Long ago, many soldiers fought in wars.
Sometimes, they moved in a large group. They would run toward the other side. They hoped to win by being very fast. This was a very hard way to fight. Do you think it was scary?
Sometimes, soldiers use a plan called a human wave attack.
In this plan, a large group of people runs forward. They move together in a very thick crowd. They try to reach the enemy very fast. They want to use their weight to push through.
This can be very dangerous. It is hard to do when the other side has big guns. Many people can get hurt in these attacks.
Some armies used this in old wars. The Japanese army used it in the Pacific War.
They called these moves a Banzai charge. It was a very brave but hard way to fight.
A human wave attack is a way to fight in war.
In this attack, many soldiers run forward at once. They move in a very thick group. They do not use cover to hide. They try to reach the enemy line very fast. The goal is to use their large numbers to overwhelm the defenders. This often leads to hand-to-hand combat.
This plan is very risky. It is hard to do against modern guns or planes. Many soldiers can be lost in these attacks. During the Russo-Japanese War, Japanese attacks led to many deaths. In the Pacific War, Allied forces used big guns to stop Japanese charges. These were called "Banzai charges."
During the Korean War, the Chinese army used a similar way. They used small teams to attack at night. This helped them cause surprise and confusion. They used these small teams to find weak spots in the enemy lines. This helped them break through defenses.
A human wave attack is a specific way to fight in a war. This tactic involves a large group of soldiers running forward all at once. They move in very thick, crowded formations toward an enemy line. The attackers do not use cover or try to hide their movement. Their main goal is to reach the enemy very quickly. They want to use their huge numbers to overwhelm the defenders. Once they arrive, they engage in melee combat, which is fighting hand-to-hand.
This method of fighting is very dangerous against modern weapons. Tools like automatic guns, heavy artillery, and aircraft make it hard to survive. To succeed, attackers must move with great speed and in very large numbers. They often have to trade safety for speed. This tactic is sometimes used by armies that lack special training. It is also used by groups that do not have much firepower. These forces rely on the courage or the motivation of their soldiers to move forward.
History shows many different groups have used these types of attacks. During the Boxer Rebellion from 1899 to 1901, Chinese Boxers charged at Alliance troops. They used bladed weapons and even used firecrackers to mimic gunfire. In the Russo-Japanese War between 1904 and 1905, Japanese attacks were very costly. During the Spanish Civil War, the Republican army used these attacks to defend Madrid. The Soviet Red Army also used these charges during the Winter War in 1939. These attacks often led to many losses for the soldiers involved.
The Imperial Japanese Army is well known for using this tactic. In the Pacific War, Allied forces called these "Banzai charges." This name came from the battle cry used by the Japanese soldiers. Many Japanese troops followed an honor code called Bushido. This code taught that surrendering was shameful, so they chose to charge instead. Even though these charges often failed against Allied machine guns, they caused great mental stress for the defenders.
During the Korean War, the People's Volunteer Army used a similar method. They used small groups called "three-three fireteams" to attack at night. These teams would crawl close to the enemy to create surprise and confusion. They looked for weak spots in the defenses to break through. While some people called these "human waves," the Chinese actually used carefully timed movements. This way of fighting was also seen again during the Vietnam War. Today, people sometimes use the phrase as a metaphor in art to describe shows with too many crowds.
A human wave attack is a specific type of offensive infantry tactic used in warfare. In this maneuver, an attacker leads a frontal assault using densely concentrated formations of soldiers. These groups move directly toward an enemy line without using cover or attempting to hide their movements. The name comes from the idea of a massive, coordinated group of people sweeping over an enemy like an ocean wave. The primary goal is to move as many people as possible into close range. Once they reach the enemy, they intend to overwhelm the defenders through melee combat, which is hand-to-hand fighting.
This tactic relies on a difficult trade-off between speed and safety. To succeed against modern weaponry, attackers must reach the enemy line in the shortest time possible. They must also move in the greatest numbers possible to preserve enough soldiers to achieve a breach. However, using such large, crowded numbers usually means they must sacrifice concealment and protection. This makes the tactic extremely dangerous when facing automatic firearms, artillery, or aircraft. Because of these risks, human wave attacks are often used by forces that lack tactical training or high-tech firepower. These armies instead rely on the high morale or the intense motivation of their personnel.
History shows that many different groups have employed these massed assaults. During the Boxer Rebellion from 1899 to 1901, Chinese Boxers charged at Eight-Nation Alliance forces. Some Boxers used only bladed weapons and even used firecrackers to mimic the sound of gunfire. This created severe mental stress for the defending troops. During the Russo-Japanese War from 1904 to 1905, the Japanese conducted attacks against Russian machine guns. These specific assaults became suicidal and resulted in massive casualties. In the Spanish Civil War, Republican forces used similar tactics to defend the Casa de Campo during the Siege of Madrid.
The Soviet Red Army also utilized these charges during the Winter War of 1939–1940. They launched repeated attacks against fortified Finnish positions, which led to heavy losses. The Finnish commander, Mannerheim, described this approach as "incomprehensible fatalism." While these tactics caused significant loss of life, they were sometimes used by armies facing difficult circumstances. The Imperial Japanese Army became famous for these maneuvers during the Pacific War. Allied soldiers called them "Banzai charges" because of the battle cry used by the Japanese troops. Many Japanese soldiers followed the Bushido honor code, which viewed surrender as shameful.
During the Korean War, the People's Volunteer Army (PVA) used a method often described as human waves. However, their actual tactic was called the "short attack," which combined infiltration with shock. These attacks were often carried out at night by small groups known as "three-three fireteams." A single fireteam consisted of three men, and three fireteams formed one squad. These squads would crawl undetected into grenade range to launch surprise attacks on weak points. This method relied on maximum confusion to breach enemy defenses. Once a hole was made, the main force would move into the enemy's rear.
While Western media and journalists often used the term "human wave" to describe these Chinese tactics, the reality was more organized. Some observers believed the Chinese used vast, dense masses to absorb enemy fire. In contrast, military historians noted that the PVA used carefully timed movements to minimize their own casualties. They used the terrain to mask themselves, making it difficult for defenders to target them. Although the PVA moved away from these specific tactics by 1953, they re-adopted similar methods during the Vietnam War and the Sino-Vietnamese War. This happened because of a lack of modernization in their military programs.
Today, the term "human wave tactics" has moved beyond the battlefield into the world of art and criticism. In film and theater, it is used as a metaphor to describe certain productions. It is a way to criticize works that rely too heavily on large crowd formations for visual interest. Critics use the phrase when a production lacks narrative substance and instead uses sheer numbers to impress the audience. This shows how a military term can change meaning as it moves through different parts of society.
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