Editing Ambush (section)

==History==
The use of ambush tactics by early people dates as far back as two million years when anthropologists have recently suggested that ambush techniques were used to hunt large game.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bunn|first=Henry T.|author2=Alia N. Gurtov|title=Prey Mortality Profiles Indicate That Early Pleistocene Homo at Olduvai Was an Ambush Predator.|journal=Quaternary International|date=16 February 2014|volume=322–323|pages=44–53|doi = 10.1016/j.quaint.2013.11.002 |bibcode=2014QuInt.322...44B}}<!--|access-date=26 March 2014--></ref>

One example from ancient times is the [[Battle of the Trebia]] River. [[Hannibal]] encamped within striking distance of the Romans with the Trebia River between them, and placed a strong force of cavalry and infantry in concealment, near the battle zone. He had noticed, says [[Polybius]], a "place between the two camps, flat indeed and treeless, but well adapted for an ambuscade, as it was traversed by a water-course with steep banks, densely overgrown with brambles and other thorny plants, and here he proposed to lay a stratagem to surprise the enemy". When the Roman infantry became entangled in combat with his army, the hidden ambush force attacked the Roman infantry in the rear. The result was slaughter and defeat for the Romans. Nevertheless, the battle also displays the effects of good tactical discipline on the part of the ambushed force. Although most of the legions were lost, about 10,000 Romans cut their way through to safety, maintaining [[unit cohesion]]. This ability to maintain discipline and break out or maneuver away from a [[kill zone]] is a hallmark of good troops and training in any ambush situation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 July 2013 |title=(ebook) US Army Ranger Handbook |url=http://www.scribd.com/doc/100897/ebook-US-Army-Ranger-Handbook |access-date=5 July 2023 |archive-date=20 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720090840/http://www.scribd.com/doc/100897/ebook-US-Army-Ranger-Handbook |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Ambushes were widely used by the [[Lusitanians]], in particular by their chieftain [[Viriathus]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dyck |first=Ludwig Heinrich |title=Viriathus |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Viriathus/ |access-date=20 April 2024 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en |archive-date=20 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240420183156/https://www.worldhistory.org/Viriathus/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Their usual tactic, called ''concursare'', involved repeatedly charging and retreating, forcing the enemy to eventually give them chase, to set up ambushes in difficult terrain where allied forces would be awaiting.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 March 2019 |title=Celtiberia histórica {{!}} Celtiberia {{!}} Celtiberians in campaign |url=https://celtiberiahistorica.es/en/celtiberia/celtiberians-in-campaign |access-date=20 April 2024 |website=CELTIBERIA HISTÓRICA |publisher=ACC TIERRAQUEMADA |language=es-ES |archive-date=20 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240420183207/https://celtiberiahistorica.es/en/celtiberia/celtiberians-in-campaign |url-status=live }}</ref> In his first victory, he eluded the siege of Roman praetor Gaius Vetilius and attracted him to a narrow pass next to the [[Guadiaro (river)|Barbesuda]] river, where he destroyed his army and killed the praetor. Viriathus's ability to turn chases into ambushes would grant him victories over a number of Roman generals. 

Another Lusitanian ambush was performed by [[Curius and Apuleius]] on Roman general [[Quintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus]], who led a numerically superior army complete with [[Roman war elephants|war elephants]] and [[Numidian cavalry]]. The ambush allowed Curius and Apuleius to steal Servilianus's loot train. However, a tactic error in their retreat led to the Romans retaking the train and putting the Lusitanians to flight. Viriathus later defeated Servilianus with a [[surprise attack]].<ref name="Hina">{{cite book|author=Benjamín Collado Hinarejos|title=Guerreros de Iberia: La guerra antigua en la península Ibérica|date=2018|publisher=La Esfera de los Libros|isbn=978-84-916437-9-1|language= es}}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2019}}

