found that it was not the Japanese that had lost more than the gain in the hand-to-hand combat. The Chinese army during the War of Resistance also discovered this problem. At that time, the Chinese army did not have the rule that bullets must be returned in hand-to-hand combat, but the Northwest Army troops widely used machetes in hand-to-hand combat, and in fact they actively gave up shooting tactics.
In World War II, the Japanese army retreated the bullets before hand-to-hand combat and then used the bayonet, which was a weird and compelling tactic. Speaking of which, this is the stipulation of its infantry doctrine. In the era of hot weapons, this stipulation is confusing because it looks pedantic. However, it is by no means "suffering face and suffering", nor is it all about defending "the dignity of Bushido," but the conclusion drawn by the Japanese army based on actual combat tests. This is consistent with the Japanese army's weapons and combat characteristics.
The Japanese retreat from bullets before hand-to-hand combat refers to when the two sides start close-range combat on a scale above the squad, rather than as long as they are ready to fight hand-to-hand, they will withdraw the bullets when charging. That is pure suicide. When the Japanese are charging, they are also charged shooting.
At that time, when the armed forces of various countries were charging, not only could they not withdraw their bullets, but they had to shoot at all levels during the whole process to suppress the firepower of the opponent as much as possible. For example, in the military work "Bright Sword", there is such a true description:
, as the last batch of grenades were released, the commando leaning down the slope jumped up, and 20 light machine guns fired at the same time during the sprint, forming a dense composition. In the fire net, the Japanese military fortifications were beaten into smoke and dust under the intensive bullet rain. After the explosion, the remaining Japanese soldiers returned to their intrepid qualities. They yelled and fought back without fear. The commandos kept falling down, and the alternate shooters behind quickly made up. Both sides got red eyes. Some Japanese soldiers were able to kill, and they jumped out of the fortifications with bayonets unobstructed and faced the bullet rain. , But was instantly beaten into a honeycomb. With a short impact distance of 30 meters, all the machine gunners of Li Yunlong's First Commando were killed, none survived... But they still rushed to the Japanese position and cleared the remaining Japanese troops.
war is cruel, and the Japanese military’s understanding of this is no different from that of other countries’ military. In fact, in the Pacific War, whether in Saipan or Okinawa, when the Japanese army launched an infantry assault, they always shot while advancing, and placed the light machine gunner on the front line to enhance suppressing firepower (because the Japanese army on the front line has not been equipped with submachine guns).
You don't have to worry about hurting yourself. In World War II, even if the infantry attacked the skirmish line, even if it launched an attack in the so-called "dense formation," its formation was much looser than in the Cold Weapons era, and the probability of soldiers overlapping front and back was low. Really adopt the traditional dense formation, the impact effect is often very bad. For example, Guadalcanal's Japanese forces attacked the "Blood Ridge" in a dense formation.
According to the Japanese army's own statistics, after the hand-to-hand battle started, the loss of keeping the rifle bullets was greater than the gain. It is precisely based on this judgment that the bullets are clearly ordered to retreat after the hand-to-hand combat begins. There are two main reasons for this:
First, the Japanese infantry light weapons are limited in performance.
Japanese standard light weapons, the most typical is the 38-type rifle. It inherited the characteristics of its predecessor Murata rifle, that is, high projectile velocity, long aiming baseline, and long gun body. This feature makes the 38-type rifle have a long range, accurate shooting, and suitable for hand-to-hand combat. Not only the Japanese army likes to use it, but the Chinese army also likes to use it after it is captured. A batch was imported from Japan before the war. But it also has shortcomings. Because the projectile has high muzzle velocity and good quality, it is often easy to penetrate after hitting. The wound is smooth. It does not damage the surrounding tissues much. It is not as lethal as the Chinese official rifle. In hand-to-hand combat, this shortcoming is more prominent, because in hand-to-hand combat, the personnel of both sides often overlap each other, using 38-type rifles, often killing their own people after penetration. Moreover, due to the reduced speed of the projectile after the penetration, the projectile will roll and deform after the second hit, and the trauma will be more serious. An opponent who is only injured by the penetration may not lose combat effectiveness on the spot, and can still counterattack! The Japanese army used the 38-type rifle to shoot in hand-to-hand combat. It was obviously a loss of money because of accidental injuries that caused a lot of attrition.
Second, the Japanese army's tactical understanding of hand-to-hand combat.
