Information AboutSalient |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT SALIENTS, RE-ENTRANTS AND POCKETS | |
| military tactics | |
For the Victoria University of Wellington student publication, see Salient (magazine) . In Military terms, a salient is a battlefield feature that projects into enemy territory. Therefore, the salient is surrounded by the enemy on three sides, making the troops occupying the salient vulnerable. The enemy's line facing a salient is referred to as a '''re-entrant''' (an angle pointing inwards). A deep salient is vulnerable to being "pinched out" across the base, forming a '''pocket''', in which the defenders of the salient become isolated. 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 flanks of a strong point, 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 centre, which becomes the tip of the salient. 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 . In mobile warfare, such as the German Blitzkrieg , salients were more likely to be made into pockets which became the focus of Annihilation Battles . EXAMPLES OF SALIENTS AND POCKETS
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