A reduction, in military tactics, is accomplished when an encircling force conducts successful offensive operations over an invested force. The "reduction" refers to the shrinking in size of the pocket of territory occupied by the invested force, which would appear to be reduced as seen from a map. It is one of the four possible outcomes of investment, the others being

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...

or a breakout. The general objective of encirclement maneuvers is to cause an enemy surrender or a reduction of the enemy force. It is generally preferred for an enemy to surrender, as it entails the least risk of casualties to the victorious party. There are, however, some exceptions. For example, British General Cameron Shute said during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

I'm going to tell you this much, you know what you have got to do, the more prisoners you take, the less food you'll get, because we have to feed them out of your rations!Hart, Peter (2012) The Somme: The Darkest Hour on the Western Front

Nevertheless, the decision to reduce an encirclement may be made for a number of reasons: * The encircled force cannot be expected to surrender under any realistic circumstances (the

Münster Rebellion Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

, the

Waco Siege The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the law enforcement siege of the compound that belonged to the religious sect Branch Davidians. It was carried out by the U.S. federal government, Texas state law enforcement, and the U.S. mi ...

, the Battle of Masada). * The encircling force has insufficient resources or supply lines to maintain a prolonged investment (the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...

). * Strategy dictates that the use of the encircling force as a pinning force for a prolonged period is untenable (numerous encirclements during and after

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

). * Strategy dictates that objectives within the encirclement are too important to allow the enemy to possess for an extended period (the Siege of Jerusalem, the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

References

Military strategy Military tactics {{mil-hist-stub