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Schematic plan · World War II (Okinawa)

Japanese Counterattacks

All battlesBattle of Okinawa: engagement 19 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.
Rolling, Mixed groundCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveGunsCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveGuns01 km2 kmN

One of the 28 engagements of the Battle of Okinawa recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 19 in date order). Japan (Jap 24th Div(-), 4,000 men under Lg Amamiya) attacked USA (US 7th Inf Div(+), 15,777 men under Mg Arnold) in Okinawa. The CAA Database of Battles records 24 hours of fighting on a front of 3.6 km, a frontal attack, single envelopment, right flank against hasty defense, and that USA held. Losses: Japan 1,269 (32%), USA 241 (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 wingInfantry931
Japan centreInfantry1,242
Japan right wingInfantry931
Japan reserveInfantry776
Japan artillery (8 guns)Artillery120
Lg AmamiyaCommander—
In this plan4,000

USA

Mg Arnold

UnitArmMen
USA left wingInfantry3,221
USA centreInfantry4,295
USA right wingInfantry3,221
USA reserveInfantry2,684
USA artillery (157 guns)Artillery2,355
Mg ArnoldCommander—
In this plan15,776

What the sources report

JapanUSA
Strength, this plan4,00015,777
Losses, this plan1,269241

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 531, “Japanese Counterattacks”, 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
Rolling, Mixed
Weather
Wet, Light precipitation, Temperate, Spring, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
3.6 km (attacker), 3.6 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Japanattacker4,0001,26908Frontal attack; Single envelopment; Right flank; Repulse
USAdefender15,7772410157Defensive plan

Attacker’s advantages surprise +2

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.