List of military tactics

This page contains a list ofmilitary tactics.

ference between "strategy" and "tactics".[1]

The meaning of the phrase is context sensitive, and has varied over time, like the dif

Contents
General tactics
Small unit tactics
Eight classical maneuvers of warfare
Offensive tactics
Defensive tactics
Deception
See also
References
External links

General tactics
Exploiting prevailing weather – the tactical use of weather as aforce multiplier has influenced many important battles
throughout history, such as the Battle of Waterloo.[2]
Fire attacks – reconnaissance by fire is used by apprehensive soldiers when they suspect the enemy is nearby .
[3]
Force concentration – the practice of concentrating a military force against a portion of an enemy force.
Night combat – combat that takes place atnight. It often requires more preparation than combat during daylight and
can provide significant tactical advantages and disadvantages to both the attacker and defender .[4]
Reconnaissance – a mission to obtain information by visual observation or other detection methods, about the
activities and resources of the enemy or potential enemy, or about the meteorologic, hydrographic, or geographic
characteristics of a particular area.[5]
Smoke screening - the practice of creating clouds of smoke positioned to provide concealment, allowing military
forces to advance or retreat acrossopen terrain without coming underdirect fire from the enemy.

Small unit tactics

Individual movement techniques
Fire and movement (also known as leapfrogging) – working in
'fire teams', one team attempts to suppress the enemy while
the other moves either toward the enemy or to a more
favourable position.
Basic drill – a standard drill that all individual soldiers are
supposed to perform if they come under fire.
Contact drill
Immediate ambush drill
Counter ambush drill The use of suppressive fire is a key part of
Hull-down (in armored warfare) modern small unit tactics
Shoot-and-scoot
Infiltration tactics
 Marching fire
Four Fs: find, fix, flank, finish
Overwatch
Bounding overwatch
Center peel
Patrolling
Reconnaissance patrol
Fighting patrol
Standing patrol (OP/LP)
Ambush
Linear ambush
L ambush
Area ambush
Guerrilla

Eight classical maneuvers of warfare

1. Penetration of the center: This involves the creation of a gap in the enemy line and its exploitation.wo T ways of
accomplishing this are separating enemy forces and using a reserve to exploit the gap that forms between them (e.g.
Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC), the first recorded use of the penetration of the center) or having fast, elite forces
smash at a specific point in the enemy line (an enemy weak spot or an area where your elites are at their best in
striking power) and, while reserves and holding forces hold your opponent, drive quickly and immediately for the
enemy's command or base (i.e.,blitzkrieg).
2. Attack from a defensive position: Establishing a strong defensive position
from which to defend and attack your opponent. However , the defensive
can become too passive and result in ultimate defeat (e.g.,Siege of
Alesia and the Battle of the Granicus).
3. Single envelopment: A strong flank beating its opponent opposite and,
with the aid of holding attacks, attack an opponent in the rear .
Sometimes, the establishment of a strong, hidden force behind a weak
flank will prevent your opponent from carrying out their own single
envelopment (e.g., Battle of Rocroi).
4. Double envelopment: Both flanks defeat their opponent opposite and
launch a rear attack on the enemy center . Its most famous use was
Battle of Issus, a classic example of
Hannibal's tactical masterpiece, theBattle of Cannae and was frequently
used by the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front of World War II. the single envelopment
5. Attack in oblique order: This involves placing your flanks in a slanted
fashion (refusing one's flank) or giving a vast part of your force to a
single flank (e.g., Battle of Leuthen). The latter can be disastrous, however, due to the imbalance of force.
6. Feigned retreat: Having a frontal force fake a retreat, drawing the opponent in pursuit and then launching an assault
with strong force held in reserve (such as theBattle of Maling and the Battle of Hastings). However, a feigned retreat
may devolve into a real one, such as in theBattle of Grunwald.
7. Indirect approach: Having a minority of your force demonstrate in front of your opponent while the majority of your
force advance from a hidden area and attack the enemy in the rear or flank (e.g., Battle of Chancellorsville).
8. Crossing the "T": a classic naval maneuver which maximizes one side's of fensive firepower while minimizing that of
the opposing force.

Offensive tactics
Charge
Highland charge
Ambush
Skirmish
Trench raiding
Peaceful penetration
Rapid dominance
Blitzkrieg – a method of warfare whereby an attacking
force is spearheaded by a dense concentration of
armoured and motorized ormechanized infantry
formations, and heavily backed up byclose air
support.[6]
Carpet bombing – also known as saturation bombing,
is a large aerial bombing done in a progressive manner
to inflict damage in every part of a selected area of
land.[7]
Human wave attack
Shock tactics
Swarming (military)
Planned attack
Use of supporting fire
Ambush
Indirect fire support
Base of fire
Flying wedge (used by Alexander the Great)
Armoured spearhead
Encirclement
Hammer and anvil
Inverted wedge
Frontal assault
Holding attack – to hold the enemy in position while
Battle of Maling, the earliest known use of the
other offensive or defensive activity takes place.
feigned retreat
Penetration or infiltration
Pincer movement – an army assaults an enemy by
attacking two sides at opposite locations, often
planning to cut off the enemy from retreat oradditional
support in preparation for annihilation.
Bull horn formation – an army assaults an enemy force
by sending troops to the enemy's flanks and by
attacking their front attacking three areas at once, often
planning to cut off any retreat or support as well as
confusing the enemy in preparation for annihilation.
Flanking maneuver
Interdiction – severing or disrupting lines of communication
and supply The cavalry charge is a quintessential
Air interdiction offensive military tactic
Control MSR (main supply routes)
Envelopment
Circumvallation
Finnish motti tactics
Siege (For attacking fortified places)
Vertical envelopment
Airborne forces
Air mobile forces
 Rapid deployment
Capturing key points
Airborne operations
Air mobile operations
Amphibious operations
Motorized operations
Tank desant
Mechanized operations
Armored operations
Raiding – a small team is inserted deep behind enemy
lines to capture a high-value individual or destroy a vital
enemy installation then extracted before the enemy can
respond.
Decapitation strike
Preemptive war
Disrupting communications
Electronic countermeasures
Radar jamming
Radio jamming

