What phase comes after conducting successful attacks?

After conducting successful attacks, the next phase is exploitation. This phase is critical as it involves taking advantage of the enemy's weakened state following an initial assault. During exploitation, forces move rapidly to capitalize on the successes achieved by the attack, aiming to deepen the penetration into enemy territory, disrupt their organization, and create further opportunities for victory.

Exploitation is characterized by speed and flexibility, allowing forces to maintain momentum and pressure on the enemy. By leveraging the advantages gained, such as morale boosts and weakened enemy defenses, the attacking force seeks to achieve decisive results before the enemy can recover or regroup.

The other options represent different strategic options or phases that do not directly follow a successful attack. Retreat implies pulling back from a position, which is counterintuitive after a successful engagement. Pursuit generally occurs when the enemy is in retreat, and while it can follow an attack phase, it is focused on chasing down the enemy rather than exploiting the initial success. Defense is a posture that typically occurs when a force must respond to an enemy assault, not after achieving success in attacking their positions. Thus, the exploitation phase is the most appropriate and logical sequence following successful attacks.