Many military historians believe that World War II was not only a watershed in the large-scale application of modern weapons and equipment in human history (including tanks, jet fighters, aircraft carriers and even atomic bombs), but also a peak period of tactical innovation. According to relevant records, in the innovative tactics used by various countries in World War II, animals are the deserved protagonists. In particular, dog tactics, bat tactics, dolphin tactics, and pigeon tactics are known as the four strange tactics of World War II. From reconnaissance to battlefield guidance, from long-range raids to suicide attacks, many classic "animal tactics" were born in World War II, and "animal warriors" also played an irreplaceable and important role like humans.
Don't get me wrong that this man is not the Fuehrer
First of all, the "dog tactics" in World War II were widely used by warring countries and were also the most common "animal surprises" on the battlefield. Generally speaking, the armies of various countries will use the sensitive sense of smell of military dogs to conduct battlefield searches, which can be called animal versions of radar positioning systems. However, the fighting people also used the high-speed mobility and bravery of military dogs on the battlefield.
According to the records, in the early days of the Soviet-German war, due to the lack of preparation of the Soviet army, the "blitzkrieg" faced by the German army was gradually defeated and collapsed. In order to delay the attack of the German armored forces and buy time for the rear to organize the defensive line, the Soviet army specially trained a group of "anti-tank dogs" specifically for the purpose of blowing up German tanks. Due to the thick frontal armor of the tank, the well-trained Soviet "anti-tank dogs" specialized in attacking the chassis of German tanks (in training, Soviet trainers specially placed food on the bottom of the tank and guided the military dogs to simulate attacks).
In fact, the dog did not know that he was carrying a bomb
Since these dogs were deliberately starved for a few days before the war, they would frantically pounce on the target after discovering the German tanks, and remotely detonate the explosives they carried after touching the tanks. Although this suicide attack appeared inhumane, the military dogs made an indelible contribution to the final victory of the Great Patriotic War by the Soviet Army. According to Soviet records, soviet "anti-tank dogs" destroyed 300 German tanks in the Soviet-German war. Until 1942, under the pressure of public opinion, the Soviet Military Dog School completely abandoned the "anti-tank dog" training program and focused on training auxiliary military dogs such as mine detection dogs and communication dogs.
Hats off to this group of little cuties
Compared with the tragic situation of the "dog tactics", the "bat tactics" used by the US military in World War II were also amazing. In the late stages of World War II, a dentist in the United States opened his mind and proposed the tactic of using bats to carry incendiary bombs to carry "arson" attacks on enemy cities. This concept was recognized, and military researchers specialized in a small napalm bomb and completed the test in 1943. According to the U.S. military's plan, the "bat bomb" equipped with a timer is filled with kerosene, which burns for more than 4 minutes after detonation, and will burst into flames of tens of centimeters.
This "bat bomb" was planned to be carried by the most advanced B-29 strategic bombers at the time, and a single B-29 could carry 200,000 bats, enough to make a city a sea of fire. As we all know, the urban buildings in Japan at that time were basically wooden, and they would suffer heavy losses in the event of fire. Although this idea of the US military is very targeted, with the successful advent of subsequent atomic bombs, the "bat bomb" was not finally used in actual combat.
Another very common category of "animal soldiers" in World War II is undoubtedly the military pigeon. Until now, the armies of many countries have paid great attention to the talent and advantages of pigeons in communication. In World War II, in addition to taking on heavy responsibilities in the traditional field of communications, the U.S. military also developed another use of military pigeons - guidance functions. The first to propose this concept was the American scientist Frederick Skinner.
Appearance of pigeon guidance equipment
Experiments have shown that pigeons have an instinct to always keep locked tracks once they find the contours of a ship at sea. Once the position of this target is shifted, the pigeons react violently to correct the flight trajectory. In experiments, U.S. researchers further cultivated this stress response in military pigeons by rewarding food.
Guidance schematic
On this basis, the U.S. military will be trained military pigeons placed in the warhead of the special equipment, when the missile is launched, the military pigeon will track the enemy ship target according to the screen observation of the warhead site, and make correction instructions in time, compared to wireless passive electrical guidance, the pigeon has achieved active guidance. To be precise, this "pigeon tactic" is also the prototype of modern "active guidance" technology, which replaces pigeons with computers.
In fact, in addition to the above-mentioned "animal soldiers", the armies of various countries in World War II have opened their minds and trained animal soldiers who can perform various tasks. For example, the "Dolphin Special Soldier" used to attack the Frogman, the "Elephant Transporter" and "Dog Bear Transporter" who serve as a logistics transport class, the super sensitive "Rat Minesweeper". To this day, although for humanitarian reasons, there are fewer and fewer animal soldiers for frontal battlefields, but in many fields such as military scientific research and logistical assistance, animal soldiers are still shining and continuing to write legendary stories.