Working yourself up to charge into certain death is quite possible. RW
e.g. the last bayonet charge the Australian army ever conducted in anger
was in Vietnam where a senior officer distant from the event over-ruled
his local subordinate & ordered such a charge on an entrenched enemy
position. The men carried it out. Needless to say they all died.
More to the point they knew they would die (Quote "We're all fucking
dead"), came from a relatively irreligious background (Mike points out
the benefits of strong faith as a motivational force), had little
experience charging with bayonet, & were using what had become a weapon
of desperation in their force. Despite this they summonned the nerve to
do it.
Swordsmen charging spears have a lot more chance of survival & so a lot
fewer psychological hurdles. Charging a spear unit, while hard, seems
quite feasible from a morale point of view.
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