fcharton
Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010 From: France Status: offline
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Hi Gräfin Zeppelin, You are right that Burma does have industry (mostly refineries in Rangoon to produce fuel AND supplies). However, the oil is in Magwe: cut the communications from there, and Rangoon starves. Palembang, on the other hand, produces most of the oil it refines (900 Oil, for over 1000 refinery capacity). In a siege situation, troops in Palembang have 900 supplies a day to "eat" from, this means attrition won't really work on them (or very very slowly, so slowly that it becomes a problem for Japan). In fact, if Japan decides to leave Palembang (presumably isolating it first), and come back later, this will allow the garrison to fortify, making them even more difficult to dislodge. In other words, if the allies choose to reinforce Palembang, and Japan wants the place, Japan should better rush. It is not a place you can bypass, and wait until the garrison runs out of bullets. If the Allies concentrated there too fast, Japan might as well snub the place. It is a lot of oil, sure, but it the cost to take it is too high, and you find the place hopelessly broken after you conquer it... But then, you end up with a supplied enemy pocket in the centre of the DEI, not something to look forward to. Of course, holding Palembang won't win the war as the allies. This must fit into a general plan. Bleeding Japan white through a long attrition battle is one such plan, and if this is your plan, as the allies, I would suggest Palembang fits the (butcher's) bill better than Rangoon. Francois
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