Human wave attack
The name refers to the concept of a coordinated mass of soldiers falling upon an enemy force and sweeping them away with sheer weight and momentum, like an ocean wave breaking on a beach.
[3] However, when matched against modern weaponry such as automatic firearms, artillery and aircraft, a human wave attack is an extremely dangerous and costly tactic in the face of devastating firepower.
The Allies however suffered most of their losses at the hands of General Dong's troops, who used their expertise and persistence to engage in "bold and persistent" assaults on the Alliance forces, as remembered by the German Captain Usedom: the right wing of the Germans was almost at the point of collapse under the attack until they were rescued from Langfang by French and British troops; the Allies then retreated from Langfang in trains full of bullet holes.
[16] During the Siege of Port Arthur (1904–1905), human wave attacks were conducted on Russian artillery and machine guns by the Japanese which ended up becoming suicidal.
[17] Since the Japanese suffered massive casualties in the attacks,[18] one description of the aftermath was that "a thick, unbroken mass of corpses covered the cold earth like a coverlet.
[20] Also, as recounted by various former members of the Lincoln Battalion, it was not uncommon for Republican commanders to order units onto attacks that were warned by field officers to be ill-advised or suicidal.
[21] There were elements of human waves being utilized in the Russian Civil War recounted by American soldiers in Russia supporting the White Army.
[31] A typical Chinese short attack was carried out at night by numerous fireteams on a narrow front against the weakest point in enemy defenses.
[30] The PVA assault team would crawl undetected within grenade range, then launch surprise attacks against the defenders in order to breach the defenses by relying on maximum shock and confusion.
[30] This persistent attack pattern left a strong impression on UN forces that fought in Korea, giving birth to the description of "human wave.
"[8] U.S. Army historian Roy Edgar Appleman observed that the term "human wave" was later used by journalists and military officials to convey the image that the American soldiers were assaulted by overwhelming numbers of Chinese on a broad front.
A Chinese platoon, consisting of 33 to 50 soldiers (depending on if they had a heavy weapons team), would form their squads in ranks in a staggered arrowhead formation, which would be employed to attack "one point" from "two sides.
[55] The term "meat grinder" has been used to describe these tactics used by Russia in attempts to wear down Ukrainian forces and expose their positions to Russian artillery.
[56] According to NATO and Western military officials, around 1,200 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in Ukraine every day on average in May and June 2024, mainly due to the use of Soviet tactics and human wave attacks.
