Board Thread:Game Updates/@comment-3502824-20171207155334/@comment-33667919-20180130193613

WellSpokenMan130 wrote: "He believed strongly in concentration as indicated by his writings before World War II." Considering the forces at his disposal, this was silly. Halsey's 3rd Fleet had more firepower at the time of his decision than the entire Japanese Navy. It was his responsibility to cover the San Bernardino Strait. Nimitz deserves part of the blame as well, as he gave Halsey the leeway to abandon the Army and the 7th Fleet. There are tons of people who bear a small portion of the blame, but as commander of the 3rd Fleet Halsey bears the ultimate responsibility. My judgment of Halsey isn't harsh because of what happened, but because what could have happened. Had Kurita correctly identified Taffy 3, loaded HE, and formed a battle line, he would have decimated Taffy 3, Taffy 2, and done massive damage to the 7th Fleet. He might have even gone on to massacre the landing force, which was larger than the D-day landing force. None of this would have changed the course of the war, but it would have resulted in a massive loss of life.

I can see your point, however from my point of veiw you were point the fingre at just Halsey which is false. did he make a mistake? Yes. Could have been disasterous? Hell yes. However, alterative universe possibilities aside, in the end even if Kurita had managed to break through Taffey 3 and 2 it is unlikly he could have gone after the US forces at Leyte. Going off the damage that Taffey 3 managed, Kurita could of had almost half of his ships damaged and forced to withdraw. Also you need to remember the 7th Fleet, by the time Kurita had finished off Taffey 3 and 2, and reorginized his forces it is very likly that the 7th fleet would have entered Leyte and engaged his fleet (it was dispatched North following Adm. Sprague's report on the fleets apperance). Also remember the reason Kurita ordered his retreat, he had just been informed of the annihilation of the Southern Force by the 7th fleet. it is very unlikly that Kurita would have continued his mission even if he had sunk Taffey 3 and 2. But thanks for the clarification on your post, I misunderstood what you said and I apologize for calling you childish with the argument. In the end however, while Halsey did does deserve critism for what could of happened in the end he stuck by his principles and his tactics, something every commander does in battle. In the end thinking "could of, woud of, might of," simply causes anger to bubble up. I do understand your point but in the end, history went the way it did and as they say 'Hindsight is 20/20." In the end we can just look back and voice our thoughts based on what we know. And in the end what happened in the past happened all we can do is look forward and be ready for the future and it's challenges.