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Osprey Elite #169
World War II Japanese Tank Tactics
Osprey's examination of Japan's tank figting tactics during World War II (1939-1945). In this book expert author and tactician Gordon L Rottman provides the first English-language study of Japanese Army and Navy tank units, their tactics and how they were deployed in action. The Japanese army made extensive use of its tanks in the campaigns in China in the 1930s, and it was in these early successes that the Japanese began to develop their own unique style of tank tactics. As Japanese tanks battled in Singapore, Malaya and Burma this Japanese vision became clearer as light tanks were deployed in the jungles of southeastern Asia, where conventional Western tactics dictated that tanks would be useless.
From the steam-rolling success of the Japanese as they invaded Manchuria until the eventual Japanese defeat, the book provides a battle history of the Japanese tank units as they faced a variety of enemies from the Chinese, to the Russians, to the British and the Americans, providing a fascinating insight into the range of tactics that were deployed against these contrasting enemies - from innovative attack procedures to desperate defensive maneuvers even as their tanks were rapidly outclassed in terms of design and armament.
From the steam-rolling success of the Japanese as they invaded Manchuria until the eventual Japanese defeat, the book provides a battle history of the Japanese tank units as they faced a variety of enemies from the Chinese, to the Russians, to the British and the Americans, providing a fascinating insight into the range of tactics that were deployed against these contrasting enemies - from innovative attack procedures to desperate defensive maneuvers even as their tanks were rapidly outclassed in terms of design and armament.
64 pages, Paperback
First published October 21, 2008
About the author
Gordon L. Rottman
210 books46 followersGordon L. Rottman served for 26 years in the US Army in Special Forces, airborne infantry, long-range reconnaissance patrol, and military intelligence assignments in the Regular Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve. He has worked as a Special Operations Forces scenario writer for 14 years at the Army's Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, Louisiana where he developed training exercises for Special Forces.
Gordon began writing military history books in 1984 and is currently a full-time author. He has written 50 books for Osprey. He is married with four children and lives in Cypress, Texas.
Gordon began writing military history books in 1984 and is currently a full-time author. He has written 50 books for Osprey. He is married with four children and lives in Cypress, Texas.
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January 1, 2021
Gordon L. Rottman teams up with Akira Takizawa, a Japanese armor specialist, and delivers one of the best tactics book to this date. The book starts from the early usage of armor by the Japanese, its development, selection of men, training, unit formations and tactics.
The Japanese acquired a few British Whippet tanks in 1918, with little impact, and the following year they bought 13 French Renault FT light tanks, which were more useful. Upgraded NC27 Renaults were purchased during the 1920's, and were know in Japanese service as the Renault "Otsu-Gata". Based on these French tanks and other foreign tanks, the Japanese started producing their own prototypes. Unfortunately, for Japan, they lacked the industrial power and natural resources to build strongly armored tanks, with their units still suffering from lack of protection until the end of WWII. The Type 95 light tanks and the Type 97 "medium" tanks soldiered on until the end of the war, even though they were outclassed by the M3 Stuarts, M4 Shermans and T-34s. The SNLF had an amphibious tank, the IJN Type 2 Ka-Mi armed with the 3.7cm gun turret.
At first, the Japanese doctrine called for the dispersal of tanks in the infantry support role; with no correct understanding of the utility of tanks, the earlier Japanese tank formations were always disbanded after use. The Japanese made some brilliant tank operations in China, Malaya and Burma. Their skill and boldness compensating for their tank's lack of protection and firepower. One interesting aspect of Japanese doctrine was their use of tankettes as supply-carriers, reconnaissance, liaison work in regimental and company headquarters elements, screening, security of lines-of-communications, street-fighting and crowd control.
The first major setback for the Japanese armored corps was the Nomohan campaign, where the Soviet forces soundly outclassed the Japanese - which lacked a functioning combined-arms system and could not match the heavily tank-supported Soviets. The Japanese refused to acknowledge the importance of armour, and only after the German victories in Poland and France did the Japanese generals finally understand (albeit incorrectly) the importance of tanks. Only in 1942 did the Japanese try to create combined-arms formations with tanks, infantry and artillery. Those formations incorrectly used a high ratio of tanks to infantry, which was inadequate as tanks depend on the infantry for protection. The Japanese wanted to equip its mechanized infantry with the fully-tracked Type 1 Ho-Ki armored personnel and the Type 1 Ho-Ha halftrack, but the industrial capacity of Japan dictated that those men would mostly rely on trucks. In the end the Japanese had to stick with outdated tanks in small numbers, used piecemeal or wasted in fixed positions.
