Editing Encirclement

{{short description|Wartime situation in which a force or target is surrounded by enemy forces}}

[[File:Encirclement of Tikrit 2015.jpeg|thumb|Diagram of the encirclement of [[ISIL|ISIS]] forces in the [[Second Battle of Tikrit]] (2015). The blue arrows indicate allied attacks, while the red line is the line of encirclement as of 9 March 2015.]]
[[File:Stalingrad Encirclement.jpg|thumb|Encirclement of Stalingrad]]
[[File:ChousenSyupei.jpg|thumb|350px|An encirclement during the [[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)]]]]
{{War}}

'''Encirclement''' is a [[military term]] for the situation when a force or target is isolated and surrounded by enemy forces.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gutwald |first1=Rick |title=Tactical Encirclement Reduction |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA179560.pdf |website=dtic.mil |publisher=School of Advanced Military Studies |access-date=5 May 2025}}</ref> The situation is highly dangerous for the encircled force. At the [[military strategy|strategic]] level, it cannot receive [[Military logistics|supplies]] or reinforcements, and on the [[military tactics|tactical]] level, the units in the force can be subject to an attack from several sides. Lastly, since the force cannot [[withdrawal (military)|retreat]], unless it is [[relief (military)|relieved]] or can break out, it must fight to the death or [[surrender (military)|surrender]]. 

A special kind of encirclement is the [[siege]]. In that case, the encircled forces are enveloped in a [[fortification|fortified]] position in which long-lasting supplies and strong defences are in place, allowing them to withstand attacks. Sieges have taken place in almost all eras of warfare.

== History ==
Encirclement has been used throughout the centuries by military leaders, including generals such as [[Alexander the Great]], [[Sun Tzu]], [[Hannibal]], [[Julius Caesar]], [[Spartacus]], [[Khalid bin Waleed]],  [[Genghis Khan]], [[Yi Sun Shin]], [[Albrecht von Wallenstein|von Wallenstein]], [[Nader Shah]], [[Shaka Zulu]], [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]], [[Helmuth von Moltke the Elder|von Moltke]], [[Heinz Guderian]], [[Gerd von Rundstedt|von Rundstedt]], [[Erich von Manstein|von Manstein]], [[Georgiy Zhukov|Zhukov]], [[George Smith Patton, Jr.|Patton]] and [[Qasem Soleimani|Soleimani]].

Sun Tzu and other military thinkers suggest that an army should be not completely encircled but instead given some room for escape. Otherwise, the "encircled" army's men will lift their morale and fight to the death. It is better to have them consider the possibility of a retreat.<ref>[[Sun Tzu]], [[The Art of War]], [[:s:The Art of War (Sun)/Section VII|Section VII: Maneuvering]], line 36.</ref> Once the enemy retreats, it can be pursued and captured or destroyed with far less risk to the pursuing forces than a fight to the death.

== Types of encirclement ==
The main form of encircling, the "[[pincer movement|double pincer]]", is executed by attacks on the [[Flanking maneuver|flanks]] of a [[battle]] whose mobile forces of the era, such as [[light infantry]], [[cavalry]], [[Tank|tanks]], or [[Armoured personnel carrier|armoured personnel carriers]] 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 encirclement of the [[6th Army (Wehrmacht)|German Sixth Army]] in the [[Battle of Stalingrad]] in 1942 is a typical example. During the [[Winter War]], [[Finland]] used "pocket tactics" against the [[Soviet Union]], called ''[[Pocket (military)#Motti|motti]]''; in the context of war, ''motti'' describes a tactic that the Finns used to immobilise, segment, surround and destroy the Soviet troops that were many times as large as them.<ref>[https://www.foreigner.fi/articulo/lifestyle/how-finns-used-motti-tactic-to-entrap-soviets-in-winter-war/20191215211904003769.html How Finns used the 'motti' tactic to entrap Soviets in Winter War]</ref>

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.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} [[Battle of France|The German attack into the lowlands of France in 1940]] is a typical example of this.

A third and rare type of encirclement can ensue from a [[Breakthrough (military)|breakthrough]] in an area of the enemy front, and exploiting that with mobile forces, diverging in two or more directions behind the enemy line. Full encirclement rarely follows, but the threat of it severely hampers the defender's options. This type of attack pattern is centerpiece to [[blitzkrieg]] operations. Because of the extreme difficulty of this operation, it cannot be executed unless the offensive force has a vast superiority, either in technology, organization, or sheer numbers. The [[Operation Barbarossa|Barbarossa campaign]] of 1941 saw some examples.

