History Main / TrappedBehindEnemyLines

** This is the basis of the "hedgehog" system of defense, which has long roots in siege warfare, but modernized during World War II with the introduction of the possibility of resupply by air. Defending troops would be concentrated at strategic locations that are easily defensible, even if they can also be easily surrounded. Supply would be conducted by air and large numbers of enemy troops would be tied down and exhaust themselves besieging these positions. If done well, this can be very effective--for example, the Demyansk pocket during World War 2. If the defenses cannot hold, they can be a disaster, as the surrounded troops would have nowhere to retreat and are certain to be annihilated--eg. Dien Bien Phu during the French War in Vietnam.

* ''Film/TheLostBattalion'' features the eponymous unit of American soldiers surrounded by the Germans in the [[WorldWarI Argonne Forest]].
* The German film ''Film/{{Stalingrad}}'', when the entire German army is cut off and trapped inside Stalingrad by an attack on the flanks. Based on RealLife.

* The British 14th Army under Bill Slim turned this concept into a science. When cut off in its first major battles at Kohima and Imphal, the British forces held out against attack, supplied by airdrop, until the Japanese - who had ''not'' provided for supply - were worn out.

* The 101st Airborne divions in Bastogne, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. Their success at holding the town meant the stifled the German advance because all the important roads in the region went through Bastogne. The defense of the town combined with Patton's attack towards Bastogne from the south were key in defeating the German offensive.

* The story of Guan Yu's journey through five passes in ''RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''.

* Happens in just about every SvenHassel novel, including an obligatory scene where Sven and his colleagues find themselves in the midst of enemy troops and either get mistaken for a special unit (e.g. [[GermanRussians Volga Germans]] or Foreign Legion), or saved by [[CunningLinguist Porta's quick-thinking chatter]].

* At the end of the ''Literature/WingCommander'' novel ''Action Stations'', Max Krueger's ship is shot down over a Kilrathi-held human world during a raid on Kilrathi assets in the area.

* The British 14th Army under Bill Slim turned this concept into a science. Slim declared that outflanked British units should regard the Japanese, not themselves, as surrounded. When cut off in its first major battles at Kohima and Imphal, the British forces held out against attack, supplied by airdrop, until the Japanese - who had ''not'' provided for supply - were worn out.

* The Russian film ''Film/{{Stalingrad}}'', when the entire German army is cut off and trapped inside Stalingrad by an attack on the flanks. Based on RealLife.

* To a (somewhat) lesser degree, the airborne landings during the Battle of Normandy. Due to the transport pilots attempting to avoid anti-aircraft fire (or sometimes failing to avoid it), Allied paratroopers were scattered all over the French countryside, lost and confused. The fact that they were able to rally and improvise (and generally cause masive confusion to the Germans trying to figure out just what the equally confused paratroopers were trying to accomplish), led to the military concept of Little Groups of Paratroopers ([=LGOPs=] for short), describing the resulting units as "A bunch of nineteen year olds, poorly supervised, pissed off, armed to the teeth, and vaguely recalling their orders as "Shoot anyone who is dressed differently."" Those troops that managed to link up with Allied forces moving inland from the beaches were able to pass on valuable intel, in addition to delaying German counter-attacks against the beachheads.

* The story of Guan Yu's journey through five passes in RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms.

* The Polish WW2 series "Czterej pancerni i pies" had this as a recurring plot device. The titular tank crew would find themselves behind enemy lines either because an enemy counterattack managed to cut off their position or because their mission was to move around the enemy and attack them from behind.

* ''Shadow Company: Left For Dead'' begins with your employer abandoning your mercenary group in the middle of enemy territory after a mission goes awry.

* Happens quite a bit in the first book of TheSalvationWar, seeing as everyone who dies ends up in {{Hell}}. Leads to the formation of LaResistance, with the odd historical character or twelve joining, no less.

* The Battle of Mogadishu, which was the direct basis of the aforementioned ''BlackHawkDown''.

* The CiaphasCain novel ''Death or Glory'' starts with the titular protagonist and his faithful aide Jurgen [[EscapePod landing]] in the middle of an Ork-infested continent, half a world away from the front lines. [[AccidentalHero In Cain's attempts to find friendly forces to put between himself and danger]], things snowball until he's [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits cobbled together a small army of soldiers, civilians and militia]] cutting its way out from the heart of Orkish territory and turning the tide of the whole war.

* The story of Guan Yu's journey through five passes in TheRomanceOfThreeKingdoms.

* ''BehindEnemyLines'' and its sequels.
* ''BlackHawkDown'' - Based on RealLife.

* ''Centurion''
* ''FlightOfTheIntruder'', both the book and the [[Film/FlightOfTheIntruder movie]].

* ''TheWildGeese'' (1978) and its remake (2010). In the 1978 version a group of mercenaries is sent to Africa to free a captured rebel leader. After they succeed, their patron cuts a deal with the local government, cancels their transport home and abandons them to their fate.

* ''Mechwarrior 3'', not so much "Behind Enemy Lines" as it is "Stuck on Enemy's Planet".

May lead to a YouAreInCommandNow situation. Usually contains at least some FieldPromotion. YouShallNotPass may be required -- or worse, a LastStand.

** The trope probably applies to commando operations in general, as these troops are usually trained to infiltrate behind enemy lines and conduct sabotage intentionally, with the expectation that they may not be extricated easily if at all.

** And occasionally nabbing unsuspecting Germans who didn't expect Americans behind their lines. The commander of the German 91st Infantry Division was ambushed and killed by one such group of paratroopers.

** This was the basis of the "hedgehog" system of defense. Defending troops would be concentrayed at strategic locations that are easily defensible, even if they can be easily surrounded. Supply would be conducted by air and large numbers of enemy troops would be tied down and exhaust themselves besieging these positions. If done well, this can be very effective--for example, the Demyansk pocket during World War 2. If the defenses cannot hold, they can be a disaster, as the surrounded troops would have nowhere to retreat--eg. Dienbienphu during the French War in Vietnam.

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[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* Literature/HonorHarrington's fate after the break-out from the StateSec ship ''Tepes'', at the end of ''In Enemy Hands''. Followed in the next book by probably one of the biggest {{prison break}}s in all of history, fictional or RealLife, escaping with roughly half a million prisoners.

* The Battle of Timor in 1942, in which several hundred survivors of the Australian defense of the island (mostly commandos from the 2/2nd Independent Company) withdrew into the Portuguese colony and held out there, eventually being withdrawn in January 1943 after keeping an entire Japanese ''division'' busy for ten months.

* Several of the Wehrmacht's 'moving pocket' operations on the Russian Front.