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Encirclement

January 01, 1970

Encirclement is a military term for the situation when a force or target is isolated and surrounded by enemy forces.[1] The situation is highly dangerous for the encircled force. At the strategic level, it cannot receive supplies or reinforcements, and on the tactical level, the units in the force can be subject to an attack from several sides. Lastly, since the force cannot retreat, unless it is relieved or can break out, it must fight to the death or surrender.

Diagram of the encirclement of ISIS forces in the Second Battle of Tikrit (2015). The blue arrows indicate allied attacks, while the red line is the line of encirclement as of 9 March 2015.
Encirclement of Stalingrad
An encirclement during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)

A special kind of encirclement is the siege. In that case, the encircled forces are enveloped in a fortified position in which long-lasting supplies and strong defences are in place, allowing them to withstand attacks. Sieges have taken place in almost all eras of warfare.

History edit

Encirclement has been used throughout the centuries by military leaders, including generals such as Spartacus, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Khalid bin Waleed, Hannibal, Sun Tzu, Yi Sun Shin, Shaka Zulu, von Wallenstein, Nader Shah, Napoleon, von Moltke, Heinz Guderian, von Rundstedt, von Manstein, Zhukov, Patton and Soleimani.

Sun Tzu and other military thinkers suggest that an army should be not completely encircled but instead given some room for escape. Otherwise, the "encircled" army's men will lift their morale and fight to the death. It is better to have them consider the possibility of a retreat.[2] Once the enemy retreats, it can be pursued and captured or destroyed with far less risk to the pursuing forces than a fight to the death.

Types of encirclement edit

The main form of encircling, the "double pincer", is executed by attacks on the flanks of a battle whose mobile forces of the era, such as light infantry, cavalry, tanks, or armoured personnel carriers attempt to force a breakthrough to utilize their speed to join behind the back of the enemy force and complete the "ring" while the main enemy force is stalled by probing attacks. The encirclement of the German Sixth Army in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942 is a typical example. During the Winter War, Finland used "pocket tactics" against the Soviet Union, called motti; in the context of war, motti describes a tactic that the Finns used to immobilise, segment, surround and destroy the Soviet troops that were many times as large as them.[3]

If there is a natural obstacle, such as ocean or mountains on one side of the battlefield, only one pincer is needed ("single pincer"), because the function of the second arm is taken over by the natural obstacle.[4] The German attack into the lowlands of France in 1940 is a typical example of this.

A third and rare type of encirclement can ensue from a breakthrough in an area of the enemy front, and exploiting that with mobile forces, diverging in two or more directions behind the enemy line. Full encirclement rarely follows, but the threat of it severely hampers the defender's options. This type of attack pattern is centerpiece to blitzkrieg operations. Because of the extreme difficulty of this operation, it cannot be executed unless the offensive force has a vast superiority, either in technology, organization, or sheer numbers. The Barbarossa campaign of 1941 saw some examples.

The danger to the encircling force is that it is, itself, cut off from its logistical base; if the encircled force is able to stand firm, or maintain a supply route, the encircling force can be thrown into confusion (for example, Rommel's "Dash to the Wire" in 1941 and the Demyansk Pocket in 1942) or be comprehensively destroyed (as during the Burma campaign, in 1944).

Notable encirclement battles edit

Some examples of battles of encirclement are listed below.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "U.S. Army FM 3-90 Appendix D, Encirclement Operations". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2012-01-23. Encirclement operations are operations where one force loses its freedom of maneuver because an opposing force is able to isolate it by controlling all ground lines of communication and reinforcement.
  2. ^ Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Section VII: Maneuvering, line 36.
  3. ^ How Finns used the 'motti' tactic to entrap Soviets in Winter War
  4. ^ "U.S. Army FM 3-90 Appendix D-1 OFFENSIVE ENCIRCLEMENT OPERATIONS". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2012-01-23. However, they can occur in situations where the attacking commander uses a major obstacle, such as a shoreline, as a second encircling force.
  5. ^ a b c committee of former German officers (1952). . Historical Study. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Army. Archived from the original on 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2013-01-23. The German term for an encirclement is Kesselschlacht (cauldron battle).
  6. ^ "Iraqi forces seek to encircle IS fighters in Tikrit". BBC. 4 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.

External links edit

 
Look up salient, re-entrant, or pocket in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • The Great Kitilä Motti (Winter War history from a documentary film's website showing multiple encirlements.)

