh from the messenger who left.
When the battle begun, Albuquerque made his fleet circle like a carrousel and destroyed most of the ships. He then proceeded to conquer Ormuz with 400 men.
How could this be achieved one must ask. The technical explanation may make some sense, but will not explain the courage of taking such a risk.
In fact we all know that during the U.S.Civil War, canons had to be loaded from their mouths. This was in the XIX Century. However Albuquerque’s canons were equipped with breeches that did not require the canons to be brought backwards to be loaded. It meant that while the enemy’s canons fired a shot, the Portuguese canons could fire six with a range of 1.800 meters against 700 meters of the enemy’s canons. The next issue is that the Portuguese artillery men had discovered the propulsive effect of water. If you throw a stone at a low angle near the surface of the water, the stone will be propelled by the water’s surface and gain more speed.
The second row of canons were placed very near the floating line and the stronger fire power was further enhanced by the water effect, causing the steel balls to not only hit the ship but hit the one behind the first one. Being fired at close to the floating line, the ships would start sinking very fast.
Then one must be aware that the Portuguese knew they were always outnumbered, a certainty that led them to employ all their courage and determination in the fights and battles they engaged.
In many cases, just mentioning the Portuguese would distress an entire army or fleet, knowing the fierceness and bravery of the Portuguese warriors.
Running forward
One of the techniques that the Portuguese warriors employed against their enemies who held the Moorish bow was just more than unusual.
They knew that the Moorish bow would be very effective within the range from 50 meters to 400 meters.
So when 40 Portuguese soldiers disembarked to face a first row of 300 archers also armed with tulwars, their first act was to run like madmen towards the archers, with their rapiers and left handlers in hand. The archers would be stunned by this totally insane act, as due to the heath, very few would wear armors. This stunning delay would again act in favour of the Portuguese who would close de 50 meters range with a few more seconds of advantage.
The Portuguese knew about the 50 meters bow effectiveness and that their only hope was to run frontward to cut that distance, after which their highly seasoned maneuver of the rapier and the left handler would destroy the tulwar in no time, one after the other. One blade would stop the tulwar strike and the other would dispatch the enemy, and this was one methodically in no time.
Running front wards for cover was a tactic that brought the Portuguese warriors great fame and respect for their bravery.
A unique exchange of insults
In 1537 some Portuguese sailors committed a crime, considered a grave diplomatic offense.
In front of the city of Diu, the Sultan Bahadur Shah was received on a Portuguese ship. The diplomatic conversations did not go well and the Sultan and his entourage left angrily.
Some less disciplined Portuguese sailors made the Sultan’s boarding the small boat that would take him back a pretty difficult task, one of them managed to hit the Sultan’s head with an oar which caused him to drown.
The shameful action caused an outcry of indignation and revenge which echoed from the Muslim kingdoms of the Gulf of Cambay to Egypt and Constantinople. The Sultan’s widow offered all of her fortune to finance a punitive expedition against the Portuguese.
The Portuguese fortress of Diu had a garrison of 600 Portuguese commanded by D. António da Silveira.
The Turk Suleiman Pasha and the Sultan of Cambay united their armies, and arrived at Diu with 70 Turkish galleys and a land army of 23.000 men. Having taken some Portuguese as prisoners, Suleiman Pasha sent a letter by one of the prisoners to be delivered to D. António da Silveira.
It must be said that Suleiman was a court eunuch that gained power after a Court Coup, having beheaded the entire Turkish royal family and therefore usurping the throne.
When António da Silveira received the letter from the Turk, he turned to his companions saying: Let us see what does the castrated dog has to say, and read the letter in public.
Suleiman Pasha promised the Portuguese free leave of people and goods as long as they returned to the Coast of Malabar and handed over the fortress and their weapons. Suleiman promised to skin alive all of the Portuguese if they did not obey his conditions, referring that he had the largest army in Cambay, among which were many who participate in the taking of Belgrade, Hungary and the Island of Rhodes. Finally he asked António da Silveira how would he defend the pig-sty with so few pigs!
D. António da Silveira ordered paper and ink to be brought forward, and in the presence of all, dictated the reply to the Pasha:
“Most honored captain Pasha, I have carefully read your letter. If in the Island of Rhodes were the knights that are in this pig-sty you could be assured that you would have not conquered it. You are to learn that here are Portuguese, used to killing many Moors and are commanded by António da Silveira that has a pair of balls stronger than the balls of your canons and that all the Portuguese here have balls and do not fear those who don’t have them”.
A bigger insult could not be imagined. The Pasha was furious and ordered that the remaining prisoners were killed, and a fight of giants begun.
During more then a month António da Silveira fought bravely, remaining only less than 40 Portuguese capable of fighting, but causing so many casualties to the Turks that these gave up the siege and retired from Diu.
The bullet that was a tooth
It is sometimes in chronicles written by foreigners that for some centuries have studied Portuguese History, that some interesting details are found.
A Dutch priest, Philippus Baldaeus, who accompanied the Dutch fleets that fought the Portuguese in the Indic Ocean, tells a most interesting story:
During the first Siege of Diu, a Portuguese soldier who was manning one of the bastions of the fortress that was being attacked by theTurks, found himself as the only survivor, having used all bullets but still having some gun powder for one more shot, and finding nothing else to charge his firearm with, decided to extract one of his own tooth and armed the weapon with it, firing against the enemy that was considering he was out of ammunitions.
It is just a little detail in a great battle that is readily forgotten. The Dutchman however, relates this fact with great respect for a brave warrior, which does honor to the Portuguese soldier.