Eisenhower in the Pacific: Part 1 The Shoestring Warriors of Luzon

[marathag]

Under the circumstances of this universe, the Japanese might consider using gas against Corregidor (or other points - once the genie is out of the bottle). Even in the IJA's operating mindset, would that open Pandora's box for reprisal's by the Allies?

Just think, one isolated island is holding up timetables all across the ' co-prosperity sphere' something needs to be done, fast.

Downside for the IJA was almost 90% of all gas warfare gear and stocks was in China, Pacific theater troops were the worst equipped to deliver, or even defend against gas.

 

[mattep74]

I think 'a week, maybe a month' and 'years, if ever' are a bit different waiting times, no?

Hmm, yeah, it is. Unfair to compare Galvestone with Martin

 

[RyderWest]

Japan got a Lose Lose....

They leave Corregidor alone, screws up timetable.

They try to capture it and massacre all of the survivors, then everyone knows how cruel....

 

[torten]

Might they try using some of their vile biological weapons against our brave defenders? Anthrax, or Bubonic plague does give you some degree of deniabilty.

 

[Lawnchair Captain]

Maybe some disease that could happen in an isolated fortress under siege like Corregidor does give some degree of deniability. A sudden outbreak of Anthrax or Bubonic plague might look very suspicious. In fact, the use of Bubonic plague in a siege might even ring some bells to epidemiologists who knew something about history (Caffa anyone?).

And the outbreak would be reported by the garrison the moment it happened.

 

[sloreck]

Anthrax or plague in the rock would ring alarm bells the size of cathedral bells, the Japanese might as well have put up neon signs saying "biological warfare here". Contaminating the rock with agents like those is counterproductive, it would make using the rock difficult. In China they used biological warfare in areas they were not planning to occupy any time soon, plague in cities etc. Using biowar against the Americans, like chemical warfare, is opening the field in areas where the USA can retaliate way out of proportion - and they will.

 

[nbcman]

Might they try using some of their vile biological weapons against our brave defenders? Anthrax, or Bubonic plague does give you some degree of deniabilty.

Except Bio agents don’t work that fast or reliably (plus have a nasty tendency to affect far more than the area targeted) nor do they occupy the territory. The IJA needs landing craft, troops and artillery, not an area denial weapon.

 

[Oldbill]

If they use CBR, then Halsey's remark would become very much more likely. The US would retaliate, likely on a large scale, and use that as a salutary message to other nations. Germany would be put on notice, and the Soviets would sit up and take notice. If some rogue IJA officer does this, it will be very bad.

 

[galveston bay]

Hmm, yeah, it is. Unfair to compare Galvestone with Martin

For one thing, he is a lot richer than I am

 

[galveston bay]

some major things are underway elsewhere and I am having to see what is effected in the timeline but as the weather will be unreasonably cold this weekend, I should have plenty of time to write

 

[vl100butch]

some major things are underway elsewhere and I am having to see what is effected in the timeline but as the weather will be unreasonably cold this weekend, I should have plenty of time to write

have a great New Year's weekend...

the fireworks you'll come up with will make this frozen New Year's a lot warmer!!!

 

[galveston bay]

May 1942
May 5
Operation Ironclad is launched at Diego Suarez, Madagascar, involving the British carriers Indomitable, Eagle and Hermes, battleships Warspite, Malaya, Nelson and Rodney, and numerous cruisers, destroyers and other escorts.

May 8
A mutiny by Indian soldiers on Cocos Island is put down by troops from Ceylon. It is one of the final sparks that triggers the Quit India protests that are coming.

May 9
Operation Bowery is postponed until June due to a shortage of carriers in the Atlantic. The earlier cancellation of Operation Calender for the same reason has reduced the RAF fighter force on Malta to a token force. The situation in Malta grows increasingly desperate. The battlecruisers Renown and Repulse are removed from escort duty in the Indian Ocean and sent to Alexandria.

The Siege of Malta and the Siege of Corregidor hold the attention of the English Speaking world.

May 12
The Second Battle of Kharkov begins, which by May 28 will result in a shattering Soviet defeat. Italian intelligence confirms that neither the battleships Valiant or Queen Elizabeth are fit for combat and that the Valiant has left the Mediterranean Sea, and that the only British battleships in the Mediterranean is the Duke of York at Gibraltar and the two battlecruisers at Alexandria. The final decision to launch Operation C3 is approved in Rome.

American carriers cover a major convoy to the South Pacific. In the Atlantic, the US Navy organizes a major task force built around the battleships North Carolina and Washington, the carriers Wasp and Ranger, and several cruisers and destroyers under the direct command of Admiral Kimmel, which are assembling in Norfolk.

