An ambush is a surprise attack carried out by people lying in wait in a concealed position. The concealed position itself or the concealed person(s) may also be called an "ambush". Ambushes as a basic fighting tactic of soldiers or of criminals have been used consistently throughout history, from ancient to modern warfare.
The Bắc Lệ ambush: French marine infantry deploy beneath the Nui Đồng Nai cliffs in 1884
General Braddock's troops ambushed and decimated by the French and Indians in 1755
Depiction of a Zulu attack on a Boer camp in February 1838
The VC/NVA prepared the battlefield carefully. Siting automatic weapons at treetop level for example helped shoot down several US helicopters during the Battle of Dak To, 1967
Military tactics encompasses the art of organizing and employing fighting forces on or near the battlefield. They involve the application of four battlefield functions which are closely related – kinetic or firepower, mobility, protection or security, and shock action. Tactics are a separate function from command and control and logistics. In contemporary military science, tactics are the lowest of three levels of warfighting, the higher levels being the strategic and operational levels. Throughout history, there has been a shifting balance between the four tactical functions, generally based on the application of military technology, which has led to one or more of the tactical functions being dominant for a period of time, usually accompanied by the dominance of an associated fighting arm deployed on the battlefield, such as infantry, artillery, cavalry or tanks.
German World War I observation post disguised as a tree.