This book gives an in-depth treatment of tank operations, training, maintenance and even the types of radios for communication. The use of camouflage is mentioned but could be further explored. The battles studied are augmented by the addition first-person accounts from Japanese tankers, two of them involved in the fighting on Saipan and Luzon in 1944. Given their technical inferiority, Japanese tankers preferred ambushes at close range, and the fact they manage to knock out more powerful tanks like the M4 Sherman is impressive; but for most of the time, the tanks were easily dispatched. The usage of tanks in China, on the other hand, showed its versatility.
The explanation of training and doctrine is also high quality and very detailed. The plates show the details of the tanks, tank formations, orders of battle, how did the tanks attacked in conjunction with the infantry in successive waves, and the plate with a tank attack also used in the cover shows an advancing line with infantry and armor. The Medium Tank Company structure in plate E is top notch, and we should get more disussions around orders of battle. Overall, a valuable addition to the series and to everyone's library.
The Japanese acquired a few British Whippet tanks in 1918, with little impact, and the following year they bought 13 French Renault FT light tanks, which were more useful. Upgraded NC27 Renaults were purchased during the 1920's, and were know in Japanese service as the Renault "Otsu-Gata". Based on these French tanks and other foreign tanks, the Japanese started producing their own prototypes. Unfortunately, for Japan, they lacked the industrial power and natural resources to build strongly armored tanks, with their units still suffering from lack of protection until the end of WWII. The Type 95 light tanks and the Type 97 "medium" tanks soldiered on until the end of the war, even though they were outclassed by the M3 Stuarts, M4 Shermans and T-34s. The SNLF had an amphibious tank, the IJN Type 2 Ka-Mi armed with the 3.7cm gun turret.
At first, the Japanese doctrine called for the dispersal of tanks in the infantry support role; with no correct understanding of the utility of tanks, the earlier Japanese tank formations were always disbanded after use. The Japanese made some brilliant tank operations in China, Malaya and Burma. Their skill and boldness compensating for their tank's lack of protection and firepower. One interesting aspect of Japanese doctrine was their use of tankettes as supply-carriers, reconnaissance, liaison work in regimental and company headquarters elements, screening, security of lines-of-communications, street-fighting and crowd control.
The first major setback for the Japanese armored corps was the Nomohan campaign, where the Soviet forces soundly outclassed the Japanese - which lacked a functioning combined-arms system and could not match the heavily tank-supported Soviets. The Japanese refused to acknowledge the importance of armour, and only after the German victories in Poland and France did the Japanese generals finally understand (albeit incorrectly) the importance of tanks. Only in 1942 did the Japanese try to create combined-arms formations with tanks, infantry and artillery. Those formations incorrectly used a high ratio of tanks to infantry, which was inadequate as tanks depend on the infantry for protection. The Japanese wanted to equip its mechanized infantry with the fully-tracked Type 1 Ho-Ki armored personnel and the Type 1 Ho-Ha halftrack, but the industrial capacity of Japan dictated that those men would mostly rely on trucks. In the end the Japanese had to stick with outdated tanks in small numbers, used piecemeal or wasted in fixed positions.
This book gives an in-depth treatment of tank operations, training, maintenance and even the types of radios for communication. The use of camouflage is mentioned but could be further explored. The battles studied are augmented by the addition first-person accounts from Japanese tankers, two of them involved in the fighting on Saipan and Luzon in 1944. Given their technical inferiority, Japanese tankers preferred ambushes at close range, and the fact they manage to knock out more powerful tanks like the M4 Sherman is impressive; but for most of the time, the tanks were easily dispatched. The usage of tanks in China, on the other hand, showed its versatility.
The explanation of training and doctrine is also high quality and very detailed. The plates show the details of the tanks, tank formations, orders of battle, how did the tanks attacked in conjunction with the infantry in successive waves, and the plate with a tank attack also used in the cover shows an advancing line with infantry and armor. The Medium Tank Company structure in plate E is top notch, and we should get more disussions around orders of battle. Overall, a valuable addition to the series and to everyone's library.
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