0:01 While the European battles between the
0:03 Allies and Germans followed some
0:05 semblance of rules, the Pacific theater
0:06 is so overlooked and underappreciated
0:08 for how horrific it was on so many
0:10 levels. From the horrors of the
0:12 SinoJapanese War, use of chemical and
0:14 biological weapons, human experiment
0:15 facilities, treatment of Allied
0:17 prisoners of war all the way to the
0:18 actual tactics and the way battles were
0:20 fought. Besides a couple of publicized
0:22 major battles like Eoima, there isn't
0:24 much attention on this bizarre section
0:26 of the Second World War. For some
0:28 reason, its infamous reputation was
0:30 mainly created by the Japanese Imperial
0:32 Army. Besides, you know, two atomic
0:34 bombs and the firebombing of cities full
0:35 of people and things like that. But
0:37 today, we'll cover one unique tactic
0:39 rarely seen in combat, except on this
0:40 front, it was almost a common
0:43 occurrence. The so-called Banzai charge.
0:46 Let's set the stage. By late 1942, the
0:48 tide of the war in the Pacific was
0:50 shifting. After the surprise attack on
0:52 Pearl Harbor, Japan had rapidly expanded
0:54 across the Pacific, taking over a vast
0:56 stretch of territory and crucial island
0:58 chains in a strategy to create a massive
1:00 defensive perimeter to stop the
1:02 inevitable Allied ground invasion. The
1:03 Allies, on the other hand, had the
1:05 island hopping idea to leaprog over the
1:07 heavily fortified islands and seize the
1:09 most strategically important ones, then
1:10 use them as air bases for the next
1:13 assaults and bombing campaigns. The goal
1:14 was to cut off and isolate major
1:16 Japanese garrisons while pushing ever
1:18 closer to the Japanese mainland. This
1:20 would, at least in theory, reduce
1:22 casualties and allow faster advance. The
1:24 Japanese were at first trying to stop
1:25 the enemy at the water's edge. They
1:27 prepared island defenses to hit landing
1:29 craft and soldiers the moment they hit
1:30 the beach, like the Germans did when the
1:33 Normandy invasion happened. This did
1:34 cause horrific casualties for the
1:36 invading force. But once they got
1:37 through that with the support of heavy
1:39 naval artillery, the resistance was left
1:41 with few options. The Japanese then
1:43 realized that a much better strategy was
1:45 to actually let the enemy land while
1:47 they waited in cover from bombing and
1:48 artillery preparations in systems of
1:51 shelters. Then after the dust settled,
1:53 creatively turn every inch of ground
1:55 into a death trap and terrorize them
1:56 with surprise night raids,
1:59 counterattacks, and of course, banzai
2:01 charges. The first full-scale clash
2:03 between US Marines and Japanese ground
2:05 forces was about to shatter their
2:07 expectations and introduce them to a way
2:09 of close and personal combat none of
2:11 them had seen before. The Japanese were
2:13 building an airfield that could threaten
2:15 Allied shipping lanes. And they couldn't
2:18 let that happen. So on August 7th, 1942,
2:20 US Marines landed on Guadal Canal. At
2:22 first, encountering surprisingly little
2:24 resistance. They captured the nearly
2:26 finished airfield quickly, but something
2:29 was off. After some oddly quiet time,
2:31 Japanese forces began launching
2:33 nighttime raids and counterattacks,
2:34 culminating in full-on charges that the
2:37 Marines weren't prepared for. Besides
2:39 now fighting the terrain, jungle, heat,
2:42 tropical diseases, insects, snakes, and
2:43 everything else that made their time
2:45 there everything but comfortable, they
2:46 had an enemy that operated on a
2:49 completely different state of mind. A
2:51 couple of the first Bzai charges caught
2:52 the Marines off guard, breaching
2:54 perimeter lines in some cases. But they
2:56 learned fast and units began building
2:58 better defensive perimeters specifically
3:00 to counter charges. Interlocking fields
3:02 of fire with machine guns and mortars
3:04 positioned to cover and protect each
3:05 other, always ready to unleash as much
3:08 firepower as possible. Barbed wire
3:10 became a must-have to slow them down and
3:12 channel enemy infantry into kill zones.
