Feigned retreat

A feigned retreat is a military tactic whereby an army will pretend to withdraw or that they have been routed in order to lure an enemy into a position of vulnerability. Feigned retreats are one of the more difficult tactics for an army to undertake, and require well-disciplined soldiers. This is because if the enemy presses into it, undisciplined troops will lose coherence and the rout will become genuine.

This tactic was well known in antiquity. Herodotus reports that the Spartans employed it at the Battle of Thermopylae to defeat a force of Immortals.