Pincer maneuver

The pincer maneuver, also known as Pincer Movement, or simply known as a pincer, was a naval, infantry, and ground vehicle tactic used to entrap a target between attackers. When used as a ground tactic, the maneuver involved flanking a target between attacking vehicles or infantry. As a naval tactic, it sought to trap a target starship between attacking warships.
==History==
===Nikardun conquests===
The Nikardun Destiny was known to utilize the pincer maneuver heavily in the Unknown Regions as part of their starfighter tactics. The Nikardun military utilized the maneuver against Chiss Ascendancy warships during the Raid on Rapacc in approximately 19 BBY.Star Wars: Timelines places the main events of Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising in 19 BBY. At the mission to the Lioaoin heartworld also around 19 BBY, Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo (core name "Thrawn") was able to deduce that the Lioaoi had come under the influence of the Nikardun Destiny because they used the pincer maneuver at their homeworld, and the maneuver was a very unusual tactic for the Lioaoin military's navy.
===Galactic Civil War===
In 4 BBYAccording to Star Wars: Scum and Villainy: Case Files on the Galaxy's Most Notorious, in the year 7973 C.R.C., Ketsu Onyo resigned from the Black Sun. It also dates the Battle of Scarif to 7977 C.R.C., four years after Onyo's resignation. Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates Jyn Erso's mission to steal the plans of the first Death Star, which concluded with the Battle of Scarif, to 0 BBY. Therefore, it can be calculated that 7973 C.R.C. is equal to 4 BBY. Since Onyo states in that she currently works for the Black Sun, that episode must occur by 4 BBY. Additionally, Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates the Siege of Lothal to 4 BBY. Since occurs after the Siege of Lothal but before the events of , it can be concluded that the episode took place in 4 BBY. during the Galactic Civil War, Imperial Security Bureau agent Alexsandr Kallus led an assault against rebel and former clone trooper forces on the planet Seelos. He ordered his forces of All Terrain Armored Transports to use a pincer maneuver to flank the All Terrain Tactical Enforcer belonging to the clones Wolffe, Gregor, and Rex.
In approximately 3 BBY,Chapter 23 of Thrawn takes place shortly before the events of Star Wars Rebels Season Three, which begins in 2 BBY. That places Chapter 23 (which includes the events of the Batonn insurgency) in approximately 2 BBY too. In Chapter 23, Thrawn is mentioned as being "newly" promoted to admiral. As the events of the Battle for Botajef directly causes that promotion, that means the battle for Botajef also happened recently around 2 BBY. The battle at Lansend Twenty-Six occurred shortly before the battle for Botajef, so it must have occurred around 3 BBY or 2 BBY as well. insurgents led by Nightswan and freed Wookiee slaves attacked the Imperial space station Lansend Twenty-Six in an attempt to liberate their enslaved companions. Commodore Thrawn, commander of the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Chimaera, brought his Star Destroyer to bear against the attacking rebels at the space station. Imperial Navy officer Zenoc, the colonel in command of Lansend Twenty-Six, informed Thrawn that the station had been boarded by rebel insurgents who attempted to capture the station via an infantry pincer maneuver. The rebels succeeded in capturing parts of the station, which Thrawn then ordered Zenoc to evacuate and seal off. Thrawn defeated the insurgents by blasting the rebel-held sections, leading to the death of many combatants and the capture of all who remained alive.
Some time after the battle of Endor, New Republic general Lando Calrissian, pilot Nien Nunb, and the Lepi smuggler Jaxxon undertook a mission to free Rekkana from an Imperial remnant that ruled that planet. Piloting the Millennium Falcon, they were flanked in a pincer maneuver by TIE fighters after exiting hyperspace into the star system containing Rekkana. The native Rekk species were known to be skilled at artificial intelligence, and the TIE's flanking the Falcon executed the maneuver with such skill and precision that Lando speculated that the attacking TIE's were piloted by AI rather than Imperial pilots.
==Behind the scenes==
The pincer maneuver first appeared in Star Wars canon in the Star Wars Rebels episode "Relics of the Old Republic," which premiered at the New York Comic Con on October 8, 2015. In the Legends continuity, the pincer maneuver first appeared in Timothy Zahn's 1992 novel Heir to the Empire.Heir to the Empire
==Appearances==
*The High Republic: Quest for the Hidden City 
*The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness 
*Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss 
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*Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising 
*Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good 
*Thrawn 
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*Star Wars (2020) 7
*Star Wars (2020) 8
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==Sources==
*Star Wars Rebels: Visual Guide: Epic Battles
*Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy 
==Notes and references==
==External links==
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Category:Ground vehicle tactics
Category:Infantry tactics
Category:Naval tactics