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Before I start narrating the effects of Sun-Saturn have in each house let us know some important points:The mythological belief is that Saturn is the son of Sun, astrologically they are considered die-hard enemies of each other. Saturn's evil effect is not marred to any mentionable extent even on its combustion in Sun's vicinity.Another factor to be considered about this combination is whether, concerning degrees, Sun is ahead of Saturn, or Saturn is ahead of Sun. If Saturn is ahead of Sun, Saturn's effect is limited, but if Saturn is behind Sun, even by Saturn's retrogression, Saturn has the greater say.Now let us come to the point and evaluate the result of the placement of this combination in various houses of a chart.Sun and Saturn in the 1st House :When in combination with Sun, Saturn positively reduces the touch of (internal) timidity caused by Sun.This combination often gives close contacts with the top brass in the government, but rarely allows or helps the individual to rise to the top position, whatever the field of activity, job, profession or self-employment.These individuals do not brag or boast, but for no reason or rhyme, they annoy their fellow-workers, immediate superiors, subordinates, and employees, even though they are helpful and service to any or all of them, whenever the occasion.They are equally free with Kings, Rulers, Presidents, and Prime Ministers, as also with clerks, peons, laborers, and everyone, with old as well as young, with men as well as women.They are often truthful, fair-minded, straightforward, outspoken, frank and honest.But because Sun and Saturn are adversaries of each other, these individuals fall victim to blackmail and unfair criticism or complaints by concerned and unconcerned people.These individuals do not give up their path of fairness and honesty under fear of blackmail and criticism.They suffer and do not mind the sufferings, take the pains too as God-given fate and fortune.Sun and Saturn in the 2nd HouseThis combination generates money in the hands of the individual, but keeping him or her restricted and miserly in using the money, and keeping an eye on usurping money and possessions of others.For accumulating money, no means are unfair so far as risk of an inquiry or punishment is not involved.These individuals sometimes exhibit their tendency of getting money initially by minor thefts in own house or by snatching from youngsters or helpless members of the family.In later life, they turn into smugglers, profiteers, hoarders, black-marketers, and agents of this class of people.These individuals are open minded to forget and forgive the faults/offenses (not severe crimes) of others and expect the same treatment to their faults and offenses (even crimes).But they neither forget nor forgive even minor mistakes and faults of own spouse and do not feel ashamed to settle the score with the spouse by violent methods. They are however more accommodative towards own progeny.In so far as self-interest or selfish motives are not involved, these individuals try to speak the truth, sometimes lies with decorative borders of truth and where selfish motives are involved, they succeed in turning half-truth and pure lies into acceptable truth.Because of this nature, they sometimes become patent witnesses in courts of law, especially on the criminal side.Because of their tact and talent, they, however, succeed in establishing themselves as an expert of handwriting in a court of law.These individuals prove to be efficient and tolerably honest as Treasurers and collectors of money/ funds for a political or social party or person.Sun and Saturn in the 3rd HouseThey together give very great success to every stroke of effort when both are in the 3rd house.These individuals generally work hard, are efficient workers, attach importance to use and utility of their work, always want due returns or rewards for their work.They are capable administrators and also remarkable artisans.They make outstanding commanders of forces, able fighters.Far-sighted strategists, successful investigating and intelligence collecting officials, expert spies, respected envoys, and special representatives.They are very clever observers in any location and situation.Their reporting is always minute and perfect, though sometimes delayed to the extent that the report loses its value for the recipient.The only drawback of this combination in the 3rd is that they lose a brother or sister in childhood, and they are often very strict with their younger brother(s) and sister(s) and do not hesitate in beating them severely.There are rare chances of these individuals being superseded in service.They involve themselves in controversy and conflict.Sun and Saturn in the 4th HouseThese two adversary stars in the 4th house generally affect all subjects concerning the 4th house adversely at one time or the other.Saturn usually gives adverse results in the 4th house and all the more so when in the company of Sun.However, one point needs special observation. If Saturn is behind Sun regarding degrees (say Cancer is in the 4th house and Sun is on the 18th degree of Cancer and Saturn is at 14h degree), Saturn is all the more rash and rude in the 4th house, influencing Sun too, to give adverse results. However