In 1866, during the Austro-Prussian War, the tiny principality of Liechtenstein deployed only 80 soldiers to guard the Brenner Pass. They saw no combat, faced no battles, and yet their story became one of the most unusual in military history.
On the march home, the soldiers befriended a lone traveler—either an Austrian liaison officer or an Italian defector—who decided to join them. When they returned to Vaduz, 81 men arrived instead of 80. In a world filled with war and casualties, Liechtenstein’s army achieved the rarest of outcomes: a military campaign with negative casualties.
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