Osprey's examination of Japan's tank figting tactics during World War II (1939-1945). In this book expert author and tactician Gordon L Rottman provides the first English-language study of Japanese Army and Navy tank units, their tactics and how they were deployed in action. The Japanese army made extensive use of its tanks in the campaigns in China in the 1930s, and it was in these early successes that the Japanese began to develop their own unique style of tank tactics. As Japanese tanks battled in Singapore, Malaya and Burma this Japanese vision became clearer as light tanks were deployed in the jungles of southeastern Asia, where conventional Western tactics dictated that tanks would be useless. From the steam-rolling success of the Japanese as they invaded Manchuria until the eventual Japanese defeat, the book provides a battle history of the Japanese tank units as they faced a variety of enemies from the Chinese, to the Russians, to the British and the Americans, providing a fascinating insight into the range of tactics that were deployed against these contrasting enemies - from innovative attack procedures to desperate defensive maneuvers even as their tanks were rapidly outclassed in terms of design and armament.

Introduction : 1st Independent Mixed Brigade, 1934 : Armored Forces, 1941 -- UNIT ORGANIZATION : The tank regiment -- Reconnaissance units -- Groups and divisions -- Other tank units -- DOCTRINE : From infantry support to spearheading assaults -- Dispersal -- TACTICS : Attack -- Firing methods -- Night attack -- Antitank tactics -- Defense -- Formation : Movement -- The company and platoon -- The regiment and division -- TANK TROOPS : Selection and basic training -- Tank schools -- COMMUNICATIONS & MAINTENANCE -- BATTLE HISTORY : Shanghai 1932 -- China 1937-38 -- China 1944 --Malaya 1941-42 -- Burma 1942- Imphal 1944 -- Netherlands East Indies 1942 -- Pacific Islands : Guadalcanal 1942 -- Saipan 1944 -- Luzon 1945 -- Manchuria 1945 -- SUMMARY --Selected bibliography -- Plate commentaries -- Index.