text: Chapter 7
  forces during a pursuit. Units use fires to keep pressure on enemy forces. They do not allow enemy
  commanders to adjust their forces freely to counter friendly force actions. Indirect and joint fires harass and
  disrupt the enemy force’s attempts to move engaged forces to the rear or bring previously uncommitted forces
  into action. In a pursuit, main efforts may include the ground maneuver of the direct pressure or the encircling
  force. Fire support targets in a pursuit include fires on enemy columns and troop or vehicle concentrations.
  Units may use fire support assets to repulse enemy counterattacks, destroy or delay enemy reserves, and
  destroy enemy fire support systems. They use all nonlethal and lethal effects at their disposal against the
  enemy force’s C2 system as an integral part of fixing the enemy while they concentrate on destroying or
  degrading the enemy force’s capability to reconstitute and synchronize an effective defense.
  7-30. Units fix fleeing enemy forces by pressuring enemy forces with maneuver or with nonlethal and lethal
  fires. Disruption of enemy C2 systems by direct pressure forces significantly degrades enemy force
  capabilities to counter friendly efforts. This makes the goal of fixing an enemy force much easier to
  accomplish.
  7-31. An enemy force attempts to use its reserves to reestablish the organization of its forces or facilitate the
  fleeing of enemy forces. Fixing enemy reserves is essential to the pursuit’s success and is normally the focus
  of echelon shaping operations. The direct pressure force fixes enemy reserves in place or slows them down
  so that they remain outside supporting distance until the destruction of the withdrawing enemy force.
  FINISH THE ENEMY
  7-32. The overall commander of the pursuit normally combines the actions of a subordinate conducting a
  frontal pursuit to provide direct pressure on the fleeing enemy force with the actions of a second subordinate
  attempting to encircle that same fleeing enemy. The force providing direct pressure advances in a column
  formation as quickly as possible. After a successful penetration of a defending enemy force, existing gaps
  among the different elements of the force and the direct pressure force often increase. To prevent the
  vulnerability of open flanks, the overall commander can deploy uncommitted elements with a reserve mission
  where they can respond to flank dangers. The overall commander does not expect a uniform rate of advance
  on all axes. Some columns may move rapidly while others may engage in penetrating the enemy force’s rear
  guard defensive positions or opposing enemy counterattacks.
  7-33. The actions of the force applying direct pressure should facilitate the commitment of another force
  moving parallel to the rearward moving enemy force in an attempt to encircle that enemy force. The depth
  of the pursuit depends on the size of the forces involved. The commander directing the initiation of a pursuit
  informs the higher echelon commander of this intention. This allows the higher echelon headquarters to avoid
  desynchronizing other operations and ensures the necessary resources are devoted to the unit conducting the
  pursuit.
  7-34. The force providing direct pressure normally tasks its forward subordinate element to provide an
  advance guard to prevent enemy forces from ambushing its main body and to overrun or bypass small enemy
  forces. This advance guard moves on multiple routes. If it encounters enemy units beyond its capacity to
  defeat, it conducts actions on contact to develop the situation. The commander of the direct pressure force
  uses combat information from actions on contact to guide the main body to a position of advantage where it
  can seriously degrade or destroy the retrograding enemy force. The actions of the force providing direct
  pressure may or may not be in conjunction with the actions of any encircling force.
  7-35. The overall pursuit commander does everything possible to place a friendly force behind a retrograding
  enemy force to trap the bulk of the enemy force between the encircling force and the force providing direct
  pressure. The force providing direct pressure maintains enough pressure on the retrograding enemy force so
  that the encircling force can envelop it. To envelop the enemy force, the direct pressure force must be strong
  enough to overcome any enemy rear guard before the enemy’s main body can complete its retrograde and
  reestablish a coherent defense. Once in position, the encircling force defends or attacks as necessary,
  responding to the enemy force’s actions and those of the force providing direct pressure, to complete the
  enemy force’s isolation.
  7-36. If the enemy force succeeds in reorganizing and forming a perimeter, the pursuing unit should encircle
  the enemy force. (See Appendix C for more information on encirclements.)