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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2009 10:20:30 GMT 8
What if the Japanese invasion attempt of Corregidor had failed and was hurled back into the sea, as it almost was? How long could the Filippino-American forces have hold out?
Remember, the vast majority of the Japanese landing craft and their crews had already been destroyed by Corregidor's Coastal and Beach artillery. How soon before General Homma would have mounted a second invasion attempt?
I read of an account where General Wainright was telling another officer that there was food enough to last Corregidor's garrison until the end of June, given its present half-ration status.
Added to this, a number of Corregidor's coastal batteries, although badly damaged, were by no means permanently knocked out and were within days of repair by their armorers and gun crews. The guns of Fort's Drum, Hughes and Frank were still very much in action and capable of much further damage to the Japanese. In addition, there were a number of 155mm guns on moveable, Panama mounts that remained highly effective until the end of the siege.
What say you ladies and gentlemen? __________________
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Post by okla on Feb 10, 2009 2:56:17 GMT 8
it seems that i read somewhere in the distant past that the fuel to keep the water well pumps going was critically low. something like 10 days supply left???even if the japs had been repulsed we would have been getting awfully thirsty in short order. maybe somebody more knowledgeable on this point could enlighten us on the subject. i do believe that we might have thrown in the towel a bit early though. when skinny wainwright gets the word that "tanks were on the island", one wonders if he might have thought that a lot more were present than just the 3 that actually were landed. as i understand it we had no anti tank weapons, but if we maybe had just knocked the tracks of those vehicles with dynamite or some other type explosive those 3 tanks could have been disabled and not free to roam at will. as i also understand it there was an anti tank trench/ditch east of malinta hill that could have halted the armor of the japanese. genl wainwright was mostly concerned about those tanks getting into the main east-west tunnel of malinta. if this could have been prevented a whole differenct senario could have been played out, but the same conclusion was enevitable whether we had sufficient water supplies, enough food, ammo, etc. probably, holding out for a longer period would have accomplished nothing but more casualties, but i still believe in something called honor. now in fantasy land, if the fil/american forces had stalled the japs for another week and lo and behold we see the USS enterprise and accompanying task force sailing around the batangas headland the goods guys win in the end. aint hindsight great? i also have happy endings for the battle of the little bighorn and pearl harbor. nice talking to you.
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