Type 4 15 Cm Howitzer - Combat Record

Combat Record

Type 4 15 cm Howitzer was considered somewhat obsolescent for frontline combat service from the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, but as insufficient quantities of the Type 96 15 cm howitzer were produced, it remained in service on many fronts during the Pacific War. Against the Chinese, the Type 4 was used with some success due to the fact the Chinese were desperately lacking in heavy artillery in the early part of the war. However, whenever the Japanese did face Chinese heavy artillery typically armed with German 15 cm sFH 18 heavy artillery guns, e.g. in the Battles of Wuhan and Changsha, Type 4 crews found themselves badly outranged and hopelessly outgunned.

Weapons captured by the Chinese during the Second Sino-Japanese War, or abandoned in China at the time of the surrender of Japan, were placed into service by both the National Revolutionary Army of the Nationalist government and the People's Liberation Army of the Chinese communist forces through the Chinese Civil War.