>>592172
Good point and I agree, but with a little exception. You see, the bayonet had been taught till long after the 2nd world war. Sure, it was not used all the time, but in Nahkampf it was your best friend, along with a spade and hand grenades, the same as in WWI. A rifle is indeed long and unwieldy and it requires time to reload it. Against a trained swordsman in close quarters it would have trouble.
The Sino-Japanese war was a good example, in a very tight space (buildings, trenches) even a dadao would fuck you up before you could aim with your bolt action rifle. See? First move the barrel aside, then finish. Get a troop of crazy fuckers armed with these into a narrow alley and watch them chop stuff.
Of course in this example we're not considering SMGs, but then again they weren't many in the IJA at that time.
Also on the topic of melee weapons in general, it's also a matter of what you're trained to fight with and where you are. A spear operates differently than a rapier, a Zweihander, sabre, cutlass, trench knife, etc. There is no universal melee weapon, it's always a compromise. If you don't know how to use a weapon in a fight, it won't help you much, unless it's something simple like a spear, club or dagger.
Also please let me bash on this one as well:
> Look at Korea and the human wave charges, you were better off with your own rifle/bayonet than anything else against the red horde with their own rifles/bayonets.
Now that's just bullshit. Going with a bayonet against many bayonets (even one after another) means certain death. No matter how good and big you are, you can only withstand 2-3 exchanges in real combat and then you lose. If an opponent even gets within striking distance without being hit, you have already lost and will likely get wounded or killed. This is how a real duel works, coming from a HEMA practitioner.
>>592354
The spear is easy to use, easy to make and intuitive. The sword or sabre requires a lot of training to be used effectively, but when you know what you're doing, it becomes a quick, nimble and extremely deadly weapon to fight in all directions with many opponents. A spear is deadly as well, but in a duel it's not a matter of the weapon, but the wielder's skill, combat-brain and luck. And a modern axe is a tool, not a weapon.