Pincer attack
The term “ pincer attack” (also referred to as double enclosure ) is a military maneuvering movement. Here, the flanks of the enemy are attacked simultaneously in a pincer movement, while the own troops avoid the attacking movement of the enemy in the center of the front. The aim here is to lock the opponent in a cauldron and separate them from his connections to the rear.
In The Art of War , Sunzi advises against completely encircling the enemy during the pincer attack and recommends instead to give him an escape route on which he would then be more vulnerable.
The pincer maneuver could have been used for the first time in the battle of Marathon ; Herodotus describes that the Athenian General Miltiades had his soldiers surround the outnumbered Persians in a U formation.
The best-known use case is the Battle of Cannae , where Hannibal pinched the attacking Romans.
Chālid ibn al-Walīd used the tactic in the battle of Walaja in 633.
Other examples are the Battle of Manzikert , the Battle of Mohács (1526) and the Battle of Fraustadt .