Defensive tactics
Basic principles
Defence in depth
Mutual support (e.g., bycrossfire)
Echelon formation
Phalanx formation
All round defence
Force dispersal
Fire Trap
Fighting withdrawal
Reserved demolitions
Scorched earth
Booby traps
Minefields
Trench warfare
Defensive trenches were
Counter attack used commonly duringWorld
Breakout War I
Counter battery fire
Rapid reaction force
Delaying defence
Break contact
Hedgehog defence
military bottleneck
Pakfront
Fortification
Field works (entrenchments)
Over head protection
Revetting
Sangars
Shell scrapes
Foxholes
Manholes
Spider holes
Strong points
 Use and improvement of terrain
High ground
Protection
Natural barriers – e.g., rivers
Reverse slope defence
Obstacles and barriers – man made
Barbed wire
Anti-vehicle ditches
Anti-vehicle berms (knife edges)
Multiple axis of movement

Deception
Deception and misdirection

Deception: Sun Tzu said that all war is based on deception back in the 4th
century BC; a wise commander takes measures to let his opponent only
react to the wrong circumstances. Diversionary attacks, feints, decoys; there
are thousands of tricks that have been successfully used, and still have a
role in the future.

Perfidy: Combatants tend to have assumptions and ideas of rules and

fair practices in combat, but the ones who raise surrender flags to lure
their attackers in the open, or who act as stretcher bearers to deceive
their targets, tend to be especially disliked. A mounted archer of the
False flag: An ancient ruse de guerre – in the days of sail, it was Ming Dynasty Army fires a
permissible for a warship to fly the flag of an enemy power, so long as it parthian shot
properly hoisted its true colors before attacking. W
earing enemy
uniforms and using enemy equipment to infiltrate or achieve surprise is
also permissible though they can be punished asspies if caught behind enemy lines.
Demoralization (warfare): A process in psychological warfare that can encourage them to retreat, surrender
,
or defect rather than defeating them in combat.
Disinformation
Military camouflage
Stealth technology
Feint or diversionary attacks
Electronic warfare
Electronic countermeasures

Electronic counter-countermeasures
Radio silence – while traveling, a fleet will refrain from communicating by radio to avoid detection by enemy
forces.
Force multiplication
Use of surprise

Parthian shot
Hit-and-run tactics
Irregular warfare

See also
Military strategy
Tactical formation
List of military strategies and concepts
List of established military terms
Use of bayonets for crowd control

References
 1. Bretnor, Reginald (February 1, 2001).Decisive Warfare: A Study in Military Theory(https://books.google.com/books?
id=pdqLiCvz60AC&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=decisive+loss+meaning&source=bl&ots=GQ mHb7AvHc&sig=vl6QunBi
hMgoI6Yufk6luHQUet4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwim_MnFyerQAhUN6WMKHdeeCA YQ6AEIKjAD#v=onepage&q
=decisive%20loss%20meaning&f=false)(New ed.). Wildside Press. pp. 49–52.ISBN 9781587152481. Retrieved
December 10, 2016.
2. Doughty, Robert. "Weather in War" (https://web.archive.org/web/20131013025004/http://www .history.com/topics/wea
ther-in-war). The History Channel. Archived from the original (http://www.history.com/topics/weather-in-war)on 13
October 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
3. "SOME JUICY QUOTES FROM CLAUSEWITZ, ON W AR" (http://www.clausewitz.com/readings/Cquotations.htm).
The Clausewitz Homepage. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
4. Toppe, Alfred. Night Combat (https://books.google.com/books?id=zW63yXqltbEC&pg=P
A2&lpg=PA2&dq=night+com
bat&source=bl&ots=ncBHnD-qS0&sig=sT1_TdCa8WT9bpP8vLxEeD43k_4&hl=en&ei=H9n7SvWXKoHiswPBioB5&s
a=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CAoQ6AEwA TgK#v=onepage&q&f=false). Google books.
Retrieved December 13, 2013.
5. Field Manual (FM) 7–92: The Infantry Reconnaissance Platoon and Squad (Airborne, Air Assault, Light Infantry)
.
United States Army. 2001. p. 4.0.
6. Glantz 2010, Preface
7. Gooderson, Ian (1997).Air Power at the Battlefront: Allied Close Air Support in Europe, 1943–45
(https://books.goog
le.com/books?id=rZmMDolRSrsC&lpg=P A129&dq=saturation%20bombing%20carpet%20bombing&pg=P A129#v=on
epage&q&f=false) (1. publ. ed.). London: F. Cass. p. 129. ISBN 0-7146-4680-6.

External links
http://www.military-sf.com/Tactics.htm

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