| Doppleganger told me via PM he's asked the mods to add the Japanese I listed to the poll. If anybody has any other suggestions, now's the time.
Good point about Honma, 03USMC. Still I would rather pick Yamashita. When he conquered Singapore he struck from beaches that required the crossing of a vast jungle thought to be non-negotiable by a large force and certainly not one with armor. Yamashita not only brought through the force he did so with tanks. When Singapore fell his army was actually down to their last ammunition and supplies and when Percieval requested surrender negotiations, Yamashita at first thought the British had found out about his lack of ammo and were requesting _his_ surrender. He bluffed his way through getting Percieval's surrender when they met at the Ford factory.
Still, I voted for Guderian as the father of the air/land battle. True it was General J. F. C. Fuller of the British Army who first postulated it, but it was Guderian who actually put it into action for the first time.
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"Do not forget your dogs of war, your big guns, which are the most-to-be respected arguments of the rights of kings."
- Frederick the Great, King of Prussia  |