History Main / DelayingAction

* In ''Film/KungFuPanda'', Master Shifu decides to stay and fight [[BigBad Tai Lung]], despite knowing that his former student has become too strong for him, knowing that, as long as Tai Lung is fighting him, he will not attack the Valley of Peace, which is being evacuated by Po and the Furious Five.

* Several times in ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III''. The final mission has your Night Elves and allied humans and orcs stalling Archimonde and the Burning Legion as they march on the World Tree, until Malfurion can gather enough Wisps to kill the demon lord when he tries to claim the tree's power.

* Soon after the Japanese attacks on American forces in Hawaii and the Philippines, the US Asiatic Fleet and other Allied naval forces in the Pacific, making up the ABDA[[note]] American, Britain, Dutch, Australian[[/note]] Force found themselves in this situation due to their lack of any heavy-hitting forces [[note]]the Asiatic Squadron mostly consisted of cruisers, destroyers, and submarines, and was mostly considered a Fleet alongside the Pacific and Atlantic fleets due to the prestige associated with its duties representing the US around Asia[[/note]], compounded by poor peacetime training and the notoriously flaky American early-war torpedoes. They spent the first six months of the war harassing Japanese naval forces and attempting to disrupt landing forces, but were badly outnumbered. By the time US forces in the Philippines surrendered in May of 1942, the Asiatic Squadron had lost 19 out of 40 surface ships, with most of the rest retreating to Australia. The remnants of the Asiatic Fleet regrouped with the Pacific Fleet, and the Asiatic Fleet was never formed again.

* Soon after the Japanese attacks on American forces in Hawaii and the Philippines, the US Asiatic Fleet and other Allied naval forces in the Pacific, making up the ABDA[[note: American, Britain, Dutch, Australian]] Force found themselves in this situation due to their lack of any heavy-hitting forces [[note: the Asiatic Squadron mostly consisted of cruisers, destroyers, and submarines, and was mostly considered a Fleet alongside the Pacific and Atlantic fleets due to the prestige associated with its duties representing the US around Asia]], compounded by poor peacetime training and the notoriously flaky American early-war torpedoes. They spent the first six months of the war harassing Japanese naval forces and attempting to disrupt landing forces, but were badly outnumbered. By the time US forces in the Philippines surrendered in May of 1942, the Asiatic Squadron had lost 19 out of 40 surface ships, with most of the rest retreating to Australia. The remnants of the Asiatic Fleet regrouped with the Pacific Fleet, and the Asiatic Fleet was never formed again.

* Also the basic concept behind "defence in depth", where an attacking force is delayed and bled by the delaying forces along with supporting artillery, air power, etc. until the attack the attack peters out and either retreats, or is vulnerable to a counter-attack.

** [[TheCaptain Wedge]] [[FourStarBadass Antilles]] ''loves'' these, since his particular style of warfare makes them ''work''. Case in point: the [[NewJediOrder Siege of Borleais]]. All told, the siege involved an entire fake secret engineering project, an entire ''real'' secret engineering project, a planetary bombardment ''by the garrison defenders'', a Super Star Destroyer dropping into the middle of the enemy fleet... oh, and [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome the wholesale evacuation of the garrison]] before the final battle. Borleais cost two entire Vong fleets and a planetary garrison, and was a ''huge'' embarrassment to their command staff.

* In ''Literature/TheThirdWorldWar'', {{NATO}} successfully delays Soviet forces long enough for reinforcements to arrive, then launches a decisive strike and turns the Soviets back around Krefeld.

* This was a massive part of {{NATO}} plans for a WorldWarThree in Europe. The aim was to trade ground for time to allow US forces to arrive. One must feel sorry for the West Germans in all this...

** Wraith Squadron's first real action is covering the evacuation of their training base when a Star Destroyer allied to Warlord Zsinj shows up. Things go from bad to worse when one of the transports is delayed in launching, but then we get a taste of what the squadron is capable of when a pilot wonders, "what if we gave them a juicier target to go after?" Cue an improv radio program where two Wraith X-Wing and two allied A-Wings pretend to be the ''Millennium Falcon'' suffering some engine problems.

** Most engagements with the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids]] seem to fall into this pattern, with a beleagured world trying to survive until a fleet of reinforcements arrives. Problem is, the Tyranids project as "Shadow in the Warp" that disrupts interstellar communication.

* Several times in ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III''. At least once you're stalling until the cavalry arrives. The climactic battle is you stalling until your trap is set ([[spoiler: until sufficient Wisps can accumulate around the World Tree. When the demon lord Archimonde reaches and climbs it, they surround him and explode, killing him]]).
** A BonusLevel of the Frozen Throne has you prevent the humans from destroying the portal the Blood Elves are escaping through (though it's more of a TowerDefense). If you succeed, you get an extra hero for the next level.

** The ExpandedUniverse novel ''Speed of Darkness'' stars a group of Confederate Marines who fought a separate delaying action that apparently drew a sizable quantity of Zerg away from the PlayerCharacter.
*** It wasn't so much their resistance but the fact that they had a [[spoiler:psychic beacon]] with them.

* Happens by event during some battles in HeartsOfIron II and III. It slows the attacker down a bit and helps the defenders.
* The level "Revenge of the Empire" in ''RogueSquadron III: Rebel Strike''. Mirroring the Hoth example, Rogue Squadron is providing air cover to the evacuation of the base on Yavin IV.

