Editing Counterattack (section)

{{short description|Tactic employed in response to an attack}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2013}}
[[File:Falaise Pocket map.jpg|thumb|Closing the [[Falaise pocket|Falaise-Argentan Pocket]] and the Mortain counterattack 6–17 August 1944]]
[[File:Battle of cambrai 4 - German Counter-Offensive.png|thumb|Map of the [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]] – German counter-offensive]]
A '''counterattack''' is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in "[[Military exercise|war games]]".<ref name=DOD>{{cite web |title=counterdeception |url=http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/data/c/01333.html |work=DTIC Online |publisher=DEFENSE TECHNICAL INFORMATION CENTER |access-date=13 June 2012 |author=Staff |quote=year: Unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928071148/http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/data/c/01333.html |archive-date=28 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek to regain lost ground or destroy the attacking enemy (this may take the form of an opposing sports team or [[Military organization#Commands.2C formations.2C and units|military units]]).<ref name=DOD/><ref>{{cite news|title=McConnell leads GOP counter-attack against START pact|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/19/senate.start/index.html|access-date=13 June 2012|newspaper=Cable News Network|publisher=Turner Broadcasting System, Inc|date=19 December 2010|author=Tom Cohen}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Uruguay's momentum, Paraguay's bumpy road, more Copa America|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/tim_vickery/07/25/copa.america.ten.questions/index.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714043501/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/tim_vickery/07/25/copa.america.ten.questions/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 July 2012|work=SI.com|publisher=Turner Broadcasting System, Inc|access-date=13 June 2012|author=Tim Vickery|date=27 July 2011}}</ref>

A '''counter-offensive''' is a broad-scale counterattack. The counter-offensive is executed after exhausting the enemy's [[front line|frontline]] troops and after the enemy [[Military reserve|reserves]] had been committed to combat and proven incapable of breaching defenses, but ''before'' the enemy has had the opportunity to assume new defensive positions. Sometimes the counter-offensive can be of a more limited operational maneuver nature, with more limited objectives rather than those seeking attainment of a [[Strategic goal (military)|strategic goal]]. A counter-offensive was considered by [[Clausewitz]] to be the most efficient means of forcing the attacker to abandon offensive plans.<ref>p.540, Briggs</ref> Counter-offensives can be executed not only on land, but also by the [[navy|naval]], and [[Air force|air]] forces.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 September 2019 |title=Counter-Air Operations |url=https://www.doctrine.af.mil/Portals/61/documents/AFDP_3-01/3-01-AFDP-COUNTERAIR.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805133959/https://www.doctrine.af.mil/Portals/61/documents/AFDP_3-01/3-01-AFDP-COUNTERAIR.pdf |archive-date=5 August 2021 |access-date=May 24, 2023 |website=US Air Force}}</ref> Strategic counter-offensives have been recorded by [[military historian]]s in many wars throughout [[military history]]. Although not always known as such, because they are usually described by historians in conjunction with the defensive phase, such as the [[Battle of Moscow]].

A saying, attributed to [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]] illustrates the tactical importance of the counterattack : "the greatest danger occurs at the moment of victory". In the same spirit, in his [[Battle Studies]], [[Ardant du Picq|Ardant du Pic]] noticed that "he, general or mere captain, who employs every one in the storming of a position can be sure of seeing it retaken by an organised counter-attack of four men and a corporal".<ref>[http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=7294 Ardant du Picq, 'Battle Studies']</ref>

A counterattack is a military tactic that occurs when one side successfully fends off the enemy’s attack and begins to push the enemy back with an attack of its own. In order to perform a successful counterattack, the defending side must quickly and decisively strike the enemy after defending, with the objective of shocking and overwhelming the enemy.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1990/CDC.htm|title=A View On Counterattacks In The Defensive Scheme Of Maneuver|last=Pike|first=John|website=www.globalsecurity.org|access-date=2017-04-09}}</ref> The main concept of the counterattack is to catch the enemy by surprise.<ref name=":0" /> Many historical counterattacks were successful because the enemy was off guard and not expecting the counterattack.<ref name=":0" />