Battle of Kohima-Imphal, 1944

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William Slim versus Renya Mutaguchi: A Japanese army under Mutaguchi tries to cut off and destroy a British army under Slim. Can Slim defend and supply the beleaguered twin cities long enough to mount an offensive? Also known as Operation U-Go. .

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Significance
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The Burma Campaign itself is often seen as comparatively unimportant even though more Japanese were defeated by Slim than any other commander. Indirectly though, the Burma Campaign was vital; had Slim failed to reopen the Burma Road, the Japanese Ichi-Go Offensive to knock China out of the war may have succeeded. This would have made the Pacific War much more costly and difficult, considering that the three million Japanese troops and vast resources committed to China would have been freed up for operations elsewhere in the Pacific. The Japanese high command could have used these resources in the battles of 1945, maybe repulsing the Americans at Okinawa and Iwo Jima, and preventing decisive defeat against the Soviets in Manchuria. This would have improved the Japanese strategic situation and maybe emboldened the Japanese leadership to fight on following the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
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Analysis
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Slim won this battle the way the Allies won the war: he lured Mutaguchi into a battle of attrition in which an overwhelming superiority of material and logistics prevailed. Mutaguchi’s plan was rigid and inflexible which meant the Japanese did not capture the British supply base at Dimapur despite being undefended. Slim had a plan but adjustments were made during the battle to overcome new obstacles such as the unexpected attack against Kohima. This battle highlights the importance of maintaining flexibility in one’s plans and securing one’s logistical chain. It is also an excellent example of the “attack from a defensive position” maneuver.
kohima-imphal preview 2Notes
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I was fascinated with this battle for a long time. Battles of annihilation, in which a commander’s goal is to annihilate the enemy force rather than just to defeat it, are always intriguing and showcase a high level of skill. Think back to Cannae, Mohi Heath and others; Kohima-Imphal is on the same level as these, only lesser known.

During the upgrade of this animation, I was unable to add a scale because I could not find the original map I used to trace the terrain.

– Jonathan Webb

Works Consulted
Evans, Geoffrey. “Imphal-Kohima.” In Decisive Battles of the 20th Century, edited by Noble Frankland and Christopher Dowding, 251-264. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1976.
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Greiss, Thomas. Campaign Atlas to the Second World War. New Jersey: Avery, 1989.
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Moser, Don. China-Burma-India. New Jersey: Time-Life Books, 1978.
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Slim, William. Defeat Into Victory. London: Cassell, 1956.
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Images
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British soldiers: http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/ARMY/Images-1939a.html
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Japanese soldiers: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a1122355.shtml?sectionId=3&articleId=1122355
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Map of the Pacific: http://www.westpoint.edu/history/SitePages/WWII%20Asian%20Pacific%20Theater.aspx
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Map of the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_map_projections
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Renya Mutaguchi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutaguchi_Renya
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William Slim: http://www.lancs-fusiliers.co.uk/gallerynew/WW2/1stBn/chindits.htm
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