The Battle of Marathon, an example of the double-envelopment, a form of flanking maneuver

In military tactics, a flanking maneuver, also called a flank attack, is an attack on the sides of an opposing force. If a flanking maneuver were to succeed, the opposing force would be surrounded from two or more directions, which significantly reduces the maneuverability of the outflanked force. As flanks are usually the weaker part of an army, flanking gives the attacker an advantage on the psychological condition or the practical condition of an army, depending on the situation. Flank is a word which might mean any of several different things: A flank is the side of either a horse or a military unit. ... Image File history File links Map of the Battle of Marathon, 490 BC. Taken from http://www. ... Image File history File links Map of the Battle of Marathon, 490 BC. Taken from http://www. ... Combatants Athens and Plataea Persia Commanders Miltiades Callimachus† Darius I of Persia Datis†? Artaphernes Strength 10,000 Athenians 1,000 Plataeans 20,000-60,000 by modern estimates 1 Casualties 192 Athenians dead 11 Plateans dead 6,400 dead 7 ships captured 1 Ancient sources give numbers ranging from 200... A pincer movement whereby the blue force doubly envelops the red force. ... Military tactics (Greek: Taktikē, the art of organizing an army) are the collective name for methods for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. ... Maneuver warfare (American English) or manoeuvre warfare is a concept of warfare that advocates attempting to defeat an adversary by incapacitating their decision-making through shock and disruption. ...

Types of flanking

The flanking maneuver is one of the most basic tactics used in battles. There are two types of flanking: In the first type, the principle of the flanking maneuver is to be sudden and able to catch the enemy by surprise, causing the enemy to overreact or retreat when they are surrounded from a few directions. Usually this type of flanking is concealed in an ambush. An ambush is a long established military tactic in which an ambushing force uses concealment to attack an enemy that passes its position. ...

The second type is obvious and transparent, and thus gives the enemy a chance to prepare. A typical example will be a platoon encountering an isolated enemy combat outpost. Taking fire from the combat outpost, the platoon commander may decide to flank. In this case, one third to two thirds of his platoon may remain in position and "fix" the enemy with suppressive fire. This prevents the enemy from retreating or reorienting to a new threat. The remainder of the platoon will advance discretely to the flanks of the enemy, before destroying the enemy in rushes. Because of the possibility of fratricide (friendly fire), coordination is very important. Fratricide (from the Latin word frater, meaning: brother and cide meaning to kill) is the act of a person killing his or her brother. ...

The most effective form of flanking maneuver is the double envelopment that involves simultaneous flanking from both ends of the line of battle. The most classic example of this is Hannibal's victory over the Roman armies at the Battle of Cannae. Another famous example of the double envelopment was Khalid ibn al-Walid's victory over the Persian Empire at the Battle of Walaja.^[1] A pincer movement whereby the blue force doubly envelops the red force. ... Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar Barca, (247 BC – c. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... For the 11th-century battle in the Byzantine conquest of the Mezzogiorno, see Battle of Cannae (1018). ... Khālid ibn al-Walīd (592 - 642) (Arabic: خالد بن الوليد) also known as Sayf-Allāh al-Maslul (the Drawn Sword of God), was one of the two renowned Arab generals (see also: Amr ibn al-Aas) during the early Muslim conquests of the 7th Century. ... The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Empire (Persian: ‎ Sasanian) is the name used for the fourth Iranian dynasty, and the second Persian Empire (226 - 651). ... The Battle of Walaja took place in 633 in what is now known as Iraq. ...

To avoid being flanked, a unit could be sent to scout and engage the enemy flanking unit before the enemy reached its target.

While flanking is usually seen in land battles, it is also widely used in naval battles.^[2] An example of pre-modern flanking maneuver usage in sea was in the Battle of Salamis, where the Greek navy managed to outflank the Persian navy and won a decisive victory. In late 18th century and early 19th century, a type of enfilade called Crossing the T was often used in naval battles. A naval battle is a battle fought using ships or other waterborne vessels. ... Combatants Greek city-states Persia Halicarnassus Commanders Eurybiades of Sparta Themistocles of Athens Adeimantus of Corinth Aristides of Athens Xerxes I of Persia Ariamenes † Artemisia Strength 366-380 ships 1 1000 - 1207 ships [1]2 Casualties 40 ships 200 ships 1 Herodotus gives 378 of the alliance, but the numbers... The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the old Persian homeland, and beyond in Western Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. ... Enfilade and defilade are military tactical concepts used to describe a fighting units exposure to enemy fire. ... In the illustration, the blue ships are crossing the T of the red ships. ...