3:15 Flamethrowers, shotguns, and 37 mm
3:17 anti-tank guns with canister rounds
3:19 proved quite effective, making the
3:21 impact of banzai charges mostly
3:23 psychological. Guadal Canal turned into
3:25 a six-month slugfest with brutal land,
3:27 naval, and air battles and set the level
3:29 of expectations for what would happen on
3:31 the next islands Marines would set their
3:33 boots on. Each one progressively worse
3:35 than the previous. Guadal Canal was just
3:37 the introduction, and the largest Banzai
3:39 charge the Allies would ever face was
3:41 still ahead, waiting to happen in the
3:44 Battle of Saipan. But why was the Banzai
3:46 charge actually used in combat? The
3:48 tactic didn't start in the Pacific
3:50 against the Marines, but actually during
3:52 the Japanese invasion of China in the
3:54 1930s, where it wasn't a desperate
3:56 attack, ending in every single one
3:59 dying. Back then, it was quite an
4:00 effective tactic the Japanese used to
4:02 overcome their numerically superior
4:04 Chinese enemy using pure aggression,
4:06 speed, and surprise in mass infantry
4:09 charges. Chinese forces, although
4:11 greater in number, were poorly trained,
4:13 armed mostly with bolt-action rifles,
4:15 rarely had machine guns, and struggled
4:17 with ammunition shortages. This was
4:18 quite the opposite of what the Japanese
4:20 soldiers would soon face against the US
4:23 Marines. Chinese forces simply couldn't
4:25 put out enough firepower to stop a wave
4:27 of screaming Japanese troops armed with
4:29 grenades, katanas, and bayonets. While
4:30 the psychological aspect was another
4:32 thing that added to its effectiveness,
4:34 they would start with bugle calls and
4:36 screaming followed by an all-out charge,
4:37 which is not something you'd be
4:39 indifferent to when it's coming your
4:41 way. These assaults weren't formally
4:43 called banzai charges, but the name came
4:45 from their shouting while going into an
4:48 attack of the phrase tenno banzai,
4:50 meaning long live the emperor. The
4:51 allies picked up on that and later
4:54 called them banzai charges. When Japan
4:56 began facing organized US Marines with
4:58 automatic weapons, artillery, air
5:00 support, and more than enough ammo,
5:01 those same tactics turned almost
5:03 completely pointless. They weren't
5:05 gaining anything except the honor of
5:08 dying in combat. However, not before
5:10 causing horrific casualties in a couple
5:12 of instances. Now, you may wonder, why
5:14 did they do it anyway? The Japanese
5:17 began resorting to banzai charges as a
5:19 final act of desperation. Japanese
5:20 Imperial soldiers were heavily
5:22 indoctrinated by the Bushido Code of
5:24 Honor. It was better to die honorably
5:26 and surrender was out of the question.
5:28 They were ordered to hold ground to the
5:29 death and were only allowed to die once
5:31 they had taken out at least three enemy
5:33 soldiers, completely brainwashed by
5:35 their leaders. And when cornered,
5:36 realizing the battle was lost,
5:38 commanders would usually order the final
5:41 charge, resulting in everyone's death.
5:43 Now, the largest banzai charge of the
5:45 entire conflict, which produced some of
5:47 the most heroic stories of the Pacific
5:50 campaign. By July 1944, the Battle of
5:51 Saipan had already turned into one of
5:54 the most savage fights in the Pacific.
5:56 The island was considered of immense
5:58 importance by both sides. For the US,
6:00 taking Saipan meant they would be within
6:02 bomber range of the Japanese mainland,
6:03 and the Japanese were well aware of
6:06 that. The Americans had landed on June
6:08 15th and fought their way inland for
6:10 three grueling weeks. The terrain and
6:12 well-conceeded Japanese defensive
6:14 positions made every advance costly, but
6:16 they were pushing the Japanese slowly
6:18 but surely. The Japanese troops under
6:20 the command of General Saiito had dug in
6:22 hard and were supported by a number of
6:24 civilians. You know, by their free will.
6:26 One by one, the Japanese defenses
6:27 collapsed into a small pocket in the
6:29 northern part of the island with their
6:31 backs against the sea. There was no
6:33 evacuation intended, no resupply, and no
6:35 way to push the allies off the island.