May 15
A proposed 2nd Washington Conference is moved up to May 30 from its originally scheduled date of June 19.

May 16
The Quit India Movement demonstrations begin but so does violence. Over the next two months protestors attack hundreds of post offices, railway stations, and dozens of government buildings as well as cutting telegraph and telephone lines and damaging railway tracks and bridges. This ties down almost 60 battalions of British and Indian troops to suppress it. Mass arrests begin with the arrest of Gandhi and most of the Congress Party leadership.

May 17
The first ground elements of the US 8th Air Force arrives in England. American engineers are still building airbases in Iceland, Greenland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.

May 18
Admiral Philips, who has as his Eastern Fleet the battleships Warspite and Malaya, carrier Indomitable, and several cruisers and destroyers finally finds the German raider Thor, and the cruiser Newcastle and aircraft from the Indomitable find and sink her 1,500 miles west of Australia.

May 21
Convoy PQ16 leaves Iceland. It arrives in Murmansk on May 30, less 8 merchant ships lost on the way. Heavy air and submarine attacks plague its journey while the possibility of a German task force built around the Tirpitz with the Admiral Hipper, Admiral Scheer and Lutzow in support keeps the British Home Fleet at sea and unavailable for other operations. The battleships King George V, Prince of Wales, carriers Illustrious and Victorious, numerous cruisers and destroyers are tied down at Scapa Flow or covering the Murmansk convoys.

May 21-25
The bombardment of Malta by air, and the bombardment by artillery and aircraft of Corregidor reaches a crescendo. The last aircraft on Malta are knocked out. Admiral Cunningham assembles a task force at Alexandria to defend Malta in the event of invasion, while Admiral Somerville is waiting for the arrival of the carriers Argus and Furious from England with deckloads of Spitfires for an emergency run to Malta. However those carriers are still days away from Gibraltar.

May 26-28
The Battle of Bir Hakeim begins in North Africa as part of Operation Venice, the planned attack on the British Gazala Line. In the Pacific, the Americans defeat the first amphibious assault on Corregidor while American carriers raid the Japanese held Admiralty Islands, supported by American bombers from Rabaul.

In Europe, the Italians land 70,000 troops on Malta by sea, while Italian/German airborne force of 29,000 troops comes by air. Losses are appallingly high but the Axis troops gain footholds and landing zones. The British respond as Admiral Cunningham takes to sea with his fleet, but very heavy air attacks by Italian and German aircraft out of Crete and Sicily damage many ships and sink the Repulse and Renown. Among the lost is Admiral Cunningham.

May 30
Axis forces secure Malta after the surrender of the survivors of the 30,000 man British garrison.

Maltese civilians examine the rubble of their island after the surrender in May 1942

May 30-31
The RAF conducts a 1,000 plane raid on Cologne, Germany

 

[galveston bay]

authors notes:
It took a while and a couple of games of Operational Art of War III (there is an Operation C3 scenario) to game out the Battle of Malta
details will be another story......

The concentration of American carriers in the Pacific during January-April has consequences... there are not enough British carriers to carry out the Cub Run reinforcements to Malta, thus the air battle is lost.

 

[GDIS Pathe]

well damn the loss of Malta can't be good for morale and the loss of 2 more BCs even if one was unmodernized is gonna hurt

 

[galileo-034]

I imagine the fall of Malta will make the landings in French North Africa even more urgent; now that the supply lines to Egypt are practically cut, it's becoming urgent to open a second front in the area.

 

[galveston bay]

most of the repercussions of Malta will be in other stories, but it does have an impact on the importance of Corregidor in terms of morale for the Allied Cause

 

[Orry]

Loss of Malta improved The DAK's supply position greatly. The percentage of supplies lost in OTL was huge. The Airforces etc tied down by Malta are also released for further opperations.

If the Axis lost everything they sent it is still a strong win for them.

 

[GDIS Pathe]

Actually how Germanies stockpile of transport aircraft looking? What with Crete and now Malta being costly airborne operations that must mean a lot of lost transport aircraft

 

[galveston bay]

Actually how Germanies stockpile of transport aircraft looking? What with Crete and now Malta being costly airborne operations that must mean a lot of lost transport aircraft

Losses were indeed heavy, on the level of Crete, which will have an effect later in the year on the Eastern Front (which is also affected by the availability of troops from Siberia for the Soviets with the Japanese moving troops out of Manchuria)

 

[galveston bay]

on May 30 the Race invades Earth (Worldwar:In the Balance)... but that is another story (chuckle) and would make this an ASB story

But it makes me chuckle