Flanking in history

Flanking maneuvers played an important role in nearly every major battle in history, and have been used effectively by famous military leaders like Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Khalid ibn al-Walid^[1] and Napoleon^[3] throughout history. Sun Tzu's The Art of War strongly emphasizes the use of flanking, although did not support surrounding the enemy force completely as he believed that when an enemy army can not retreat, it will fight with more ferocity ^[4]. However, a flanking maneuver is not always effective. A flanking maneuver can turn out disastrously if the flanking troop is ambushed while maneuvering, or if the main army could not hold its lines while a flanking maneuver is in process. Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar Barca, (247 BC – c. ... Gaius Julius Caesar [1] (Latin pronunciation ; English pronunciation ; July 12 or July 13, 100 BC – March 15, 44 BC), often simply referred to as Julius Caesar, was a Roman military and political leader and one of the most influential men in world history. ... Khālid ibn al-WalÄ«d (592 - 642) (Arabic: خالد بن الوليد) also known as Sayf-Allāh al-Maslul (the Drawn Sword of God), was one of the two renowned Arab generals (see also: Amr ibn al-Aas) during the early Muslim conquests of the 7th Century. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... Sun Tzu (孫子 also commonly written in pinyin: Sūn Zǐ) was the author of The Art of War, an influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy (for the most part not dealing directly with tactics). ... For other uses, see The Art of War (disambiguation) A modern edition of The Art of War translated into English by Samuel B. Griffith. ...

Flanking was revitalized in WWII and kept the same basic concept. But it required less men.

1.) first you had to find your enemy and find a position to fire at them from.

2.)then you had to actually suppress them so they got their heads down and you could maneuver.

3.)You then had to have a element of men go around to a place where they are in cover but the enemy is not(mostly on the sides or rear.)

4.) Then you have to finish them.

Maneuvering

Flanking on land in pre-Modern eras was usually achieved with cavalry (and rarely, chariots) due to their speed and maneuverability, and a heavily armored infantry was usually used to hold the main front while the maneuver proceeded, as in the Battle of Pharsalus. After armored vehicles such as tanks were invented, they replaced cavalries as the main force of flanking maneuvers. An example of such a use is in the Battle of France in World War II. Although modern flanking attacks have been made more difficult as a result of trench warfare, flanking is still used effectively to bring the defensive line under enfilade, wherein the flanking force can fire down the length of the opposing line.^[5] As trenches are often dug in a straight line, a flank attack from the side will largely negate the defensive value of the fortification. Soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback in combat are commonly known as cavalry (from French cavalerie). ... For the torpedo-shaped underwater vehicle ridden by two frogmen, sometimes referred to as a chariot, see Human torpedo. ... Combatants Populares Optimates Commanders Gaius Julius Caesar Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus Strength Approximately 22,000 legionaries, 5,000-10,000 Auxiliaries and Allies, and Allied Cavalry of 1800 Approximately 60,000 legionaries, 4,200 Auxiliaries and Allies, and Allied Cavalry of 5,000-8,000 Casualties 1,200 6,000 The... An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is a military vehicle, protected by armour and armed with weapons. ... Combatants France United Kingdom Canada Czechoslovakia Poland Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg Germany Italy Commanders Maurice Gamelin, Maxime Weygand (French) Lord Gort (British Expeditionary Force) H.G. Winkelman (Dutch) Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Wilhelm von Leeb (Army Group C) H.R.H. Umberto di... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Trench warfare is a form of war in which both opposing armies have static lines of defense. ... Enfilade and defilade are military tactical concepts used to describe a fighting units exposure to enemy fire. ...

Strategic flanking

A strategic flanking is a larger-scaled flanking where a nation or group of nations surround and attack an enemy from two or more directions, such as the Allies surrounding Nazi Germany in World War II. In these cases, the flanked country usually has to engage in two fronts at once, creating a major strategic disadvantage. The group of countries known as the Allies of World War II consisted of those nations opposed to the Axis Powers during the Second World War. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

See also

• Pincer movement
• Encirclement

A pincer movement whereby the blue force doubly envelops the red force. ... Encirclement is a military term for the situation when one sides force or target is isolated and surrounded by other sides forces. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b} A.I. Akram (1970). The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns. National Publishing House. Rawalpindi. ISBN 0-7101-0104-X.
2. ^ Naval maneuver warfare
3. ^ Cavalry Tactics and Combat during the Napoleonic Wars
4. ^ The Art of War Section VII, 36
5. ^ Trenches and tanks