6:38 General Sat knew it was over. It was the
6:40 night of July 6th when he gave his final
6:42 orders. His speech to the remaining
6:44 troops was clear. There would be no more
6:46 retreat, no surrender, and the death was
6:48 now their duty. Soldiers were told to
6:50 kill at least one American before they
6:52 died. But if possible, each man should
6:54 aim to take out three. Around 4,000
6:57 people, officers, soldiers, civilians,
6:59 and walking wounded were gathered and
7:01 prepared for the final attack. Some were
7:03 unarmed or armed with bamboo spears, and
7:05 even some wounded were carried by their
7:08 comrades so they could die in battle. On
7:09 the other side were the first and second
7:12 battalions of the 105th Infantry
7:14 Regiment. Between them was a gap in the
7:15 line, which due to lack of
7:17 reinforcements was covered only with
7:20 anti-tank guns. 50 yards behind the
7:22 front line was an aid station. After
7:23 dark, Japanese troops were assembling
7:25 and drinking their last supply of beer
7:27 and sake. Through the night, they were
7:29 probing the American front line, trying
7:31 to find the weakest spot. General
7:33 Seaitto would commit ritual suicide in
7:35 his command post while around 200
7:37 officers now stood in the front ranks
7:39 leading the way with swords. In the
7:41 pre-dawn hours of July 7th, the charge
7:44 began. Japanese soldiers were shouting
7:46 at the top of their lungs and charging
7:48 straight into the American line, exactly
7:49 at the weakest spot, coming right
7:51 through the gap between the two
7:53 battalions. The American line was
7:55 shattered into small pockets of
7:57 resistance, fighting hand-to- hand in
7:58 complete chaos. Lieutenant Colonel
8:01 O'Brien was fighting with two pistols in
8:03 his hands, commanding his men. After
8:05 firing all his ammunition and being
8:07 wounded in the shoulder, he ordered his
8:09 men to pull back and regroup while he
8:11 covered their retreat with a 50 caliber
8:13 machine gun mounted on a jeep until he
8:15 was swarmed by Japanese soldiers. He
8:17 killed at least 30 of them in his last
8:20 stand. Soldiers were using their rifles
8:21 as clubs after exhausting all their
8:23 ammunition, trying to regroup and find
8:25 some way to organize a defense in all
8:28 this carnage. Private Tom Baker was
8:29 wounded and requested to be left behind
8:31 by his comrades so they could escape.
8:33 They propped him up against a tree and
8:35 gave him a pistol with eight rounds.
8:37 After the battle, he was found dead with
8:40 eight dead Japanese soldiers around him.
8:41 Captain Salomon was treating casualties
8:43 in his aid station when a Japanese
8:45 soldier crawled inside the tent. Salomon
8:47 shot him and tackled another one while a
8:49 wounded marine shot him. He ordered all
8:51 the wounded to try to save themselves
8:53 and ran out of the tent. Outside, he
8:55 found the crew of a machine gun dead.
8:57 Salomon manned the machine gun, covering
9:00 the retreat of the wounded. He was also
9:02 found dead later with 98 Japanese bodies
9:04 in front of his machine gun. The battle
9:06 went on for 15 hours with Japanese
9:09 forces advancing 1,000 yd deep into
9:11 American lines. They even came upon an
9:13 artillery battery and artillerymen had
9:14 to fire their howitzers at point blank
9:16 range before destroying them and
9:18 retreating as the waves just kept
9:20 coming. Some Marines were cut off and
9:22 had to swim out to US destroyers to save
9:25 themselves. By 6:00 p.m., the Americans
9:26 managed to stop the attack and regain
9:29 the lost ground. The site was outright
9:31 horrifying. All of the approximately
9:34 4,000 Japanese were dead, while the
9:36 Americans suffered around 400 killed and
9:39 500 wounded. But still, it wasn't the
9:41 end. After the attack, 47 Japanese
9:43 survivors retreated and organized a
9:45 resistance. They continued to conduct
9:48 raids on Saipan for the next 16 months
9:49 until the last survivors finally
9:52 surrendered on December 1st, 1945,
9:54 ending the carnage this small island had seen.