In a hand-to-hand battle, the standard posture for the assassination of the Japanese army is to hold the front handguard in one hand and the curved part of the front section of the butt in the other. The butt is slightly lowered on the side of the supporting leg, facing the opponent semi-obliquely, with the bayonet tip slightly level with the eyebrow. In this way, the gun from diagonally above to diagonally below, just protect the neck, chest, and abdomen, and the bayonet can stab. The problem is that if you put this pose, you will findIt turned out that with such a gesture, the muzzle was not facing the opponent at all, but toward the sky diagonally above. Therefore, in combat, it is difficult to have more opportunities to shoot than to stab. If you are preparing to shoot, your finger must be placed on the trigger. This causes two serious problems. First, as long as the weapons of both sides intersect and collide, the fire will escape; second, the fingers cannot hold the gun fully, which affects the attitude of holding the gun. Killing the envoy can't do his best. In addition, the 38-type rifle is too long, and the force of turning the muzzle to aim at the opponent is also long. If the opponent is not directly in front, it is not easy to shoot at close range. The time for turning the muzzle is too long, and the muzzle may not be in place. He has been stabbed down, and it is undoubtedly a more convenient way to fight at this time. It can be seen that the Japanese army has very few opportunities to shoot effectively in hand-to-hand combat. Keeping the bullets in the gun barrel has very little chance of obtaining results, which affects the quality of hand-to-hand combat.
This is the real reason why the Japanese army retreated before hand-to-hand combat. Coincidentally, it was not the Japanese who discovered that the shooting in hand-to-hand combat was not worth the loss. The Chinese army also discovered this problem. The Chinese army does not have a rule that bullets must be returned in hand-to-hand combat, but the Northwest Army troops widely use machetes in hand-to-hand combat, and in fact they have actively given up shooting tactics. Because it is impossible to swing a big knife in one hand and shoot a rifle in the other. The specific method of the knife is actually only one move. When the knife is released, the blade hangs and the edge of the knife is pointed at oneself, and the blade is lifted up, the back of the knife is knocked and the rifle is shot, and the blade is drawn forward, just in time to cut the opponent's head. Its power lies in swinging open the opponent's weapon while swinging the knife, because it is an action to hack and slash. The Japanese are afraid of the Broadswords team. This is not a general propaganda, but a fact.
In the Pacific War, the U.S. military's submachine gun had a short body, which suffered from hand-to-hand combat with bayonet. In the first close combat, long shots were often used to make up for its shortcomings. When the Japanese troops carried out night attacks and other operations, they were mostly surprise attacks, which prevented the US military from using dense barrage to cut off the Japanese troops before the front. Once into the melee, the casualties caused by inexperienced soldiers with submachine guns are often greater than those caused by the enemy. In Betio, the US military commander, Colonel Schoop, once threatened to throw his gun into the sea if a soldier fired indiscriminately, and never fired another bullet.
The US military concluded that the best method in hand-to-hand combat is to use a pistol against the Japanese bayonet. In actual combat, the US military proved that pistols are the best in hand-to-hand combat. It is short in length, can be easily turned to shoot at any side, shooting positions can be varied, with less charge, even after hitting the first opponent at close range, it is not easy to penetrate and injure the person behind, and its power range far exceeds the bayonet. As for reloading, if all the bullets in the magazine are lit up, and the bayonet is forced over, then you can only accept your fate. However, the US military standard pistol fills seven rounds, which is equivalent to the ability to fire seven shots in a row. In a hand-to-hand battle, few people have the opportunity to fire seven knives in a row. This probability is too low. Z1z
is probably the only German who does not pay much attention to hand-to-hand combat. This is related to its tactical use and equipment. The German offensive paid special attention to the rapid assault of the armored forces, and the defense attached importance to the cooperation of fortifications and armored forces. The opportunities for close combat were not absent, but most of them occurred in narrow fortifications and buildings, such as the Battle of Stalingrad. At this time, the Germans used blasting and strafing to clear the enemy, which had much more opportunities than bayonet. In this way, it was concluded by the Germans that "submachine guns and grenades are not exchanged for close combat." In fact, it's not that the Germans can't fight hand-to-hand. They are better at solving problems with weapons such as daggers and engineer shovel in small spaces.
and our army used the flaws exposed when the devils returned bullets. What flaw? You must know that the 38 large cover is actually a rifle that is most unsuitable for fighting a bayonet ejection order. The bottom cover of the bomb bay of the official rifle used by Chinese soldiers can be opened. When needed, open the bottom cover to extinguish all the bullets at once. However, the bottom cover of the bomb bay of the Japanese 38 large cover is fixed. If you want to retract the bullet, you can only push and pull the bolt repeatedly, and the bullet will be ejected one by one. If this is a straight-pull gun, it may be faster. , But the three-eight cover is still a rotary gun... So often the bullet is halfway back, and the bayonet or ghost knife of our army has been greeted.
hand-to-hand combat, with the further development of military technology, has gradually withdrawn from today's battlefield. It is worth mentioning that today’s Japanese Self-Defense Forces also have hand-to-hand training courses. Sometimes you can see that in Japan, the problem is that this kind of training has become like a slow motion performance. practiceMusic was played while studying, and Japanese self-defense team members held their guns over their heads and gestured like dancing. Probably they also understand that the probability of using this weapon is very low.
