Encirclement is amilitary 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 thestrategic level, it cannot receivesupplies or reinforcements, and on thetactical level, the units in the force can be subject to an attack from several sides. Lastly, since the force cannotretreat, unless it isrelieved or can break out, it must fight to the death orsurrender.
A special kind of encirclement is thesiege. In that case, the encircled forces are enveloped in afortified 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.
Encirclement has been used throughout the centuries by military leaders, including generals such asAlexander the Great,Sun Tzu,Hannibal,Julius Caesar,Spartacus,Khalid bin Waleed,Genghis Khan,Yi Sun Shin,von Wallenstein,Nader Shah,Shaka Zulu,Napoleon,von Moltke,Heinz Guderian,von Rundstedt,von Manstein,Zhukov,Patton andSoleimani.
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.
The main form of encircling, the "double pincer", is executed by attacks on theflanks of abattle whose mobile forces of the era, such aslight infantry,cavalry,tanks, orarmoured 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 theGerman Sixth Army in theBattle of Stalingrad in 1942 is a typical example. During theWinter War,Finland used "pocket tactics" against theSoviet Union, calledmotti; 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.[citation needed]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 abreakthrough 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 toblitzkrieg 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. TheBarbarossa 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 asupply route, the encircling force can be thrown into confusion (for example, Rommel's"Dash to the Wire" in 1941 and theDemyansk Pocket in 1942) or be comprehensively destroyed (asduring the Burma campaign, in 1944).
Some examples of battles of encirclement are listed below.
