Snippets

On the eve of Japan’s war with China, an interservice conference met to deliberate the strategic problems the nation would encounter in a campaign centered on Korea. At that meeting, Army Vice Chief of Staff General Kawakami Sōroku was expounding on why the war would be settled by decisive land combat on the Korean peninsula, when [Navy Ministry’s Capt.] Yamamoto, the navy’s representative at the talks, interrupted Kawakami to ask if the army had first-rate engineer units. Indeed, it did, Kawakami replied, but why on earth did Yamamoto want to know? “Because, General,” came the retort, “if the army is to get to Korea without the Imperial Japanese Navy, those engineer units are going to have to build a very long bridge.”

Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY 1887–1941 (pg. 25)