Defeat in detail
Defeat in detail, or divide and conquer, is a military tactic of bringing a large portion of one's own force to bear on small enemy units in sequence, rather than engaging the bulk of the enemy force all at once. This exposes one's own units to many small risks but allows for the eventual destruction of an entire enemy force. Use. In military strategy and tactics, a recurring theme is that units are strengthened by proximity to supporting units. Nearby units can fire on an attacker's flank, lend indirect fire support such as artillery  or maneuver to counterattack. "Defeat in detail" is the tactic of exploiting failures of an enemy force to co-ordinate and support the various smaller units that make up the force. An overwhelming attack on one defending subunit minimizes casualties on the attacking side and can be repeated a number of times against the defending subunits until all are eliminated. An attacker can successfully conduct the tactic of defeat in detail by exploiting the absolute weaknesses or the comparative disadvantages in the deployment or structure of defending troops, or advantages, such as maneuvering speed, that the defender cannot match . In an asymmetric support structure, A can support B but unit B cannot support unit A. For example, during World War I, when horse cavalry were still in use to some extent, aircraft could support cavalry, but cavalry had little or no ability to support aircraft. Thus, if a unit is equally suited for use against cavalry and against aircraft, using it to eliminate enemy aircraft would have benefits that would last well into future engagements against enemy cavalry units weaker for their lack of support, but using it against enemy cavalry, leaving the enemy aircraft intact for subsequent  engagements, would bring benefits during that engagement alone. Enabling methods. The following methods can enable the attacker to defeat the enemy in detail: