Mike Scholl
Posts: 9349
Joined: 1/1/2003 From: Kansas City, MO Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: m10bob In stock, the Japanese are eventually going to lose, so long as production remains fairly historical for the Allies, but Japan did not bomb Pearl Harbor and go after Java, New Guinea, the Phillipines with an expectation of losing. Actually, they did expect to lose some of their early gains. You can't "bleed" the other side without engaging them..., not impress them with your troops "willingness to die to the last man" without doing so a few times. The Japanese were a member of the Axis powers and really thought Germany would push Russia out of the war and link up with them. Japan could have freed a lot of troops she was saving to watch the Russians. Actually, the Japanese "used" their Axis Allies. Hitler loyally (and stupidly) declared war on the US..., but the Japanese carefully "weaseled out" of any reciprocal activity. And Japan had a lot more troops tied down dealing with the Chinese than with the Russian threat...., and with the continual need to garrison virtually every area she had expanded into during the last 40 years. Japanese economic and occupation policy being totally exploitive (and generally much harsher than the Europeans had been), whatever sympathy or admiration she gained by beating the Colonial powers were rapidly squandered by attrocities and forced labor. Maybe a mod needs to be done based on Russia being completely neutralized, Germany being allowed to send some of its' eastern front units thru Russia, and maybe even some of her ships via the northern route? Or maybe a mod needs to be done requiring much heavier "occupation forces" be kept in the entire "expansion area", which would eat up the great majority of the troops Japanese Players use to invade India and other farfetched and historically unlikely events. In hindsight, we can think of a lot of reasons it was not possible, but in December 1941, maybe it was really thought possible?? Nobody but a fool engages in a war they are not WILLING to win. The Japanese DID "plan to win"..., but they based their hopes on the total fallacy that their "fighting spirit" would somehow make up for the Allies superiority in material. The idea of being willing to die for the Nation and the Cause was (unfortunately for the Japs) not an exclusive one..., and the great Allied superiority in material meant that they could easily use tons of ordnance to kill each of the Emporor's soldiers --- while the Japanese could only afford to toss pounds in the other direction. "Willingness to die" was trumped by "willingness and ability to kill". And the German's ability to defeat (let alone occupy) the Soviet Union pretty much went by the wayside when Hitler's prediction that "We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten house of cards will come tumbling down" was proven to be in error. In hindsight, the great majority of German efforts WERE spent against the Soviets..., and to no avail. The Russians proved willing to die in much larger numbers than the Japanese..., and the Germans had nothing even mildly approaching the Allied material superiority to kill them with.
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