The danger to the encircling force is that it is, itself, cut off from its logistical base; if the encircled force is able to stand firm, or maintain a [[Line of communication|supply route]], the encircling force can be thrown into confusion (for example, Rommel's [[Operation Crusader#Dash to the wire|"Dash to the Wire"]] in 1941 and the [[Demyansk Pocket]] in 1942) or be comprehensively destroyed (as [[Battle of the Admin Box|during the Burma campaign]], in 1944).

== Notable encirclement battles ==
Some examples of battles of encirclement are listed below.

*[[Battle of Thermopylae]] (480 BC)
*[[Battle of Cannae]] (216 BC)
*[[Battle of the Abas]] (65 BC)
*[[Battle of Walaja]] (633 AD)
*[[Battle of Mohi]] (1241)
*[[Battle of Ekeren]] (1703)
*[[Battle of Fraustadt]] (1706)
*[[Battle of Kirkuk (1733)|Battle of Kirkuk]] (1733)
*[[Battle of Kars (1745)|Battle of Kars]] (1745)
*[[Battle of Maymyo]] (1768)
*[[Ulm Campaign]] (1805)
*[[Battle of Ocaña]] (1809)
*[[Battle of Fort Sumter]] (1861)
*[[Battle of Isandlwana]] (1879)
*[[Battle of Tannenberg (1914)|Battle of Tannenberg]] (1914)
* [[Battle of Lodz (1914)|Battle of Lodz]] (1914) 
* [[Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes]] (1915)
*[[Battle of Magdhaba]] (1916)
*[[Battle of Rafa]] (1916)
*[[First Battle of Gaza]] (1917)
*[[Battle of Beersheba (1917)|Battle of Beersheba]] (1917)
*[[Battle of Megiddo (1918)|Battle of Megiddo]] (1918)
*[[Battle of Suomussalmi]] (1939-1940)
*[[Battle of Kiev (1941)|Battle of Kiev]] (1941)
*[[Battle of Smolensk (1941)|Battle of Smolensk]] (1941)
*[[Battle of Białystok–Minsk]] (1941)
*[[Battle for Velikiye Luki]] (1942)<ref name=DA20-234>{{cite book
  |url=http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/20234/20234.html
  |access-date=2013-01-23
  |series=Historical Study
  |title=Operations of Encircled Forces: German Experiences in Russia (Pamphlet 20-234)
  |year=1952
  |location=Washington, D.C.
  |publisher=[[U.S. Department of the Army]]
  |author=committee of former German officers
  |archive-date=2008-03-14
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314065147/http://www.history.army.mil/BOOKS/WWII/20234/20234.html
  |url-status=dead
  }} The German term for an encirclement is ''Kesselschlacht'' (cauldron battle).</ref>
*[[Battle of Hong Kong]] (1941)
*[[Battle of Stalingrad]] (1942-1943)
*[[Battle of the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket]] (1944)<ref name=DA20-234/>
*[[Kamenets-Podolsky pocket]] (1944)<ref name=DA20-234/>
*[[Operation Bagration]] (1944)
*[[Battle of the Mons Pocket]] (1944)
*[[Siege of Bastogne]], Belgium (1944)
*[[Ruhr pocket|Battle of the Ruhr Pocket]] (1945)
*[[Battle of Berlin]] (1945)
*[[Six-Day War]] (1967)
*[[Battle of Khorramshahr (1980)|Battle of Khorramshahr]] (1980)
*[[Battle of Mogadishu (1993)|Battle of Mogadishu]] (1993)
*[[Battle of Misrata (2011)|Battle of Misrata]] (2011)
*[[Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016)|Battle of Aleppo]] (2012–2016)
*[[Battle of Ilovaisk]] (2014)
*[[Second Battle of Tikrit (2015)|Second Battle of Tikrit]] (2015)<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-31727470|title = Iraqi forces seek to encircle IS fighters in Tikrit|date = 4 March 2015|access-date = 5 March 2015|publisher = BBC}}</ref>
* [[Battle of Afrin]] (2018)
* [[Battle of the Jabara Valley]] (2019)
* [[Siege of Mariupol]] (2022)
* [[Velyka Novosilka offensive]] (2025)

== See also ==
* [[Blockade]]
* [[Encirclement Campaigns]]
* [[Maneuver warfare]]

== References ==
<references/>

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|salient|re-entrant|pocket}}
*[http://www.wfyi.org/fireandice/history/battles_2.htm The Great Kitilä Motti] (Winter War history from a documentary film's website showing multiple encirlements.)

{{Military and war}}

[[Category:Encirclements| ]]
[[Category:Maneuver tactics]]
[[Category:Military strategy]]
[[Category:Military terminology]]
[[Category:Land warfare]]