Invasion of mainland Alaska WWII

MacCaulay

Banned
Well, I'm making the assumption that, since Japan has for whatever reason found it to be in their interests to invade Alaska, they'd want to do it properly. Saying "that's ASB, so they wouldn't do it" doesn't really make sense - after all, a Japanese victory against the US was ASB, and yet they still went to war with the US.

I still just don't see it. It's very out of character for Japanese tactics in the Aleutian Campaign. Normally I honestly wouldn't assume to talk about Japanese tactics, but those commanders dug in as soon as they reached those islands.

Also, the Corps of Engineers and Canadian Army had a lot of trouble getting logistics to their men when they were working at the northern air bases, and even the landing on Attu was a very big strain.

I just...okay. Let's say they drive from Dutch Harbour, load on boats again and bypass Unmak Island for the Peninsula. Then they drive up to the edge of the Peninsula. Now they're right on the edge of what most people would call the "mainland," despite the fact that they've really been on the mainland for about 300 miles. Now, they've got to drive another 200 miles or so to get to Anchorage.

So...about 600 miles through forest in winter from Dutch Harbour to Anchorage. And that's rounding down. It's a longer distance by water due to circumnavigation of the peninsula, but it's slightly quicker by boat. I sincerely doubt the Japanese could've made that.

And of all the people on this board, I'd be the one drumming up the chances of a Japanese march on Anchorage. It'd mean more chances for the Canadian Army to pull their Ram tanks out and actually use them.

But it's very out of character for them to attempt a 500-700 mile march. That's not how they acted in the Aleutians.
 

wormyguy

Banned
The thing is, if the Aleutian campaign were the same as OTL - just occupying Attu and a couple others as a diversion from Midway and digging in, then the Japanese would never have attempted an invasion of mainland Alaska. The POD not only requires we assume a major shift in Japanese luck but also a major shift in Japanese strategic thinking.
 

MacCaulay

Banned
The thing is, if the Aleutian campaign were the same as OTL - just occupying Attu and a couple others as a diversion from Midway and digging in, then the Japanese would never have attempted an invasion of mainland Alaska. The POD not only requires we assume a major shift in Japanese luck but also a major shift in Japanese strategic thinking.

A victory at Midway could also preclude the Eastern Operation to invade Hawaii. This would probably mean that any future landings in Alaska would be tempered by the fact that most sea and air lift would be going for preperations for an invasion of the Hawaiian chain.

This would make digging in on the peninsula and the Aleutians the best bet: they've got literally hundreds of miles but if they can get...say...a brigade there then they can defend it properly without amassing too many mouths to feed.
Then they just make the US and Canadian military fight a battle on the Alaskan Peninsula like they did on Attu: a meat grinder. The Japanese basically to the ground they could get as quickly as possible, then dug in so that when the Americans came, they didn't have defensible positions.

When the US Army landed on Attu, the Japanese had literally every bit of high ground on the island. Every hill, every bit on the mountain range. They were all sighted and manned by the Japanese Army. When they finally ran out of ammunition, they did a banzai charge down Engineer Hill into a first-aid camp and killed most of the wounded. (actually, that's why the Aleutian ground casualties are so lopsidedly towards KIA)
In many ways, the defense that they mounted was very similar to what they'd fight later in the war.
 
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