>>7465066It's also why certain loyalist cities in Syria managed to hold out for years(!) despite being surrounded and outnumbered
>Deir ez-Zor (under siege by ISIS for 3 years and nearly destroyed after US airstrikes in Sep 2016)>Kafarya/Fu'ah (until they were evacuated)>Nubl/Zahraa (they had some help from Afrin Kurds)The civilians would take up arms when their cities came under attack by the enemy and that I believe made all the difference, despite the Russian humanitarian airdrops.
Their volunteers swelled the defending forces' ranks for the battles and kept them from being overrun.
If an entire populace is against you, your only options are genocide or retreat.
