Quote:
Originally Posted by MaDef
Had Kinkiad not reacted the way he did, the invasion of Leyte might have failed.
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I fail to see how.
The Leyte amphibious landings took place on 20th October 1944. The Battle off Samar between Kinkaid's Taffy 3 and Kurita's Center Force was on October 25th. Had the Japanese made it they would have been five days late to the party. Shelling a developing beachhead on D-Day can be devastating; shelling it on D-Day+5 when the majority of the troops have advanced inland and the equipment and supplies have been dispersed to locations away from the beach, would be pretty ineffective. Not to mention that the majority of troop transports had already left to pick up another load.
Yes, assuming he had sufficient ammunition in his magazines left, I suppose Kurita could have sunk some transports at the likely cost of his entire remaining force being annihilated. That was an exchange the Allies could well afford in 1944.
Oh...and welcome aboard. After eight years.
