Sir John Valentine Carden Survives. Part 2.
- Thread starter allanpcameron
- Start date
the stick has been put in the bicycle wheel of the Japanese offensive in Malaya....what does this meat grinder do in the longer term to Japanese plans?
A lot of that depends on how the Japanese react to the failure. I think it's likely the Western Force for the DEI campaign gets diverted to shore up the advance, or at least attempt to delay the retreat.
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While the soldiers (but more likely generals) on the front (who had already went through the south of Thailand and Northern Malaya) would probably already tried these by now.
Ramp-Rat
Monthly Donor
Golden Bat cigarettes were produced in two different versions, one that was only sold to the Chinese, which was laced with opiates. The other sold in Japan and to Japanese forces, that wasn’t doped up. As for the Japanese having stuck their appendage of choice in the British meat grinder in Malaya, they are also doubling down right now, and keeping digging in the hole, when they should stop and try something different. It should be noted that this isn’t the first time that they did this, during the Russian Japanese war at the beginning of the century. They repeatedly carried out frontal assaults against the prepared intrenched Russian positions during the siege of Port Arthur. Just as with the British, French and Germans, in WWI, it takes time for the top brass to get the message, and try something different.
RR.
RR.
Especially when junior officers might take any 'learning' as treason and lack of true Japanese spirt
It seems that the issue of 'these plans must work, because follow up plans D and E are based on this plan working' is still very much their mindset.
Still, the Japanese high command is not quite as stupid as most of the soviet one was at this point in the war, so they will learn some lessons. Question is, if they have the resources and transport capability to make use of those lessons before it's too late, which is an ever-diminishing probability.
Still, the Japanese high command is not quite as stupid as most of the soviet one was at this point in the war, so they will learn some lessons. Question is, if they have the resources and transport capability to make use of those lessons before it's too late, which is an ever-diminishing probability.
Derek Pullem
Donor
So basically we have a version of the Kohima and Impahl assaults two years early. When the inevitable Japanese collapse comes they could be chased all the way back to Thailand.
I was thinking more along the lines of Guadalcanal.Underestimating the strength and tenacity of your enemy and feeding your own under supplied troops in piecemeal,but on a larger scale.
Actually the lesson learned was that these tactics worked. After all they did capture Port Arthur. The fact that they did not work on the Western Front in WW1 could simply be passed off as a lack of true warrior spirit amongst the westerners.
Ramp-Rat
Monthly Donor
The big difference between what is happening now during the ongoing battle between the invading Japanese and the British, and what happened in Burma in 1944, at Kohima and Imphal. Is by the time of these battles, the British had total air superiority over the battlefield, and a well developed if inadequately equipped air transport capability. Along with a tried and trusted battle plan, that had been developed over a number of years, during numerous battles with the Japanese. Right now in Malaya, the British do not have even limited control of the air, and no air transport capacity. They have not fought repeated battles against the Japanese, and are still very much still learning on the job, however they are learning how to deal with the Japanese faster than the Japanese are learning how to deal with them. And at the end of the day, they British have access to far greater resources than the Japanese can even dream of.
And now they're learning that the British Imperial forces know how to fight on their terms.
So, what will be the fate of the Valiant I and I* hulls? They have a ton of utility in multiple rolls: self propelled guns (25pdrs and AA), specialist vehicles, some could go to Russia with the turret designed for the Russian gun... Britain is going to have a lot of 2pdr armed tanks laying around (not killed in North Africa) that they absolutely don't want to take into battle in 1943 or later. Only a couple hundred are needed in the far east. I'd be interested to see the total production figures (and how many were destroyed).
Or an Allied offensive from Burma could cut the Imperial Japanese in Malaya off, if the Imperial Japanese front in Burma collapses too fast for the Imperial Japanese...
Ramp-Rat
Monthly Donor
While a successful British offensive out of Burma, into Thailand might cut off the overland supply route, of the Japanese army. The chances of the British being able at this time, to conduct such an offensive, are slim to none. Given the total lack of logistical infrastructure on the Burma Thailand border, such an offensive would require assets that the British do not have. Britain has two principal aims in Burma, at this time, keeping the Japanese out, and the Burma road to China open. And even if the could cut the Japanese overland route, the Japanese will still be able to send supplies by sea, as the RN is not in a position right now to enact a total blockade of the sea route between FIC and Malaya. Yes they can at a high cost to themselves, force the Japanese to pay a high price to maintain such a sea link. But given the far more pressing requirements of defending the area around the DEI, that will be the number one priority for the foreseeable future.
RR.
I think the clue is in the he TL's name. Although everyone loves the Matilda 2 (almost as much as we love the Matilda 1 ITTL) surly after the Matilda's have proven their worth in Malaya the British are going to be packing up as many aging Valiants as they can spare and shipping them out to Malaya, Burma and the DEI. This is a heavy metal tank TL after all! My personal preference would be for Allan to pay homage to Fireflies over Port Stanley and have some inexperienced pencil pusher at the War Office send some prototype Victor's to Malaya by mistake!