Editing Bayonet (section)

===Banzai charges===
The advent of modern warfare in the 20th century made bayonet charges dubious affairs. During the [[Siege of Port Arthur]] (1904–1905), the Japanese used human wave attacks against Russian artillery and machine guns,<ref name="Miller2014" /> suffering massive casualties.<ref name="Edgerton1997" /><ref name="O'ConnellBatchelor2002" />

[[File:Imperial Japanese Army Infantry 111th Regiment soldier and Indian National Army soldier.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army shout banzai]]

However, during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], the Japanese were able to use bayonet charges effectively against poorly organized and lightly armed Chinese troops. [[Banzai charge|"Banzai charges"]] became an accepted military tactic where Japanese forces were able to [[rout]] larger Chinese forces routinely.<ref name=routledgegenocide/>

In the early stages of the [[Pacific War]] (1941–1945), a sudden bayonet charge could overwhelm unprepared enemy soldiers. Such charges became known to Allied forces as [[Banzai charge|"Banzai charges"]] from the Japanese battle cry. By the end of the war, against well organized and heavily armed Allied forces, a banzai charge inflicted little damage but at high cost. They were sometimes conducted as a last resort by small groups of surviving soldiers when the main battle was already lost.

Some Japanese commanders, such as General [[Tadamichi Kuribayashi]], recognized the futility and waste of such attacks and expressly forbade their men from carrying them out. Indeed, the Americans were surprised that the Japanese did not employ banzai charges at the [[Battle of Iwo Jima]].<ref name=iwojima/>