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We look at the considerations for the defence of Palliers Hill. How did the Japanese plan their defence? What were the appreciations that their commander went through as he laid out his defensive position?
We finish off the considerations for the attack on Palliers, which we started in the previous episode.
The considerations for the defence are:
- Use of terrain
- Mutual support
- Use of reserves
- All-round defence
- Depth
- Security
- Fire Support
- Orchestration
These are the considerations for the area defence. The Japanese were going to be static in their defence – they were prepared to accept decisive engagement. Whilst the Japanese had the advantage of the assault being limited to a very narrow attack frontage. The ground was occupied at night. What did that mean for the placement of the pits and the placement of the guns? The pits, echeloned towards the right rear, made it difficult to produce a defensive layout that would allow mutual support. The only reserve available to the Japanese needed to be provided from his organic elements. The layout of the position meant that some areas had hard shoulders formed by the terrain, but also a significant amount of dead ground in the midground. They were able to create depth, given the narrow frontage that the position was made on.
The remaining considerations are in the next episode of the Principles of War podcast.
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