Oleg Mastruko -> RE: Limits for Atoll Islands build up (6/23/2007 10:56:54 PM)
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quote:
Betio/Tarawa was held by just under 5000 men, about 1000 of which were "non-combat Korean Laborors" Betio and Tarawa are not the same thing. The island of Betio is perhaps less than 1/15th of the whole Tarawa atoll (a rough estimate). Indeed, it was the only place occupied by Japanese in any force, and there were around 5.000 of them there. Had they, for any possible reason, occupied the whole atoll (the remaining 90%+ of the area), it is my impression they could have installed 30-40, perhaps even 50k people there easily. However, Admiral DadMan is perfectly correct then, when he says "If my opponent is stupid enough to strand 2 divisions on Tarawa... that's fine with me [:D]" Currently around 30k people live there (on the WHOLE Tarawa atoll), quote from Wikipedia: "The population (as of 1990) was 28,802. The population is mostly Gilbertese (Micronesian). This probably exceeds the carrying capacity of the islands and is maintained at its current level without starvation principly due to foreign aid, largely from New Zealand." Given the low maintenance levels of IJN troops, I think 40-50k could be crammed there, + population that was there in WW2 period (certainly smaller than today) could have been removed by the Japanese or.... worse.... it's not like they were squeamish about those things. I'd consider that strategic insanity, and as USN would simply bypass and isolate that place (or overwhelm, to invest mucho points for ground losses that would ensue). I think people here in general underestimate atolls..... because they look small on World Atlas maps.
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