Encirclement is a military term for the situation when one side's force or target is isolated and surrounded by other side's forces. This situation is considered to be highly dangerous for the encircled force, at the strategic level, because the force cannot receive supplies or reinforcements, and on the tactical level, because the units in the force can be subject to an attack from several sides. Lastly, since the force can't retreat anymore, the encircled force cannot be salvaged when forced to do so, it must fight to the death or surrender in that case. A strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. ... Tactics is the collective name for methods of winning a small-scale conflict, performing an optimization, etc. ... The term retreat has several related meanings, all of which have in common the notion of safety or temporarily removing oneself from ones usual environment. ... Surrender is when soldiers give up fighting and become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers . ...

Throughout the centuries, military leaders have attempted to encircle their enemies, and many of the great generals have used this technique, including Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Wallenstein, Napoleon, von Rundstedt, Zhukov, and Patton, to name just a few. Alexander the Great fighting the Persian king Darius (Pompeii mosaic, from a 3rd century BC original Greek painting, now lost). ... Hannibals feat in crossing the Alps with war elephants passed into European legend: a fresco detail, 1510, Capitoline Museum, Rome Hannibal (from Punic, literally Baal is merciful to me, 247 BC – 182 BC) was a politician, statesman and military commander of ancient Carthage, best known for his achievements in... Categories: 1583 births | 1634 deaths | Assassinated people ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (December 12, 1875 - February 24, 1953) was a Field Marshal of the German Army during World War II. He remains known as one of Germanys best generals, as well as for being apolitical throughout his career. ... Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgi Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov (Russian: Гео́ргий Константи́нович Жу́ков) (December 1, 1896 - June 18, 1974), Soviet military commander and politician, considered by many as one of the most successful field commanders of World War II. Prewar career Born into a peasant family in Strelkovka, Kaluga... Patton is a 1970 biographical film which tells the story of General George Pattons commands during World War II. It stars George C. Scott, Karl Malden and Michael Bates. ...

The main form of encircling (the "double pincer") is executed by attacks on the flanks of a battle, where the mobile forces of the era (light infantry, cavalry, tanks, APC's) 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 encirlement of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad is a typical example of this. A pincer movement whereby the blue force doubly envelops the red force. ... A flank is the side of either a horse or a military unit. ... The Battle of Waterloo by William Sadler. ... Traditionally light infantry (or skirmishers) were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. ... Italian cavalry officers practice their horsemanship in 1904 outside Rome. ... The M113, one of the earliest and most common APCs, on duty during the Vietnam War Armoured personnel carriers (APCs) are light armoured fighting vehicles for the transport of infantry. ... The 6. ... The Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point in World War II, and is considered the bloodiest and largest battle in human history. ...

If there is a natural obstacle (sea, mountains, etc) on one of the sides of the battlefield, only one pincer is needed ("single pincer"), because the function of the second arm is taken over by the natural obstacle. The German attack into the lowlands of France in 1940 is a typical example of this.

A third and more rare type of encirclement can ensue from a breakthrough in the centre of the enemy front, and exploiting that with mobile forces, diverging in two directions behind the enemy line. Full encirclement rarely follows this, but the threat of it severely hampers the defender's options. By the extreme difficulty of this operation, it can only be executed if the offensive force has a vast superiority, either in technology, organizations, or sheer numbers. The Barbarossa campaign of 1941 saw some examples of this. Breakthrough (2000) is a textbook in three parts for students, learning English language. ... Original German plan Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the German codename for Nazi Germanys invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that commenced on June 22, 1941. ...

A special kind of encirclement is the siege. In this case, the encircled force gets encircled more or less voluntarily at a stronghold location, where long-lasting supplies and defensive constructions or fortifications are in place. Particularly in the middle ages, (the possibility of) this type of battle was omnipresent, but sieges have taken place in almost all other eras as well. For the Boston area punk band see Siege (band). ... Stronghold is a commercial version of Apache Web Server, distributed by RedHat Inc. ...

See also

• blockade
• breakout (military)
• pincer movement