Japanese armored vehicles continued

pizzastorm: Japanese armored vehicles continued - Here we continue our look at Japanese tanks in anticipation of the 8.10 update.   The scale of tank forces used in the Pacific Theatre was much smaller than the fierce battles which took place across Europe. The outcome of the war in the Pacific was heavily dependent on naval battles that took place in regions like Guadalcanal, Midway, and the Coral Sea. Even with less emphasis being placed on armored vehicles in the Pacific, they still played an important and interesting part in the war.     In 1937, the Japanese Empire had started full-scale war against China. By that time, their armored forces had approximately 400 tanks at their disposal. Even though they consisted of mostly outdated models, they were used quite successfully. The Chinese army suffered from a lack of antitank equipment, leaving them with little to counter Japanese tanks. Although outdated, the tanks were being used to break through enemy defenses and as mobile gun fortifications.

Military successes in Manchuria and China gave the Japanese army more confidence in their land troops. Taking from their successes against China, Japan then moved against the USSR. The Soviet Union however, protected its land from attack in a series of battles near Lake Hasan in 1938.   The next year, the Japanese army started a new military conflict near the Khalkhyn Gol River in Mongolia, which was under USSR protection. This time, the Japanese brought numerous tanks to the fight. Initially they had 87 armored vehicles, including 35 ‘Type 95 ‘Ha-Go’’ light tanks. It was the first time this vehicle was used in such large numbers. Later, as the conflict escalated, more and more of them were drawn to the Mongolian battlefields.     At the start of hostilities, Japanese vehicles enjoyed some degree of success, but after their first encounters with the Soviet BT-5 and BA-10 armored vehicles, they suffered heavy losses. The 45mm guns which were mounted on Soviet tanks were easily able to penetrate the armor of attacking ‘tots’ (the nickname that Japanese tanks were given by Soviet soldiers). At the same time, Soviet tanks were also vulnerable to shells fired from the Japanese 37mm anti-tank guns. Although the Japanese tanks had less firepower than Soviet tanks, the majority of both Japanese and Soviets armored vehicles only had anti-bullet armoring, making them both vulnerable to turret and field guns. Both sides suffered many losses due to tactical mistakes and a lack of coordination with other troops.   As result of this conflict, Japan and the USSR received valuable battle experience, including practice in using large tank divisions. Many historians believe that the Khalkhyn Gol incident greatly influenced the decision for Japan to avoid further engagements against the USSR. Instead, they started their preparations for invasion in South-East Asia. Many industrial resources were re-orientated towards fleet production.     During the short period from December 1941 to May 1942, the Japanese army had conquered Hong-Kong, the Philippines, Holland, India, Burma, Thailand, and several islands in the Pacific. They were only a few steps away from invading India and Australia as well. In many of these operations, tanks were actively and successfully utilized by the Japanese Empire. For instance, during battles in the Philippines, Japanese vehicles struggled against the newest American tank at the time, the M3 ‘Stuart’. The ‘Chi-Ha’ with its short 57mm guns had difficulty battling against the maneuverable ‘Stuart’s. This forced Japan to introduce an improved version of the ‘Chi-Ha’, the ‘Shinhoto Chi-Ha’, which began to achieve great results in battle. This was one the factors which assured success in their island conquests.   During the first half of the war, the Japanese military managed to use tanks in a variety of conditions: in the middle of jungles, on top of mountains, even near swift rivers. This allowed the Japanese to surprise the enemy, which rarely had means of defending against these vehicles.     Starting from 1943, the situation changed. Strategic initiative in the war passed to the US hands, which liberated island by island and gradually drew towards the heart of the Japanese empire. Americans had already dominated both the sea and air. Their ground troops were also being supplied with M4 Sherman and M5 Stuart tanks, as well as the new man portable antitank recoil-less ‘Bazooka’ rocket launcher for their infantry. Later, all of this equipment was also provided to the Chinese forces, which continued fight with Japanese forces until the end of the war.  
This made successful use of tanks almost impossible for Japanese forces, forcing them to resort to guerilla tactics: night marches, ambushes, raids and even suicide attacks. In 1945, two Japanese tanks (the ‘Chi-Ha’ and ‘Ha-Go’) were dispatched with explosives attached to the armor. They located a column of armored vehicles led by ‘Sherman’ tanks, which they rammed at full speed. Immediately after contact, the crew denoted the explosives, effectively hampering the momentum of the American offensive.     Even desperate acts such as this could not save Japan from losing the war. Kwantung Army’s defeat in August 1945 was the last step in crushing Japanese land forces. The Soviet strike against the Japanese was so unexpected that the majority of Kwantung Army’s tanks were captured before they had even taken part in the battle.
  After Japan surrendered, Chinese Civil war stared anew. USSR passed captured armored vehicles to Chinese communists, who lacked equipment and weaponry. Vehicles which were based on islands continued their service as training vehicles during the ensuing time of peace.    We hope that you enjoyed this look at Japanese armored vehicles during the war. Please discuss below!