Encirclement is a military term for the situation when a force or target is isolated and surrounded by enemy forces. This situation is highly dangerous for the encircled force: at the strategic level, because it 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. Military strategy is a National defence policy implemented by Military organisations to pursue desired strategic goals Derived from the Greek Military tactics ( Greek: Taktikē, the art of organizing an army are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating Lastly, since the force cannot retreat, unless it is relieved or can break out, it must either fight to the death or surrender. For other meanings see Withdrawal (disambiguation. A withdrawal is a type of Military operation, generally meaning retreating Surrender is when Soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and become Prisoners of war, either as Encirclement has been used throughout the centuries by military leaders, including famous generals such as Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Sun Tzu, Wallenstein, Napoléon, Heinz Guderian, von Runstedt, Zhukov, and Patton. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Hannibal (Pronounced in Phoenician: Hanniba'al means " Ba'al is my grace " or " Ba'al has given me grace " 247 BC &ndash Sun Tzu ( ("Master Sun" also called Sun Wu ( is traditionally considered to be the author of The Art of War (also simply called the Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Heinz Wilhelm Guderian ( 17 June, 1888 – 14 May, 1954) was a military theorist and innovative General of the German Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt ( December 12, 1875 - February 24, 1953) was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German For the 19th century Scottish jurist/politician see George Patton Lord Glenalmond. Sun Tzu suggests that an army should not be completely encircled, but should be given some room for escape, in order to prevent that 'encircled' army's men lifting their morale and fighting till the death - a more optimal situation would be them considering the possibility of a retreat.

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, such as light infantry, cavalry, tanks, or 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 pincer movement or double envelopment is a basic element of Military strategy which has been used to some extent in many Wars and is considered Traditionally light infantry (or skirmishers) were soldiers whose job was to provide a Skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of Infantry, harassing The Cavalry (from French cavalerie) is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as Soldiers or Warriors who fought mounted on A tank is a tracked, Armoured fighting vehicle designed for Front-line combat which combines Operational mobility and tactical Armoured personnel carriers (APCs are Armoured fighting vehicles developed to transport Infantry on the Battlefield They usually have only a Machine The encirclement of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad is a typical example of this. The 6th Army was a German Field army which saw action in World War I and World War II. The Battle of Stalingrad is a commonly used name in English sources for several large operations by Germany and its allies and Soviet forces conducted with the

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. An ocean (from Greek, ''Okeanos'' (Oceanus) is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the Hydrosphere. A mountain is a Landform that extends above the surrounding Terrain in a limited area with a peak The German attack into the lowlands of France in 1940 is a typical example of this. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.

A third and more 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. A breakthrough occurs when an offensive force has broken the enemy defensive line and is rapidly exploiting the gap Full encirclement rarely follows this, but the threat of it severely hampers the defender's options. This type of attack pattern is centerpiece to Blitzkrieg operations. Blitzkrieg (German for "lightning war" is a popular name for an Offensive operational-level Military doctrine which involves an initial By the extreme difficulty of this operation, it can only be executed if the offensive force has a vast superiority, either in technology, organization, or sheer numbers. The Barbarossa campaign of 1941 saw some examples of this. Operation Barbarossa ( Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the Codename for Nazi Germany 's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II

A special kind of encirclement is the siege. In this case, the encircled force voluntarily allows this to happen at a stronghold location where long-lasting supplies and defensive constructions or fortifications are in place, allowing them to repel attacks. A stronghold is a strongly fortified defensive structureThe history of fortified buildings extends from antiquity to modern times Sieges have taken place in almost all eras of warfare.

Examples of battles of encirclement:

• Battle of Cannae
• Battle of Fraustadt
• Battle of Kiev (1941)
• Battle of Smolensk (1941)
• Battle of Stalingrad
• Battle of Tannenberg (1914)

See also

• Blockade
• Breakout (military)
• Pocket (military)

For the 11th century battle in the Byzantine conquest of the Mezzogiorno, see Battle of Cannae (1018. The Battle of Fraustadt was fought on February 3 1706 between Sweden and Saxony - Poland and their Russian allies near The Battle of Kiev was the German name for the operation that resulted in a very large encirclement of Soviet troops in the vicinity of Kiev during World War II The Battle of Smolensk was a successful encirclement operation by Army Group Centre 's 2nd Panzer Army led by Heinz Guderian and the 3rd Panzer Army The Battle of Stalingrad is a commonly used name in English sources for several large operations by Germany and its allies and Soviet forces conducted with the The Battle of Tannenberg was a decisive engagement between the Russian Empire and the German Empire in the first days of World War I, fought by the A blockade is any effort to prevent supplies Troops information or aid from reaching an opposing force A breakout is a military operation to end a situation of Encirclement or Siege. Salient Salients can be formed in a number of ways An attacker can produce a salient in the defender's line by either intentionally making a Pincer movement around the

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