New RS ME scenario

[Mr. Guberman]

Fellows,

I am through monkeying around with this one...just can't mess it up any more.

"The Gurkha Stand at Mokpalin"

This is not pretty from either side and is an all out brawl from the beginning. Also, it is one of the few times that the AVG flew in support of the retreating British, albiet weakly. This is the fourth of my Burma '42 scens.

viz:

21 February, 1942
Mokpalin/Sittang, Burma: After being shattered at the Bilin
River, on February 19th, the 17th Indian Divison scrambled away,
northwest, toward the Sittang River where the ferry and railroad
bridge there allowed passage, west across the Sittang, toward
Rangoon. The Japanese 33rd Division's pursuit along the main
road northwest was sufficiently delayed, by rearguard actions,
to allow the Commonwealth forces to reach the bridge and begin
crossing toward the next defensive line at Pegu. The Japanese
55th Division, meanwhile, departed Bilin and dissappeared north
into the jungle to approach Sittang from the east. On the 21st,
17th Indian Division's HQ elements reached the bridge and took
up positions at the eastern bridgehead, utilizing the 3rd Burma
Rifles as a bridgehead guard. On the main road, south of Sittang,
at Mokpalin, three Gurkha battalions were deploying as a blocking
force to keep the road open to allow the mass of streaming Allied
refugees to reach haven, west, across the river. Elements of
the Japanese 33rd Division came up and in typical style, mounted
a hasty attack to test the defenses and with any luck reach the
bridge by a coup de main. The Gurkhas began "fighting off ferocious
Japanese attacks" which lasted for most of the day. There was
no other choice, they had to hold the road open as two brigades
of the division had not yet passed. At Rangoon, the Allied high
command could still not accept the fact that the Japanese advance
into Burma was more than a probe and continued to blame the relentless advance on a lack of fighting spirit in the Allied troops and
mainly their commanders. Today the Gurkhas were to give another,
forgotten, example of the inaccuaracy of that sentiment.
________

Japanese morale is down because they are tired and somewhat overextended. The Gurkha morale is up because...well...on that day...they demonstrated something spectacular.

Cheers

Curt