Which of these is a Japanese battle cry often used during World War II?
Banzai charge is the term that was used by the Allied forces of World War II to refer to Japanese human wave attacks and swarming staged by infantry units. This term came from the Japanese battle cry "Tennōheika Banzai", meaning "Long live His Majesty the Emperor"), and was shortened to banzai, specifically referring to the tactic used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War. The said tactic was used when the Japanese commanders of infantry battalions foresaw that a battle was about to be lost, as a last ditch effort in thwarting Soviet and U.S. forces.
The banzai charge is considered to be one method of 'gyokusai' ("shattered jewel"; honorable suicide), a suicide attack, or suicide before being captured by the enemy such as 'seppuku'. The origin of the term is a classical Chinese phrase in the 7th-century "Book of Northern Qi", which states, "A true man would rather be the shattered jewel, ashamed to be the intact tile." Among the rules there existed a code of honor that was later used by Japanese military governments.
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