January 01, 1970
encirclement, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, january, 2010. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Encirclement news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2010 Learn how and when to remove this message Encirclement is a military term for the situation when a force or target is isolated and surrounded by enemy forces 1 The situation is highly dangerous for the encircled force At the strategic level it cannot receive supplies or reinforcements and on the tactical level the units in the force can be subject to an attack from several sides Lastly since the force cannot retreat unless it is relieved or can break out it must fight to the death or surrender Diagram of the encirclement of ISIS forces in the Second Battle of Tikrit 2015 The blue arrows indicate allied attacks while the red line is the line of encirclement as of 9 March 2015 Encirclement of Stalingrad An encirclement during the Japanese invasions of Korea 1592 1598 A special kind of encirclement is the siege In that case the encircled forces are enveloped in a fortified position in which long lasting supplies and strong defences are in place allowing them to withstand attacks Sieges have taken place in almost all eras of warfare Contents 1 History 2 Types of encirclement 3 Notable encirclement battles 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksHistory editEncirclement has been used throughout the centuries by military leaders including generals such as Spartacus Alexander the Great Julius Caesar Genghis Khan Khalid bin Waleed Hannibal Sun Tzu Yi Sun Shin Shaka Zulu von Wallenstein Nader Shah Napoleon von Moltke Heinz Guderian von Rundstedt von Manstein Zhukov Patton and Soleimani Sun Tzu and other military thinkers suggest that an army should be not completely encircled but instead given some room for escape Otherwise the encircled army s men will lift their morale and fight to the death It is better to have them consider the possibility of a retreat 2 Once the enemy retreats it can be pursued and captured or destroyed with far less risk to the pursuing forces than a fight to the death Types of encirclement editThe main form of encircling the double pincer is executed by attacks on the flanks of a battle whose mobile forces of the era such as light infantry cavalry tanks or armoured personnel carriers attempt to force a breakthrough to utilize their speed to join behind the back of the enemy force and complete the ring while the main enemy force is stalled by probing attacks The encirclement of the German Sixth Army in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942 is a typical example During the Winter War Finland used pocket tactics against the Soviet Union called motti in the context of war motti describes a tactic that the Finns used to immobilise segment surround and destroy the Soviet troops that were many times as large as them 3 If there is a natural obstacle such as ocean or mountains on one side of the battlefield only one pincer is needed single pincer because the function of the second arm is taken over by the natural obstacle 4 The German attack into the lowlands of France in 1940 is a typical example of this A third and rare type of encirclement can ensue from a breakthrough in an area of the enemy front and exploiting that with mobile forces diverging in two or more directions behind the enemy line Full encirclement rarely follows but the threat of it severely hampers the defender s options This type of attack pattern is centerpiece to blitzkrieg operations Because of the extreme difficulty of this operation it cannot be executed unless the offensive force has a vast superiority either in technology organization or sheer numbers The Barbarossa campaign of 1941 saw some examples The danger to the encircling force is that it is itself cut off from its logistical base if the encircled force is able to stand firm or maintain a supply route the encircling force can be thrown into confusion for example Rommel s Dash to the Wire in 1941 and the Demyansk Pocket in 1942 or be comprehensively destroyed as during the Burma campaign in 1944 Notable encirclement battles editSome examples of battles of encirclement are listed below Battle of Thermopylae 480 BC Battle of Cannae 216 BC Battle of the Abas 65 BC Battle of Walaja 633 AD Battle of Mohi 1241 Battle of Ekeren 1703 Battle of Fraustadt 1706 Battle of Kirkuk 1733 Battle of Kars 1745 Battle of Maymyo 1768 Ulm Campaign 1805 Battle of Ocana 1809 Battle of Isandlwana 1879 Battle of Tannenberg 1914 Battle of Magdhaba 1916 Battle of Rafa 1916 First Battle of Gaza 1917 Battle of Beersheba 1917 Battle of Megiddo 1918 Battle of Suomussalmi 1939 1940 Battle of Kiev 1941 Battle of Smolensk 1941 Battle of Bialystok Minsk 1941 Battle for Velikiye Luki 1942 5 Battle of Hong Kong 1941 Battle of Stalingrad 1942 1943 Battle of the Korsun Cherkassy Pocket 1944 5 Kamenets Podolsky pocket 1944 5 Operation Bagration 1944 Battle of the Mons Pocket 1944 Siege of Bastogne Belgium 1944 Battle of the Ruhr Pocket 1945 Battle of Berlin 1945 Six Day War 1967 Battle of Khorramshahr 1980 Battle of Mogadishu 1993 Battle of Misrata 2011 Battle of Aleppo 2012 2016 Battle of Ilovaisk 2014 Second Battle of Tikrit 2015 6 Battle of Afrin 2018 Battle of the Jabara Valley 2019 Siege of Mariupol 2022 See also editBlockade Encirclement Campaigns Maneuver warfareReferences edit U S Army FM 3 90 Appendix D Encirclement Operations globalsecurity org Retrieved 2012 01 23 Encirclement operations are operations where one force loses its freedom of maneuver because an opposing force is able to isolate it by controlling all ground lines of communication and reinforcement Sun Tzu The Art of War Section VII Maneuvering line 36 How Finns used the motti tactic to entrap Soviets in Winter War U S Army FM 3 90 Appendix D 1 OFFENSIVE ENCIRCLEMENT OPERATIONS globalsecurity org Retrieved 2012 01 23 However they can occur in situations where the attacking commander uses a major obstacle such as a shoreline as a second encircling force a b c committee of former German officers 1952 Operations of Encircled Forces German Experiences in Russia Pamphlet 20 234 Historical Study Washington D C U S Department of the Army Archived from the original on 2008 03 14 Retrieved 2013 01 23 The German term for an encirclement is Kesselschlacht cauldron battle Iraqi forces seek to encircle IS fighters in Tikrit BBC 4 March 2015 Retrieved 5 March 2015 External links edit nbsp Look up salient re entrant or pocket in Wiktionary the free dictionary The Great Kitila Motti Winter War history from a documentary film s website showing multiple encirlements Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Encirclement amp oldid 1213031151, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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