Editing Asymmetric warfare (section)

==Use of terrain==
Terrain that limits mobility, such as forests and mountains, can be used as a [[force multiplier]] by the smaller force and as a force inhibitor against the larger one, especially one operating far from its [[Military logistics|logistical base]]. Such terrain is called ''difficult terrain''. [[Urban warfare|Urban]] areas, though generally having good transport access, provide innumerable ready-made defensible positions with simple escape routes and can also become rough terrain if prolonged combat fills the streets with rubble:

{{blockquote|The contour of the land is an aid to the army, sizing up opponents to determine victory and assessing dangers and distance. "Those who do battle without knowing these will lose."|[[Sun Tzu]]|''[[The Art of War]]''}}
{{blockquote|The guerrillas must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea.|[[Mao Zedong]]}}

In the 12th century, irregulars known as the [[Order of Assassins|Assassins]] were successful in the [[Nizari Ismaili state]]. The "state" consisted of [[List of Ismaili castles|fortresses]] (such as the [[Alamut Castle]]) built on strategic mountaintops and highlands with difficult access, surrounded by hostile lands. The Assassins developed tactics to eliminate high-value targets, threatening their security, including the [[Crusaders]].

In the [[American Revolutionary War]], [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot]] Lieutenant Colonel [[Francis Marion]], known as the "Swamp Fox," took advantage of irregular tactics, [[interior lines]], and the wilderness of colonial [[South Carolina]] to hinder larger British regular forces.<ref>{{cite book|first=William Dobein|last=James|title=A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion|date=1821}}</ref>

[[Yugoslav Partisans]], starting as small detachments around mountain villages in 1941, fought the [[Nazi Germany|German]] and other [[Axis powers|Axis]] occupation forces, successfully taking advantage of the rough terrain to survive despite their small numbers. Over the next four years, they slowly forced their enemies back, recovering population centers and resources, eventually growing into the regular [[Yugoslav People's Army|Yugoslav Army]].

The Vietnam war is a classical example of the use of terrain to fight an asymmetrical war, The [[North Vietnamese army]] (NVA) and [[Viet Cong]] (VC) used the dense jungles, mountains, and river systems of Vietnam to allow for effective concealment of troop movements in spite of superior enemy air power. This allowed supplying troops to be possible without incurring heavy losses from American airstrikes, who could not effectively identify or track their movements from the air. This was true to such an extent that the US employed defoliation methods such as the use of [[Agent Orange]] and extensive [[Napalm]] use to make forested areas visible from the air. The NVA and VC also used intricate tunnel systems, such as the [[Củ Chi tunnels]], which enabled them to move undetected, store supplies, and evade U.S. search-and-destroy missions.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Scorched Atmospheres: The Violent Geographies of the Vietnam War and the Rise of Drone Warfare |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00045608.2015.1115333#d1e330 |journal=Annals of the American Association of Geographers|date=2016 |doi=10.1080/00045608.2015.1115333 |last1=Shaw |first1=Ian G. R. |volume=106 |issue=3 |pages=688–704 |bibcode=2016AAAG..106..688S }}</ref>