18. The conduct of war

18.1. General concepts

1. battle [countable; uncountable] a fight between opposing armies, groups of ships, groups of people etc, especially one that is part of a larger war бой, битва, сражение: the Battle of Trafalgar | A career soldier, he had died leading his men into battle at Spion Kop during the Boer War. | The fierce battle for Travnik was now over, the sources said.

to join battle (with sb) | to plunge into battle вступить / ввязаться в бой: Get a good night's rest, men; we join battle with the enemy at first light. | He went to join the battle and, all unskilled in warfare, he was killed at once. | We do not readily plunge into battle with such powerful forces.

to fight / wage a battle вести бой: We invaded Ireland and fought our own battles there. | We are determined and able to fight battles. | He denied yesterday it was waging a battle on two fronts.

to win a battle выиграть сражение: They won the battle by sheer weight of numbers.

to lose a battle проиграть сражение: The French lost the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. | It may be, in the long run, more productive to lose the battle but win the war.

bloody battle кровавое сражение: one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War

fierce / pitched / raging battle ожесточенный бой; жестокая схватка, яростная битва; решительное сражение: There sieges were less frequent and pitched battles more important. | He describes how he killed two young workers taken prisoner in a pitched battle inside a factory workshop.

at the battle of… в битве при…: Napoleon was defeated by the Duke of Wellington at the battle of Waterloo. | He is finally met and defeated at the Battle of Osterwald.

2. combat [uncountable; uncountable] organized fighting, especially during a war бой, битва, сражение: These troops have very little experience of active / armed combat. | It is no coincidence that combat soldiers, particularly paratroops, wear camouflage uniforms that somewhat resemble a leopard's spotted coat. | There was fierce combat between the two sides.

close combat ближний бой: This will get your cavalry into close combat and hopefully out of the hail of missiles fairly quickly.

combat mission боевое задание: We flew over 200 combat missions. | In all, there are 15 combat missions involving both subs and surface vessels.

combat unit боевое подразделение: The women were excluded from the combat units. | Friedman was a member of a logistics team rather than a combat unit. | The battle casualties of the combat units were nearly as bad as those on World War II battlefields.

combat zone поле боя: She was actually in the combat zone now and she noted uneasily that once again she was placed firmly beside the count.

3. fighting [uncountable] a situation in which people fight, especially in a war бой, битва, сражение: The UN failed to stop the fighting in Rwanda. | The fighting is threatening to turn into full-scale war. | There was fighting on the streets of Paris yesterday when police and demonstrators clashed.

fighting breaks out / erupts / starts: Fighting broke out between army units. | The ceasefire appeared to be in tatters on Monday after heavy fighting erupted in Tetovo. | And it was on this day that heavy fighting started at Thermopylai.

to end fighting: On February 19, Aoun and Geaga agreed a six-point pact to end the fighting.

house-to-house fighting уличный бой

heavy / fierce / bitter fighting жестокое сражение: Meanwhile, heavy fighting was going on in and around Tan Son Nhut. | Tass still reported heavy fighting around Bagram on March 8. | Fierce fighting has continued all day on the outskirts of the town. | There was fierce combat between the two sides.