During World War II, the combat effectiveness and equipment of the Japanese army were also "among the best" at that time, but in the Pacific theater, the Japanese army's equipment was somewhat insufficient compared with the US army.
In order to reduce the gap between the enemy and us, the Japanese army often used guerrilla tactics to launch a surprise attack on the American troops resting in the jungle at night, so as to reduce the combat effectiveness of the American army, and then capture the equipment of the American army to enhance their combat effectiveness, such as the M1903 sniper rifle and flamethrower are the favorite trophies of the Japanese army.
Today, we will take a look at the ten favorite "American goods" of the Japanese army during World War II.
American chocolate
During World War II, chocolate was a very important military food in various countries, it was small and easy to carry, and in the case of extreme food shortage, chocolate could provide soldiers with the energy they needed.
In the Pacific theater at that time, every American soldier was not particularly timely because of the ambush on various islands, and everyone would carry a few pieces of chocolate in case of emergency, which also gave the Japanese army an opportunity, and the Japanese army was also equipped with military chocolate, but only the Japanese army above the officer level had it.
It's just that the chocolate of the U.S. military does not taste particularly good, in order to prevent the chocolate from melting when making, the U.S. military deliberately added a lot of oat flour to it, making it taste very strange, but this does not prevent the Japanese army from loving it, every time the battlefield is cleaned, the Japanese army will scavenge some chocolate from the body of the U.S. military and hide it as emergency food.
Canned luncheon meat
In the latter part of World War II, Japan's territory was bombed by bombers, which led to the destruction of many factories and the extreme shortage of strategic materials, which could not supply the needs of front-line combat troops, so that many soldiers had to find their own ways to feed themselves.
As a large food producer at that time, the U.S. military was very rich in combat rations, especially the canned luncheon meat, which was made of beef and flour, with a very high meat content, and was deeply loved by the U.S. military.
For the Japanese army, which was extremely short of strategic materials at that time, this canned luncheon meat was a rare delicacy, so when the spoils of war were captured, the Japanese army would go to the American army to sweep the position, loot some canned food and take it back to eat.
cigarette
Cigarettes, which are used as "food for thought", were also included in the war rations of soldiers in many countries during World War II, and different quantities of cigarettes were distributed according to class.
These cigarettes are also loved by soldiers from all over the world, whether it is before or after the war, a puff of cigarettes, the tension can be dissipated with a wisp of green smoke.
Like the U.S. military will generally distribute 2~3 packs of cigarettes to each soldier, most of them are "camel brand", at that time this cigarette was the "top brand" of the American cigarette industry, it also has hard box and soft box models, but they are all randomly distributed, at that time the Japanese army was also influenced by the "cigarette culture", and loved it very much, but Japan's native cigarettes were not loved by the Japanese army, so the "camel brand" cigarettes in the hands of the U.S. military also became one of the last trophies of the Japanese army.
All kinds of liquor from the U.S. military
As the saying goes, "Wine is the essence of food, and the more you drink, the younger you become", wine can be said to be one of the favorite items of soldiers from all over the world during World War II, which can not only make people feel happy, but also make soldiers forget the cruelty of war for a while.
In this regard, each country will also regularly send some fine wine to the soldiers, such as some red wine, beer, whiskey, etc., a wide variety, such as the US military prefers to drink whiskey, the degree is high and strong, the Japanese army will also distribute some local sake regularly, but this kind of low degree can not alleviate much negative emotions at all, and each soldier distributes very little, most of them are taken away by the Japanese executives, therefore, when the Japanese army cleans the battlefield, it will also see if there is any wine, so that it can be taken back to drink.
flashlight
When the U.S. military was stationed in the Pacific islands, each American soldier would be equipped with a military flashlight to facilitate night patrols.
This flashlight is L-shaped as a whole, the barrel body is made of brass and some steel, and the power supply uses two 1.5-volt BA-30 batteries, which greatly improves its endurance.
And the L-shaped design, but also very convenient for soldiers to carry, when holding a gun can be hung on clothes to use, for the Japanese army who liked to fight guerrillas in the Pacific theater at that time, this flashlight was deeply loved by the Japanese army.
