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245:(traditionally dated to the 6th century BC), speculated on the maneuver but advised against trying it for fear that an army would likely run first before the move could be completed. He argued that it was best to allow the enemy a path to escape (or at least the appearance of one), as the target army would fight with more ferocity when surrounded. Still, it would lose formation and be more vulnerable to destruction if shown an avenue of escape.
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The pincer movement typically occurs when opposing forces advance towards the center of an army that responds by moving its outside forces to the enemy's flanks to surround it. At the same time, a second layer of pincers may attack the more distant flanks to keep reinforcements from the target units.
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by thinning out the center of his forces while reinforcing the wings. In the course of the battle, the weaker central formations retreated, allowing the wings to converge behind the
Persian battle line and drive the more numerous but lightly armed Persians to retreat in panic.
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tactic. Two enveloping flanks of horsemen surrounded the enemy, but they usually remained unjoined, leaving the enemy an escape route to the rear. It was key to many of
Genghis's early victories over other Mongolian tribes.
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reacted by sending the cavalry on the right of his formation around in support. Alexander had positioned two cavalry units on the left of his formation, hidden from view, under the command of
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against the
Ottomans; the Turco-Persian army, under Nader, flanked the Ottomans on both ends of their line and encircled their centre despite being numerically at a disadvantage. In another
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in 1739, Nader drew out the Mughal army which outnumbered his own force by over six to one, and managed to encircle and defeat a significant contingent of the
Mughals in an ambush around
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the Axis forces managed to encircle the largest number of soldiers in the history of warfare. Well over half-a-million Soviet soldiers were taken prisoner by the end of the operation.
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A full pincer movement leads to the attacking army facing the enemy in front, on both flanks, and in the rear. If attacking pincers link up in the enemy's rear, the enemy is
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executed the maneuver against the Romans. Military historians cite it as the first successful use of the pincer movement that was recorded in detail, by the Greek historian
390:, Nader routed the Ottoman army and subsequently encircled their encampment. The Ottoman army soon after collapsed under the pressure of the encirclement. Also during the
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Even in the horse-and-musket era, the maneuver was used across many military cultures. A double envelopment was deployed by the
Iranian conqueror
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and
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in a U-formation with the wings manned much more deeply than the center. His enemy
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in 326 BC. He launched his attack at the Indian left flank, and the Indian king
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chains, undermining enemy troop morale and disrupting supply lines. During the
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A pincer movement whereby the red force envelops the advancing blue force.
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Military tactic: simultaneously attacking both sides of an enemy formation
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him heavily, and
Miltiades chose to match the breadth of the Persian
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The earliest mention of Pincer attack is in a related formation of
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on military diagramming with diagram of a double envelopment.
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of different modes of attack, including double envelopment.
193:. This classic maneuver has been important throughout the
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used a version of the maneuver that they called the
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348:used a rudimentary form known colloquially as the
70:The envelopment of the German Sixth Army during
495:The complete book of military science, abridged
248:The maneuver may have first been used at the
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110:introducing citations to additional sources
185:in which forces simultaneously attack both
100:Relevant discussion may be found on the
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299:A famous example of its use was at the
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54:Envelopment of the Allied armies in
256:describes how the Athenian general
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42:Destruction of the Roman army at
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544:with a section on envelopments.
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428:The maneuver was used in the
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526:U.S. Army training manual
314:It was also later used by
280:The maneuver was used by
252:in 490 BC. The historian
362:SĂĽleyman the Magnificent
330:in 1071 (under the name
432:of the armed forces of
384:Battle of Kirkuk (1733)
388:battle at Kars in 1745
369:Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld
286:Battle of the Hydaspes
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446:Battle of Kiev (1941)
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264:and 10,000 Athenian
189:(sides) of an enemy
106:improve this article
540:GlobalSecurity.org
442:command and control
373:Battle of Fraustadt
356:It was used at the
328:Battle of Manzikert
316:Khalid ibn al-Walid
282:Alexander the Great
533:2015-07-01 at the
250:Battle of Marathon
195:history of warfare
179:double envelopment
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18:Double envelopment
580:Military strategy
463:Flanking maneuver
406:Battle of Cowpens
183:military maneuver
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121:"Pincer movement"
16:(Redirected from
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575:Maneuver tactics
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497:. Archived from
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392:Battle of Karnal
358:Battle of Mohács
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320:Battle of Walaja
303:in 216 BC, when
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506:. Retrieved
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488:"Appendix C"
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458:Encirclement
438:World War II
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408:in 1781 in
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274:battle line
270:outnumbered
231:Chakravyuha
205:Description
58:during the
569:Categories
474:References
430:blitzkrieg
380:Nader Shah
324:Alp Arslan
227:Padmavyuha
132:newspapers
547:Academic
508:March 25,
398:village.
375:in 1706.
342:in 1187.
334:) and by
258:Miltiades
254:Herodotus
215:break out
211:encircled
191:formation
102:talk page
531:Archived
452:See also
396:Kunjpura
309:Polybius
305:Hannibal
266:hoplites
262:Plataean
56:Flanders
528:diagram
436:during
382:at the
371:at the
338:at the
336:Saladin
326:at the
318:at the
284:at the
237:Sun Tzu
221:History
181:, is a
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294:Coenus
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350:horns
290:Porus
239:, in
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153:JSTOR
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510:2006
414:Zulu
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