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It was Armenius who was well aquainted with Varus and I believe had the trust of Varnus, who led Varnus and the Legions into an ambush. From that standpoint it was a setup or an inside job. Very sneaky. The Legions who were ill trained and caught, in what is now known as the Black Forest, completely by surprise as they were attacked at once by the Germans who lay in wait behind the trees and the berms that they constructed for the task.
I wouldn't suppose this scenario could be repeated unless we had our entire army in one location with their guard down and caught completely by surprise by the enemy. Suffice it to say that military leaders study history and learn from classic mistakes like this, and as technology changes so do the tactics and new mistakes are made or new avenues are exploited. The one thing that would come to mind in modern day history that would have a parallel, that I can think of, would be the Tet offensive in Vietnam. The one large common denominator in any example would be that of the element of surprise.
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