Double envelopment
Double envelopment is a military tactic, originally seen in land warfare but also at sea, where one force sends units around both sides of its opponent's force. The penetrating forces meet behind the enemy, isolating it.
It is considered a difficult but decisive maneuver, requiring more coordination than single envelopments, in which one unit penetrates along one side of the enemy, and then turns behind the opposing force to cut it off from its lines of supply and communications. Historical double envelopments often have involved deception, in which a third component of one's force feigns a retreat, or offers itself as a tempting target. That deception is combined with the decoy force falling backwards, so that the enemy pursues, unaware of strong forces on both of his flanks.
Classic double envelopments
- Battle of Cannae: Carthage vs. Rome. Carthage, under Hannibal, victorious
- Battle of Marathon: Greeks vs. Persians. Greek victory.
American Civil War
- Battle of Chancellorville: Union vs. Confederacy; Union attempt failed.
World War I
- Battle of Tannenberg: Germans vs. Russia, German victory
- Schlieffen plan: German invasion of the West, stalemate
World War II
- Capture of Metz: United States vs. Germany at Metz, France. U.S., under George S. Patton, victorious
- Operation Uranus: Soviet Union vs. Germany at Stalingrad; Soviet victory