The Japanese army can sweep across Southeast Asia, why do they fail miserably when they attack India?
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the Pacific War broke out.
on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the Pacific War broke out. The Japanese concentrated a large number of troops and, under the cover of naval ships and aviation, swept across Southeast Asia in only half a year. Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, and Indonesia, was occupied by the Japanese army, and the arrogance of the Japanese army reached its climax.
however, the Japanese troops sweeping Southeast Asia returned in a crushing defeat in the attack on India in 1944. In the Battle of Impar from March to July 1944, more than 92000 Japanese troops were deployed to attack India, but the main Japanese troops were hit head-on by the British and Indian troops. After a fierce battle, the British and Indian troops wiped out more than 25000 Japanese troops at the cost of 16000 casualties. after the defeat of Impala, Japan did not have the courage to attack India again until it surrendered.
so why did the Japanese troops sweeping across Southeast Asia fail miserably in the battle to attack India? There are many reasons for this.
first of all, Japanese commander Mou Taguchi also underestimated the strength of the British and Indian forces.
on March 8, 1944, Japanese commander Lian Mou Taguchi also led three divisions with more than 92000 troops to attack India. Before the battle began, Mutian Koulian said confidently, "the army has now reached the point where the world is invincible, and the day when the Sun Flag will declare our definite victory in India is not far away."
from this sentence, we can see that Mou Taguchi paid no attention to the strength of the British and Indian troops at all. understandably, the Japanese underestimated the strength of the British and Indian armies. This is directly related to the combat situation of the British forces in the Battle of Singapore.
in addition to the Singapore campaign, the Burmese campaign further verified the Japanese army's judgment on the combat effectiveness of the British army. in January 1942, Japanese troops attacked Burma. The British troops retreated all the way, and the strongest resistance encountered by the Japanese army in Myanmar was not the British army, the sovereign state of Myanmar, but the Chinese Expeditionary Force unit defending the communication line. Despite the hard support of the Expeditionary Force, the situation on the Burmese battlefield took a sharp turn for the worse due to the great lack of cooperation of the British troops, and the British troops withdrew to India gloomily.
the battles of Singapore and Burma defeated Churchill in the far East. Because Churchill focused on the European battlefield and the German army, Churchill could not come up with surplus military materials and troops to support the battlefield in the far East. It was Churchill's thinking of "Europe before Asia" that doomed the defeat of the British army and solidified the inherent impression that the British army was "poor combat effectiveness" in the eyes of the Japanese army.
however, all this changed in 1944. thanks to the strong support of the United States, the British army gradually gained a foothold. At the Battle of Alamein, Montgomery, a famous British general, commanded the 8th Army to deal a heavy blow to the African Legion of German General Rommel. The Battle of Alamein not only saved the British African colonies but also restored the dignity of the British Imperial army. Then, the US and British troops implemented the Torch Plan and landed in Sicily. The British army finally broke out its strong combat effectiveness in the actual combat.
during the bloody war between the British and German armies on the European battlefield, the British and Indian troops on the Asian battlefield also replenished their strength and strengthened their training with the support of their allies. for Britain, Burma can be lost, Singapore can be lost, but India cannot be lost. India is a very important overseas colony of Britain. Once lost, Britain's global strategy will be greatly affected. To save India, British commander General Slim devoted 150000 troops to the war. With the strong support of the United States, the morale, weaponry and logistical support of the British army are not comparable to those of 1942. the British and Indian troops are of one heart and one mind and resolutely fight the Battle of Imphal to defend the Indian mainland. Mou Taguchi's understanding of the British army is still in 1942.
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second, there is a fatal problem in the logistics of the Japanese army.
the logistics of the Japanese army is a huge deficiency for the Japanese army to fight in Southeast Asia. As the topography of Southeast Asia is mainly mountainous and hilly, and there are not many plains, it is difficult for automobile transportation to achieve its goal, so the Japanese army relies on traditional means of transportation to transport supplies to the front. In the Battle of Imphal, the Japanese logistics transport was still "nephew playing lanterns-business as usual", using bicycles to transport supplies to the three divisions and regiments at the front. If the weather is clear, the bike can still walk normally to the front. But on rainy days, bicycle transportation is very troublesome.
as Mou Tian Koulian himself seriously underestimated the strength of the British army, he hoped that Mou Tian Koulian, who made a quick decision, would let each Japanese soldier carry only rations that could last for three weeks.
Mou Taguchi's attack also began, and the Japanese front soon reached the foot of Impala, and the British and Indian troops tenaciously resisted the Japanese attack. in the course of the attack, the Japanese logistics gradually was consumed, and the troops suffered a large number of casualties. at the critical moment when Mou Taguchi also organized the Japanese army to launch a counterattack, God gave the Japanese no face.
what's going on? It turns out that the Impar region, near the South Asian subcontinent, is hot and rainy in summer. At a critical moment when Mou Taguchi also organized his troops to launch a counterattack, there was torrential rain in Imphal in May, which once broke the logistics of the Japanese army and made the front-line Japanese troops complain incessantly.
the logistics of bicycles cannot be transported, and the logistics transportation of a few aviation units has also been interrupted by torrential rain. torrential rains caused 30, 000 Japanese troops with infectious diseases such as typhoid, malaria, and influenza. Due to the lack of medicine at the front, these infectious diseases quickly spread in the army. Japanese officers and men are tired, hungry, and sick. How can this battle go on?
Japanese survivors later recalled "soldiers' skin is often full of ulcers and abscesses. They wore wet clothes and allowed mosquitoes to bite. "
the fragility of logistics and days of heavy rain have plunged the Japanese army into a state of despair, while the British army has actively organized counterattack forces and logistics supplies in the Impar region.
in July 1944, the British counterattack began on all fronts. At this time, the British army was by no means the relatively weak British army in early 1942, and its various services and arms worked together to reach a higher level. Under the counterattack of the British army, the Japanese army was routed on all fronts. Due to the heavy rain in recent days, the water of the Qindun River rose, making it extremely difficult for the Japanese army to cross the river. the Japanese army reluctantly crossed the river on August 30th after paying heavy casualties. The Battle of Imphal ended in a disastrous defeat for the Japanese.
while the fierce battle of the Japanese army in the Impar region violates the above two basic common sense of the art of war. Japanese commander Mou Taguchi was also arrogant and confused about the strength of the British and Indian armies. In addition, Mou Taguchi was also eager to win quickly, and the Japanese logistics could not keep up, which led to the Japanese army's fiasco in the Battle of Imphal.
therefore, no matter how the form of war changes, "know yourself and know each other and win a hundred battles" and "fodder comes first" will always be the truth of war. And the arrogant Japanese army could not escape the shameful end of being destroyed by the anti-fascist camp.