Also not wanting to mix it with tanks supported by infantry, the remaining Punjabi platoon made its way through the jungle to where the three remaining light tanks were waiting on the track in column. A sharp fight took place at incredibly close range, leaving all three Japanese tanks either destroyed or disabled, but the Punjabis were now effectively finished as a fighting force.
Meanwhile, the remaining British Indian-manned anti-tank guns had been overrun by the leading Japanese infantry platoon, who now went on to assault the village itself. Three squads charged forward, but the perimeter of the village was lined by Argyll's, who smashed them backwards despite being severely outnumbered.
The Japanese advance paused for a second as they brought up more troops. The British took advantage by withdrawing the battered Argyll platoon that had withstood the Japanese charge over the bridge in the middle of the village, with the British CO preparing to destroy the bridge by setting off the charges that had been laid along its length.
Before the remaining Argyll platoon could withdraw, however, they were charged by a fresh platoon of Japanese soldiers, again bursting from the jungle under a banzai-i-i card. Although horrendous casualties were done to the Japanese platoon, the Argyll platoon was largely destroyed.
Grimly resolute in the face of having to leave the survivors on the wrong side of the river, the British CO pressed the plunger. Nothing! Water had got into the fuses.
The Japanese regrouped and prepared to charge the bridge. On the other side, the few remaining British troops prepared to re-cross the bridge and sell their lives dearly to give time for the wires to be checked, fuses to be changed etc. The British CO's card came up again. He ordered his men to wait one second before going to their doom, and again he pushed the plunger.
BOOM!
This time everything worked as planned (a roll of 10 on a d10!) and the bridge was blown to smithereens, leaving the angry Japanese on the wrong side of the river to call up their engineers as the British disappeared down the road. Victory conditions were checked, and the game was declared a draw: the British Indian troops had failed to hold off the Japanese troops, but had managed to blow the bridge before it could be captured. This game didn't quite reflect history: in 1942 the Japanese tanks got into the village and managed to get across the bridge in the face of withering fire from the Argyll's for long enough for their infantry to come up and secure victory.
A truly excellent game played with great enthusiasm and sportsmanship by two veteran wargamers new to IABSM but who had played Far East games before. Both players agreed that they were now completely exhausted, as the action had been fast-moving and intense almost throughout the battle. As one said, that was the "longest, shortest 3½ hours he had ever gamed"! The key to the British success (comparative to 1942, that is) was the traffic jam that developed at the roadblock. The Japanese tanks just couldn't coordinate their actions well enough to get through in time to properly support their infantry. The British were, as in history, eventually overwhelmed, but managed to keep their shape as they retreated. A great game.
Robert Avery
