last stand

A battle that is considered the final defense of what is left of a military group, against an overwhelming opposition (example: 500 defenders vs. 2000 attackers). Here, the defending force will unleash all of their strength, motivated by a fighting spirit. Usually this results in either the annihilation of the defending force, or in rare cases, the retreat of the attacking force, depending on the circumstances (example: Out of supplies, or have received heavy casualties). Whilst in a last stand, the defending force has an opportunity to surrender, but that could also lead to their deaths. This however is really a moral question on if they should surrender or not, because the defending force really has nowhere else to retreat to should they be defeated. Mostly, the concept of a last stand is to ultimately 'go down fighting'.