Banzai Charger

Banzai chargers are Japanese soldiers that will rush at the player with bayonets attached to Arisakas during combat or when attempting an ambush, (as in the level Hard Landing) yelling "Tennōheika banzai!"(“天皇陛下万歳！”"May the Emperor live for 10,000 years!") or just simply "Banzai!" Japanese soldiers were indoctrinated to believe that surrendering was dishonorable and cowardly, and to choose death over surrender. Thus, banzai chargers are often a final stand in the face of defeat so that they could die with honor.

History
Banzai charging was an extremely effective maneuver against most forces, however, eventually the charge became ineffective to the Chinese' superior melee training and the well-trained American forces armed with semi-automatic and automatic weapons. This tactic was first used against American forces during the Battle for Attu islands by Colonel Yasugo Yamazaki of the Japanese forces garrisoned there. Towards the end of the battle, he gathered all the remaining Japanese forces on the island and charged at the U.S. forces with a katana in hand. Although only 28 Japanese soldiers out of the 1,000 were taken prisoner (none of them were officers), the attack penetrated American defenses and shocked the rear-echlon units. One of the largest Banzai attacks was made on Saipan on July 7, 1944 near the end of the battle. Approximately 4000 Japanese attacked two battalions of the 105th Infantry. The U.S. losses were 406 killed and over 500 wounded out of some 1100 involved. The Japanese lost upwards of 3000. However, most of the Japanese commanders chose not to use massive Banzai Charges during the war except as a final attack to avoid capture and dishonor. During the war, American soldiers usually made short work of Banzai Charges with automatic weapons and suppressing fire, although this was less successful during the night.



Defending Against Banzai Chargers
Banzai Chargers will often jump out of tall grass, spider holes, jungles (as seen in the level Hard Landing), out of Japanese defenses, or they pretend to be dead. They will often attack when least expected, such as when a player is in the middle of reloading. If a charger reaches you, he will push you down and try to impale you with a bayonet. To stop them, you will have to press the melee button (varies for what console you are playing on) before he stabs you so that you can push his rifle aside and stab him in the neck. For players who cannot do this at an accurate time, they should repeatedly press the action button as soon as you get pushed down. Players can also shoot the chargers, or use their knife if they time the attack right (this often results in the player taking some damage as well).

On the Xbox 360 and PS3 version, players that successfully counter a banzai charger for the first time will unlock the trophy/achievement "Close Shave" worth 10 Gamerpoints on the 360 and a bronze trophy on the PS3. You can also charge at them too if you have an Arisaka or M1 Garand (in the level Little Resistance) equipped with a bayonet.

Getting the Trophy/Achievement
The key to getting this achievement/trophy is purely timing. As soon as the attacker fully draws back his bayonet, (About a split second after being knocked over) click the Right Stick to stab the attacker, and survive.

Another trophy/achievement can be gotten that involves a banzai charge. To get this, you should have a flamethrower or a spread shot weapon. Banzai chargers often hide in the grass. If you think that they will hide there, fire into the grass. If you kill a would be Banzai charger, you get the achievement/trophy Snake In The Grass. This is best done in Hard Landing. After getting the flamethrower, keep moving. There will be a spot where you see a friendly plane crash from the Anti Aircraft guns. Fire the flame into the grass after moving up. You will get the trophy/achievement by doing this. (Also, if you burn a sniper out of the tree with a flamethrower, you will get the trophy/achievement, No Safe Place).

Glitches

 * Sometimes the player is knocked over by a Banzai Charger but instead of attacking, he reloads his Arisaka, and the player simply gets back up.
 * It is possible, when knocked over, two Banzai Chargers will be seen: one will be stuck reloading and the other attacking.
 * If you shoot at the right time the Banzai Charger will disappear and you will be lying on the ground staring at the sky, unable to move. After about 5-10 seconds you will get up again. This is probably the time it takes a Banzai charger to get stabbed in the neck. There are also some occasions that you do not get back up again; the only way to get out is to restart the level.
 * You will always see your hand being stabbed by a Banzai Charger while pushing his rifle aside, however, this doesn't damage you or affect gameplay in any way.
 * Sometimes, when the player is knocked down by an attacking banzai charger, an ally will shoot the attacker and the player will be left unable to move.

Trivia

 * In Co-op, you will not be knocked down.
 * Sometimes the AI will get into fights and will bash the Banzai Charger with their weapon or flip the charger over and shoot them point-blank.(e.g.Polonsky,Roebuck)
 * Sometimes, soldiers without bayonets will charge at you shouting "BANZAI" but when the reach you, they will hit you with the gun, rather than knock you down.
 * You can use bayonet rifle to attack your allies, too. They will scream like the Japanese and will have the same death scene.
 * In Hard Landing, when the one of the soldiers says, "Aw shit, bastards just took out another one!", a Banzai Charger will say a long sentence and then charge at you.
 * Sometimes you will hear a soldier shout "Tennōheika banzai!" but will not charge you, this is common if you grenade the soldiers in the tunnel near the start of Breaking Point.
 * Normally, Banzai charges would only occur if defeat was imminent, as the Japanese rarely surrendered. It was not actually used as a normal battle strategy.