M2 series flamethrower
The M2 flamethrower is referred to as "M2-2" is a man-portable knapsack flamethrower designed and produced by the United States during World War II, which is an upgraded version of the M1 and M1A1 flamethrowers, which is very effective in attacking some closed positions such as pillboxes.
It can be loaded with two cans of gasoline and one tank of nitrogen, the attack method is to ignite the gasoline, and then use nitrogen to propel forward and spray forward, with an effective range of 19.96 meters, and a theoretical maximum range of 50 meters.
At that time, the Japanese army especially liked to fight in bunkers, jungles, trenches and other fortifications, and the M2 series flamethrower just restrained this combat method, which made the Japanese army suffer a lot at that time, so the Japanese army hated this weapon very much, but after the victory in the battle, the Japanese army would capture this weapon in time, and then in turn the effect against the American army was also extremely good, it can be said that this weapon was a piece of equipment that the Japanese army "loved and hated".
M1911A1 pistol
M1911A1 pistol is the United States after the end of World War I, from the M1911 pistol improved, improved in 1923, put into use in the US military units in 1926, it is based on the M1911, the front sight is widened, so that the user can do accurate strikes under poor lighting conditions, and the percussion distance is shortened, and the anti-skid lines are added, so that the user can hold it more firmly when using it.
It uses 11.43 mm Colt pistol bullets, with a capacity of 7 rounds, an effective range of 50 meters, and extremely high lethality and accuracy M1911A1.
Browning M2 heavy machine gun
The Browning M2 heavy machine gun, also known as the "0.50 heavy machine gun", is an American weapons designer Browning in 1921 on the basis of the M1917 Browning heavy machine gun upgrade design, it added a hydraulic buffer and rear resistance iron on the basis of the original M1917, which greatly reduced the recoil of the gun.
It uses .50 caliber bullets, which can also be replaced with armor-piercing incendiary bullets, armor-piercing bullets, tracer bullets and other types, with a bomb load of 100 rounds or 250 rounds of bullet chains, a rate of fire of 450~580 rounds / min (600 ~ 1200 rounds / min during World War II), and a maximum range of 2500 meters.
At the beginning, this gun was used in airplanes or tanks, and then soldiers used to set up fire positions, and the U.S. army used this gun to load armor-piercing shells, which caused great harm to the Japanese armored vehicles, and the Japanese armored troops at that time were very afraid of this gun, but later in the battle victory, the Japanese army also captured some M2 heavy machine guns, and used them to deal with the armored vehicles of the U.S. army, and its effect was "immediate", much more fierce than their native Type 92.
M1 Garand rifle
The M1 Garand rifle is a semi-automatic rifle developed and designed by the United States in the twenties of the last century, and it is also one of the most used rifles in the United States during World War II.
It is loaded with 7.62 mm bullets, with a load of 8 or 20 rounds, an effective range of 457 meters, and a rate of fire of 30/min.
At that time, most soldiers were using bolt guns, the M1 semi-automatic rifle of the U.S. Army was rampant, and the Japanese army suffered a lot in this gun at that time, and the subsequent Japanese army also captured a lot of M1 through the battle, and also imitated their worthy semi-automatic rifle by dismantling and copying, at that time the M1 Garand rifle was also known as one of the best combat rifles in World War II.
Springfield M1903 sniper rifle
The Springfield M1903 sniper rifle, this gun sounds like a Japanese firearm at first glance, but this gun is a product of the imitation Mauser rifle from the Springfield Arsenal in the United States.
At the beginning, M1903 was just an ordinary rifle equipped by the U.S. military, and it was the main equipment of the U.S. Army during World War I. At the beginning of World War II, I thought that the M1 type was not much made at that time, and the M1903 was still used as a cooperative infantry weapon of the U.S. Army in the early stage, until the M1 was mass-produced, and M1903 was given a new mission.
After modification M1903 can be equipped with an optical sight, from a rifle to a sniper rifle, in the Pacific theater, most of the US snipers are equipped with M1903, it uses 7.62 mm bullets, 5 bullets, the longest range of 800 meters, compared to the Japanese sniper rifle at that time, M1903 is still slightly better, generally after the victory of the battle, the Japanese snipers, will come forward to capture the US M1903 back for their own use.
The above is today's inventory of the top ten American trophies that Japanese soldiers like to collect during World War II, if there are any mistakes or deficiencies, you can point them out in the comment area.