Pillbox - Tochka (English spelling) точка/tochka Russian

It means "point" in Russian. In the early 1930s, the Soviet Army deployed a permanent firearms position made of reinforced concrete along the border with Manchuria (northeastern China) to counter the invasion of the Japanese Army. The Japanese Army called it a "special position". Machine guns, artillery, anti-aircraft guns, and observation equipment were housed inside the 1.5-2.5 meter thick concrete walls, and it served as a base for firepower by independent or multiple coordinated fire, and as a base for counterattacks. A large command pillbox was a multi-story building equipped with command facilities, communication facilities, and living facilities, and was connected to the surrounding pillboxes by underground tunnels, and combined with barbed wire and minefields to form a powerful fortress. Later, pillboxes were built by the Chinese Army during the Sino-Japanese War, the German and French Army on the European front, and the Japanese Army on the Pacific front. The most straightforward approach to attacking pillboxes is large-scale artillery and bombing, but close-range gunfire, throwing explosives, and flamethrower attacks are also effective.

[Terada Chikao]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ロシア語で点の意味。1930年代前半にソ連軍が日本軍の侵入に対抗して満州（中国東北部）との国境線に沿って配備した鉄筋コンクリート製の恒久的火器陣地。日本軍ではこれを特種陣地と称した。厚さ1.5～2.5メートルのコンクリート壁の内部に機関銃、火砲、高射砲、観測器材を収容し、独立または複数の連繋(れんけい)射撃によって火力の拠点とし、また逆襲攻撃の基点とする。大きな司令トーチカは数階建ての建物内に指揮設備、通信設備、居住設備が整い、周辺のトーチカ群との間を地下道で結び、鉄条網、地雷原との組合せで強力な要塞(ようさい)となる。その後、日中戦争の中国軍、ヨーロッパ戦線の独・仏軍、太平洋戦線の日本軍がトーチカを構築している。トーチカ攻撃には、大規模な砲爆撃が正攻法で、近距離からの銃眼射撃、爆薬の投げ込み、火炎放射器による攻撃も効力がある。

［寺田近雄］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例