* The opening of VideoGame/{{Steambirds}} includes the line "You cannot save the city, but you can stall the armada long enough for London's citizens to evacuate."

* The Battle of Hoth in ''TheEmpireStrikesBack''. The Rebels knew there was no way they could actually win: the Empire had better equipment (including heavy armor for which the Rebels had no viable counter) and too much of a numerical advantage. The ground forces and Rogue Squadron simply hoped to delay the Imps long enough to evacuate the base. The battle was considered an Imperial victory overall, though the Rebels technically achieved their objective. [[FridgeLogic Though did the walker speed ever really slow down at all?]]

* [[XWingSeries Rogue Squadron]] did this in ''[[TheThrawnTrilogy Dark Force Rising]]'', trying to buy time for Luke and Han to get into their ships and let [[DividedWeFall Fey'lya]] escape with his force. Fortunately for them, Fey'lya was steered into an EngineeredPublicConfession and his people [[ChangedMyMindKid went back to help the Rogues]]. This wasn't enough. Karrde's smugglers showed up. This wasn't enough. Then [[BigDamnHeroes Bel Iblis showed up]]. [[HopeSpot This was enough]] until a second Star Destroyer appeared, and it took two counts of RammingAlwaysWorks before the day was saved.

* In ''TheSilmarillion'', the Men of the House of Hador delay the forces of Angband long enough for Turgon's Gondolindrim to escape unfollowed. All but one of them die, and it only gets worse for the [[AndIMustScream survivor...]]

* The Battle of the Line, in the Series/BabylonFive prequel movie ''In The Beginning'':
--> '''President of Earth:''' "We have continued to broadcast our surrender and a plea for mercy. And they have not responded. We therefore can only conclude... that we stand at the twilight of the Human race. In order to buy more time for our evacuation transports to leave Earth, we ask for the support of every ship capable of fighting to take part in a last defense of our homeworld. We will not lie to you. We do not believe that survival is a possibility. We believe that anyone who joins this battle... will never come home. But for every ten minutes we can delay the military advance several hundred civilians may have a chance to escape to neutral territory. Though Earth may fall, the Human race must have a chance to continue elsewhere. No greater sacrifice has ever been asked of a people than I ask you now... to step forward one last time... one last battle, to hold the line against the night. May God go with you all."
* More than once in ''FallingSkies''.

* Pretty much the only way to defeat Tyranids in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' is to send a call for reinforcements (they have a psychic power that blocks off all interstellar communication) and then resist until the reinforcements arrive.

* In ''Anime/SuiseiNoGargantia'', Commander Kugel attempts to do this to prevent the Hideauze from following their retreating forces into the wormhole after the Galactic Alliance is forced to retreat from the battle in the first episode.

* Pretty much the only way to defeat Tyranids in Warhammer40K is to send a call for reinforcements (they have a psychic power that blocks off all interstellar communication) and then resist until the reinforcements arrive.

* The opening of {{Steambirds}} includes the line "You cannot save the city, but you can stall the armada long enough for London's citizens to evacuate."

* DawnOfWar: Winter Assault has a mission where the Imperial Guard agrees to ally with an Eldar force. Which of course triggers waves upon waves of orks to attack you culminating in a Squiggoth. Fortunately, the reinforcements you're waiting for include a [[TankGoodness Baneblade]].

* The Second Battle of [[StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]. Against a Dominion-Cardassian Fleet, the station manages to destroy 50 ships before the Starfleet crew is forced to abandon it. Before leaving, Sisko reveals that while they had focused much of the Dominion's ships, a Starfleet-Klingon task force destroyed a major Cardassian shipyard.

* The Battle of Hoth in ''TheEmpireStrikesBack''. The Rebels knew there was no way they could actually win: the Empire had better equipment (including heavy armor for which the Rebels had no viable counter) and too much of a numerical advantage. The ground forces and Rogue Squadron simply hoped to delay the Imps long enough to evacuate the base. The battle was considered an Imperial victory overall, though the Rebels technically achieved their objective.

* The climactic Battle of South Moundtop in SaGa Frontier II is all about stalling for time. Unlike most of the other battlefield campaigns where there is either parity or conditions heavily in the players favor, this battle is against an army vastly your superior. Everything must go perfect for you to survive the necessary turns and your allies to arrive to finish the battle off screen.
* Several times in ''WarcraftIII''. At least once you're stalling until the cavalry arrives. The climactic battle is you stalling until your trap is set ([[spoiler: until sufficient Wisps can accumulate around the World Tree. When the demon lord Archimonde reaches and climbs it, they surround him and explode, killing him]]).

** In the earlier novel ''The Short Victorious War'', a large Manticoran fleet has been decoyed away from their home base at Hancock Station. A small task force left behind to protect the base has to delay the attacking Havenite fleet long enough to prevent them from either taking the station or retreating back over the hyper limit before the Manticoran fleet can return. Honor ends up [[YouAreInCommandNow in command of the task force]] during the course of the battle.

* ''Series/HonorHarrington'':

** Part of the Battle of Gettysburg.

* The entirety of ''MassEffect3'' is a delaying action meant to slow the Reaper assault long enough that the Crucible can be constructed.