Strongpoint

A strongpoint is a key point in a defensive fighting position which the rest of the positions rely on.Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, ed. Barry Leonard (Washington, DC: United States Department of Defense, 2001), p. 450 Its primary requirement is that it should not be easy to defeat by the enemy. In general, high ground is preferred. But any good tactically important terrain can be used as a strongpoint.Command and General Staff School Military Review (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Command and General Staff School, 1963), p. 55 Examples from history include Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans held off an entire Persian army at a narrow pass in the mountains.John M. Kistler, War Elephants (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007), p. 143 In the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy in World War II, the area around the abbey of Monte Cassino was used by the German army as a strongpoint until it was destroyed by American bombers.Rudolf Bohmler, Monte Cassino: A German View (Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military, 2015), p. 175

References

Category:Fortification
Category:Military terminology