Nowadays, used to comically describe a retreat in online battle games.
However, in the past, many different forces such as the Mongol Horde, Napoleon's Grande Armee, Rommel's Afrikan Corps, Darius' Immortal Spada and so on...used this tactic to draw out enemy forces, discourage them from chase while escaping from enemy strength, divert attention away from other attacks moving forwards and/or to simply remaneuver around the battlefield.
However, in the past, many different forces such as the Mongol Horde, Napoleon's Grande Armee, Rommel's Afrikan Corps, Darius' Immortal Spada and so on...used this tactic to draw out enemy forces, discourage them from chase while escaping from enemy strength, divert attention away from other attacks moving forwards and/or to simply remaneuver around the battlefield.
Confederate cavalry under Colonel J.E.B. Stuart retreated to escape the clutches of Captain Carter's (Union)regiment and to allow berth for Stonewall Jackson's advance in the Battle of 1st Manassas.
by Smkngmgc June 16, 2004
When someone agrees to your idea or proposal despite initial hesitation, but due to an unfortunate outcome caused by circumstances out of everyone's control later regrets the decision and launches an extremely harsh retroactive verbal attack on you and/or your character. These attacks are typically launched by passive aggressive people.
You convince someone you care about to take a vacation to a specific destination. The other person prefers a different destination but reluctantly agrees. During the trip flights are delayed, luggage gets lost, and other things go wrong. That person then proceeds to launch a Backwards Attack on you for the entire situation even though they actually agreed to go on the trip. They also use the situation to make other unrelated attacks on your character.
by BostonX November 4, 2013