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Battlefield front breakthrough progressing into enemy territory
A
salient
, also known as a
bulge
, is a
battlefield
feature that projects into enemy territory. The salient is surrounded by the enemy on multiple sides, making the troops occupying the salient vulnerable. The opponent's front line that borders a salient is referred to as a
re-entrant
? that is, an angle pointing inwards. A deep salient is vulnerable to being "pinched off" through the base, and this will result in a
pocket
in which the forces in the salient become isolated and without a
supply line
. On the other hand, a breakout of the forces within the salient through its tip can threaten the rear areas of the opposing forces outside it, leaving them open to an attack from behind.
Implementation
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Salients can be formed in a number of ways. An attacker can produce a salient in the defender's line by either intentionally making a
pincer movement
around the
military flanks
of a
strongpoint
, which becomes the tip of the salient, or by making a broad, frontal attack which is held up in the centre but advances on the flanks. An attacker would usually produce a salient in his own line by making a broad, frontal attack that is successful only in the center, which becomes the tip of the salient. A salient can also be formed if the attacking army feigns retreat, tricking the defending forces to chase them down, leading to the main army being on all sides in a pre-arranged ambush.
[1]
In
trench warfare
, salients are distinctly defined by the opposing lines of trenches, and they were commonly formed by the failure of a broad frontal attack. The static nature of the trenches meant that forming a pocket was difficult, but the vulnerable nature of salients meant that they were often the focus of
attrition battles
.
Examples
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- American Civil War
- On the
second day of the Battle of Gettysburg
, Union General
Daniel Sickles
moved his
III Corps
ahead of the main line of the
Union Army
without orders, causing him to be nearly cut off from the main army when the
Confederate Army
attacked. Sickles had held a similar position at Catherine's Furnace in the
Battle of Chancellorsville
two months earlier, and in both cases his corps was badly mauled and had to be rescued by other units.
[2]
[3]
- At the
Battle of Spotsylvania
, the Confederate
Army of Northern Virginia
arrived first at a strategic crossroads, and constructed a timber-reinforced line of trenches to stand against the numerically superior Union
Army of the Potomac
. The trench line bulged forward to protect a piece of high ground, in a curve that became known as the Mule Shoe Salient. Union troops concentrated their attack on this point, broke through, and 22 hours of brutal, hand-to-hand fighting ensued before the Confederates pulled back to a new position.
- World War I
- The
British
occupied a
large salient
at
Ypres
for most of the war. Formed as a result of the
First Battle of Ypres
, it became one of the most bloody sectors of the
Western Front
. So enduring was the feature and so dreadful its reputation that when British infantry spoke of "The Salient", it was understood that they were referring to Ypres.
[4]
- A similar salient existed around the French city of
Verdun
; the
Battle of Verdun
around it cost both sides heavy casualties.
- The
Germans
occupied a small salient in front of
Fromelles
called the
Sugarloaf
due to its distinctive shape. Being small, it provided advantage to the occupiers by allowing them to
enfilade
the stretches of
no man's land
on either flank.
- World War II
- Turkish invasion of Cyprus
- Bangladesh Liberation War
Pocket
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In mobile warfare, such as the German
Blitzkrieg
, salients were more likely to be made into pockets which became the focus of
annihilation battles
.
A pocket carries connotations that the encircled forces have not allowed themselves to be encircled intentionally, as they may when defending a fortified position, which is usually called a siege. This is a similar distinction to that made between a
skirmish
and
pitched battle
.
See also
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References
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External links
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