THE JAPANESE PLAN OF DEFENSE
SEELY, Lt. Comdr. C. S.
The Japanese Plan Of Defense By LT. COMDR. C S. SEELY THE theory, now gaining supporters, that the Japanese will finally—in the last stages of the war— abandon Japan proper and fight on the Asian...
...They must be expected to try to hold this strip at all costs, for if they lose it they can be blockaded into defeat without great difficulty, although considerable time may be required...
...Great Bridgehead Vital And it is not possible to use effectively our air bombers against those fortifications until we secure a great base of operations on the China coast...
...A nation will always fight harder to repel'invaders of its own soil than it will under any other conditions, unless, of course, its morale has been weakened by internal dissension, as was the case in France in 1940...
...If we could gain control of the strait between Japan and Korea, we could, of course, effectively blockade Japan into defeat without bothering to take the Philippines, or Singapore, or Hong Kong...
...Strip Of Coastline Needed The Japanese not only will fight to the very end in Japan, bat will certainly go "all out" to hold a strip of the Asian coastline about 200 miles deep running from Shanghai to the Russian border...
...The opinions and assertions expressed above are the private ones of the writer and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Navy Department or the naval service at large...
...It is much more reasonable to suppose that they will make their last stand in their homeland, where their great fortifications, their water barriers, their primary interests, and their national traditions can be used to the best advantage...
...But it will not be possible for our fleet to gain control of that strait until the fortifications within it and on both sides of it are badly battered by our air bombers...
...They mast be expected to stick together under all cir-cunastanees when our attack on Japan proper begins...
...In other words Japan cannot be defeated by blockade or by any other means until we establish a great bridgehead a considerable distance north of Hong Kong...
...C S. SEELY THE theory, now gaining supporters, that the Japanese will finally—in the last stages of the war— abandon Japan proper and fight on the Asian mainland is not sound...
...No other alternative seems to exist at the moment, and it is not probable that another will develop as the war progresses...
...And it i» not probable that we will be able to produce enough dissension among th« Japanese to interfere seriously with their determination to win or die in the attempt...
Vol. 8 • October 1944 • No. 43