Germanic war chief [[Arminius]] sprung an ambush against the Romans at [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]]. This particular ambush was to affect the course of Western history. The Germanic forces demonstrated several principles needed for a successful ambush. They took cover in difficult forested terrain, allowing the warriors time and space to mass without detection. They had the element of surprise, and this was also aided by the defection of Arminius from Roman ranks prior to the battle. They sprang the attack when the Romans were most vulnerable; when they had left their fortified camp, and were on the march in a pounding rainstorm.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What was the Roman Empire's greatest defeat? It might be Teutoburg Forest in AD 9 |url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/roman-empire-greatest-defeat-teutoburg-forest-who-was-arminius/ |access-date=20 April 2024 |website=HistoryExtra |language=en |archive-date=19 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519134830/https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/roman-empire-greatest-defeat-teutoburg-forest-who-was-arminius/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Germans did not dawdle at the hour of decision but attacked quickly, using a massive series of short, rapid, vicious charges against the length of the whole Roman line, with charging units sometimes withdrawing to the forest to regroup while others took their place. The Germans also used blocking obstacles, erecting a trench and earthen wall to hinder Roman movement along the route of the killing zone. The result was a mass slaughter of the Romans and the destruction of three legions. The Germanic victory caused a limit on Roman expansion in the West. Ultimately, it established the Rhine as the boundary of the Roman Empire for the next four hundred years, until the decline of the Roman influence in the West. The Roman Empire made no further concerted attempts to conquer Germania beyond the Rhine.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schousboe |first=Karen |title=Battle of Teutoburg Forest |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1010/battle-of-teutoburg-forest/ |access-date=20 April 2024 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en |archive-date=20 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240420183206/https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1010/battle-of-teutoburg-forest/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

There are many notable examples of ambushes during the [[Roman-Persian Wars]]. A year after their victory at [[Battle of Carrhae|Carrhae]], the [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]] invaded Syria but were driven back after a Roman ambush near [[Antigonia (Syria)|Antigonia]]. Roman Emperor [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]] was mortally wounded in an ambush near [[Battle of Samarra (363)|Samarra]] in 363 during the retreat from his [[Julian's Persian War|Persian campaign]]. A Byzantine invasion of Persian Armenia was repelled by a small force at [[Battle of Anglon|Anglon]] who performed a meticulous ambush by using the rough terrain as a [[force multiplier]] and concealing in houses.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bury |first1=John Bagnell |title=A History of the Later Roman Empire: From Arcadius to Irene (395 A.D. to 800 A.D.) |date=1889 |publisher=Macmillan and Company |page=436 |language=en}}</ref> [[Heraclius]]' discovery of a planned ambush by [[Shahrbaraz]] in 622 was a decisive factor in [[Heraclius' campaign of 622|his campaign]].

===Arabia during Muhammad's era===
{{Main|List of battles of Muhammad}}
According to Muslim tradition, Islamic Prophet [[Muhammad]] used ambush tactics in his military campaigns. His first such use was during the [[Caravan raids]]. In the Kharrar caravan raid, [[Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas]] was ordered to lead a raid against the [[Quraysh]]. His group consisted of about twenty Muhajirs. This raid was about a month after the previous one. Sa'd, with his soldiers, set up an ambush in the valley of [[Kharrar]] on the road to Mecca and waited to raid a Meccan caravan returning from Syria. However, the caravan had already passed and the Muslims returned to Medina without any loot.<ref name="Mubarakpuri, The Sealed Nectar p. 127">Mubarakpuri, The Sealed Nectar (Free Version), p. 127.</ref><ref name="Haykal 1976">{{citation|title=The Life of Muhammad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fOyO-TSo5nEC |first=Husayn |last=Haykal|year=1976|publisher=Islamic Book Trust |isbn=978-983-9154-17-7|pages=217–218}}</ref>

Arab tribes during Muhammad's era also used ambush tactics.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gabriel|first=Richard A.|date=17 May 2007|title=Muhammad: The Warrior Prophet|url=https://www.historynet.com/muhammad-the-warrior-prophet.htm|access-date=24 June 2021|website=HistoryNet|language=en-US|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624203723/https://www.historynet.com/muhammad-the-warrior-prophet.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>  One example retold in Muslim tradition is said to have taken place during the [[First Raid on Banu Thalabah]]. The Banu Thalabah tribe were already aware of the impending attack; so they lay in wait for the Muslims. When Muhammad ibn Maslama arrived at the site, the Banu Thalabah with 100 men ambushed the Muslims while they were making preparation to sleep and, after a brief resistance, killed them all except for Muhammad ibn Maslama, who feigned death. A Muslim who happened to pass that way found him and assisted him to return to [[Medina]]. The raid was unsuccessful.<ref name=mubarakpuri >{{citation|title=The Sealed Nectar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ppPqzawIrIC|first=Saifur Rahman Al|last=Mubarakpuri|year=2005|publisher=Darussalam Publications|page=205|isbn=9798694145923}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>