if Saturn is ahead of Sun in terms of degrees, Sun and Saturn both would provide results with independent of each other, whether the results are good or bad depending on their lordship.Both, the mother and father would adversely be affected by this placement.If the individual gets injured, besides normal medical aid, examination be conducted whether there has been any injury whatsoever to the skull or any other part of the body, especially to a bone.Care also has to be taken of individual's relations with mother to keep them as sweet, soft and serviceful as possible.Very often influence of spouse works in the opposite direction in this matter. That is ultimately harmful to everyone concerned and detrimental to the interests of the individual and the spouse.These individuals should not take to regular or heavy drinking or smoking and should adopt all such precaution as would avert any trouble to the normal functioning of the heart. In the case of women, care and caution needed to keep away any cancerous ailment of the breast and vaginal region.These individuals should be very selective and careful with regard to friends, partners in business, associates, colleagues, subordinates and servants and employees, including domestic help, lest anyone indulges in theft or cheating!During construction of any premises, house, shop or industrial shed, or any other property, these individuals should take preventive steps against theft and pilferage of cement, bricks, and iron stuff.These individuals should keep themselves above nepotism, favoritism gratification, and groupism. If they come to adverse notice would be a big task to clear the allegations, and if any iota substance is found in the allegations, a punishment of some kind or the other awaits at their door.If these individuals have to undergo any surgical treatment, they should obtain second expert opinion and, then have it done by the best surgeon available.Unless these individuals are willing to tolerate usurpation, they should avoid giving entire house/ building/premises to a single tenant, whatever the temptations offered by the tenant. Vacation and getting back possession of the property would be tough, and sometimes the vacation has to be obtained by paying a huge amount, or the tenant might usurp the property.These individuals have bright chances of being adopted by any man or woman or couple, who would be much richer than the natural parental family of the individual.A favorable point of this combination is that some of these individuals stand to gain substantially from maternal family, from adversaries, opponents, enemies, and competitors.If the gain is not always in terms of money and assets, it is at least in terms of knowledge, success in exams, settlement of claims, or compromise regarding enemy's surrender and material gains thereby in the shape of compensation for losses in the war.These Individuals always fare exceptionally well in settlement of claims with defeated enemies.Sun and Saturn in the 5th House :It gets adversely affected by any lapses on the part of the mother, and sometimes it becomes difficult to avoid natural clearance of the pregnancy.Mother gets lengthy and intermittent labor pains; delivery is difficult sometimes leading to cesarean or forceps delivery of the child.When at the school, the child is slow in grasp, quick in irritation, alert in becoming violent even towards seniors and teachers, tends to become ringleader, group-commander type in school.The child doesn't hesitate to use unfair means at examinations and manages somehow to get promoted to the higher class, if necessary by threatening the examiners.This combination gives a somewhat unattractive appearance to the legs, feet, thighs and even the waist region including front and back portions of the body below the tying line.It can also give skin ailment intermittently on the legs, in some cases hernia trouble, problems to liver, kidney or intestines, issues of the urinary system and stone in the gallbladder.The individual proves an efficient member of the Observer Corps, actions of risk on sea or in flying.This combination makes an individual expert on arms, ammunition, weapons, ordnance, warfare strategy and guiding any acts of offense and defense on a battlefield.The individual might shoulder significant responsibilities in organizations responsible for peacetime and wartime use and usage of Atomic and Nuclear energy.These individuals generally work as employees, may be low or even high, including in politics, with specialization in labor, agriculture, defense, mining, minerals, industry, and skins.Sun and Saturn in the 6th House:They both protect the individual against illness and any disease of long-duration, against an opponent, competitor, adversary or enemy, against any blackmail, generally also against kidnapping.Sun and Saturn do not give an attitude to the individual to create enemies.If the individual stands for election to any office of profit, including for Legislature, they secure help clandestinely from government staff.Unless when the individual is on a path of progress to active politics and office of profit or appointment to at least a middle-level post in bureaucracy, the individual prefers buying or owning an old vehicle, appearing like a new one.Individual gets harassment at the