Test Your Knowledge: Offensive Military Tactics

It's a type of frontal assault in which soldiers basically charge enemy lines.

Using superior mobility to attack and then evade has helped many outmanned forces defeat larger (but slower) enemies.

Thousands of bombers dropped millions of bombs on both sides, causing widespread devastation.

They were swift enough to ward off flanking attacks or to execute them against an enemy's lines.

The potent combination of power and speed was very effective in WWII.

Japanese infantry would charge Allied lines, often at tremendous cost to their own units.

A fast, direct attack on an unsuspecting enemy can be effective in the right circumstances.

Unless all units know where they need to go and what they're trying to accomplish, its hard to launch a successful offensive.

This formation prevents more than one solider being hit by fire and also maximizes retaliatory firepower.

The speed and power of mounted soldiers could shatter an enemy's lines and cause chaos.

A frontal assault means the attacks will be subjected to the defense's strongest points.

If you can simply destroy them, you don't have to think much about secondary objectives.

Make the enemy commit more forces to one spot and then execute the real attack in another spot.

It involves using overwhelming firepower to pound an enemy into submission.

Use an indirect attack to throw your enemy off balance.

Raiders strike and then flee back to friendly lines before the defenders can pursue them.

The idea was to destroy an enemy's army in one major battle and bring a country to its knees.

A successful attack can give you the ability to dictate the terms of battle for days or months.

Fake retreats may cause all sorts of havoc for attackers that give chase.

This kind of flanking might involve an entire army.

The enemy moves into the jaws of your pincer formation and then the ambush is initiated.

The troops are typically surrounded on three sides and vulnerable to counter attacks.

Following a direct attack, the attackers must clean up the rear of the enemy to prevent effective counter attacks.

Soldiers ran headlong into fortified machine guns and were mowed down by the thousands.

If a siege is executed properly, the defenders will surrender without a fight.

Encirclement tends to strain supply lines for the attackers and may make it harder for them to finish the offensive.

By flanking, an attacker avoids the concentrated power of a defender's central position

Cornering desperate soldiers makes them fight even harder.

Woe to the enemy that finds itself being attacked from all sides and also from the skies.

These indirect attacks swing far around the enemy's main lines and threatens their flanks.