Time Astra

Schematic plan · World War II (Okinawa)

Japanese Counterattack

All battlesBattle of Okinawa: engagement 13 of 28The event in the chronicleWikipedia
A schematic plan, generated from the statistics of the CAA Database of Battles: the armies' size and width, the hours of fighting, the plan of attack and the outcome are as recorded; the ground and the positions are not.
Rugged, Mixed groundCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveGunsCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveGunsArmour0500 m1 kmN

One of the 28 engagements of the Battle of Okinawa recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 13 in date order). Japan (Jap 24th Div(-), 6,850 men under Lg Amamiya) attacked USA (US 7th Inf Div(+), 15,350 men under Mg Arnold) in Okinawa. The CAA Database of Battles records 24 hours of fighting on a front of 1.8 km, a frontal attack, single envelopment, left flank against hasty defense, and that USA held. Losses: Japan 3,704 (54%), USA 339 (2%).

This plan is generated from those figures. It shows the shape of the battle the database describes: the size and width of the armies, the plan of attack and the outcome. It does not show where the units actually stood.

The armies

Japan

Lg Amamiya

UnitArmMen
Japan left wingInfantry1,428
Japan centreInfantry1,904
Japan right wingInfantry1,428
Japan reserveInfantry1,190
Japan artillery (60 guns)Artillery900
Lg AmamiyaCommander—
In this plan6,850

USA

Mg Arnold

UnitArmMen
USA left wingInfantry2,963
USA centreInfantry3,951
USA right wingInfantry2,963
USA reserveInfantry2,470
USA artillery (198 guns)Artillery2,303
USA armour (140 tanks)Armour700
Mg ArnoldCommander—
In this plan15,350

What the sources report

JapanUSA
Strength, this plan6,85015,350
Losses, this plan3,704339

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 528, “Japanese Counterattack”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
24 hours
Winner
the defender
Terrain
Rugged, Mixed
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Spring, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
1.8 km (attacker), 1.8 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Japanattacker6,8503,704060Frontal attack; Single envelopment; Left flank; Repulse
USAdefender15,3503390198Defensive plan

Attacker’s advantages initiative +1

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Notes

On this reconstruction

Generated automatically from the statistics in CDB90. Frontages, depths, distances, the order of events and the terrain are schematic: they follow the recorded strengths, front widths, hours of fighting, tactical plan and outcome, not maps or accounts of the battle. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.

Sources

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.