hands of superior bosses, or the hands of organized subordinates. It might also result in either burdensome work unmanageable during office hours or no work at all leaving the individual ideally sitting at the desk.Another harassment can be in the shape of frequent transfers, often to posts or places inconvenient or discomfortable to the individual. Refusal of any leave is another method of harassment in offices.However, in spite of these harassments, the individual stands firm in the saddle.This combination gives very fluctuating relations of affection and jealousy with maternal uncles and aunts and their children. It can be embarrassment and comfort both if the individual has to stay in the maternal home for any long duration.In person to person quarrel and fighting these individuals excel others. Even in exchange of blows and serious violent attack, they don't get defeated, and if defeated by any trick or chance, they do not take it easily; revenge figures soon.If the fight is between two communities, two religionists, two countries, they do not formulate the strategy, but once the strategy is handed over to them, they ardently implement it even at the cost of own limb and life!They often render very personal and useful service at the time of any mass calamity such as famine, floods, earthquake, epidemic and they mobilize support from others, including financial and medical aid.The individual is more often (he than she) is unkind and has an unhelpful attitude towards ailments, complaints of health and paucity of funds where own spouse is concerned. It can be to the extent that the individual considers complaints of the spouse as exaggerated and untrustworthy, or underrates the complaints about a remedy, or delays the remedy.At the same time, the individual is quite demanding of the spouse in a physical relationship, making no secret of the demand.Sun and Saturn in the 7th House:The spouse often has an ego, irritation, and intention to pick up a quarrel or at least heated exchange or single utterance of harsh words, between husband and wife.The actual exchange of blows and violence is not ruled out, and neither of the two remains a silent sufferer whatever the Sign (Rashi) in the 7th house.In spite of verbal and sometimes physical exchanges, the marriage keeps working, and it doesn't fail in giving progeny.Progeny too helps to a great extent continuance of the marriage.It avoids a step leading to divorce or permanent separation, legal or otherwise. The main reason is that Saturn (with Sun) helps the spouse or a companion in the bed, and this keeps the marriage dragging its feet and running!These individuals are good neither in sale and purchase nor in negotiations for sale and purchase or any other matter.These individuals are often rigid in approach and exhibit irritation in face-to-face talks.Similarly, litigation is not the subject of these individuals. They must always engage in efficient and loyal lawyers.It is imperative that these individuals keep off the extramarital affair, casual indulgence in a physical relationship with persons other than the spouse. Chances of a venereal disease or even AIDS are not rare and remote.This type of activity doesn't remain hidden from the spouse and rarely fails to give differences and quarrel, or the spouse develops an unwelcome attitude towards a physical relationship.Sun and Saturn the in 8th HouseDeath could be caused by long illness or any unnatural cause, including an accident.The general tendency of Saturn in the 8" house is to give injuries, and sometimes invalidity too, more so in the waistline and the region lower to it, but at the same time, Saturn gives long life to the individual. Saturn's very nature is to give sufferings by one hand and some relief or compensation by the other hand. Some people might take a long life with invalidity as a curse, while some others take it as a boon that they are at least alive, having a full-term life!These individuals are very much concerned with their name and fame, for good acts and actions or unsocial and unapprovable causes.These individuals have no hitch or hesitation in taking up jobs or duties and responsibilities involving injury and risk to life.A fall from a height or ground level, or any animal of transport, is common for these individuals from childhood itself.Injury by animals with horns or large teeth or paws with nails is also a result of these two planets together in the 8th house.One of the important plus points of these two planets in the 8th house is that they ensure a regular, slow and steady increase in the income by the main or side sources of income.Sun and Saturn in the 9th HouseSaturn generally provides the labor class or agriculturists and agricultural labor as followers for the individual, and whenever a question of physical fight or violence crops up, Saturn and Sun helps the individual to remain in the background and operate through those employees or followers.When the question arises about forming a strategy for: battle or war on behalf of the nation or for actual fighting on the front, Saturn encourages the individual to go ahead without fear or hesitation.Saturn often connects the individual with trade unions, the labor movement, movement on behalf of the agriculturist and farmers.Saturn and Sun here would otherwise give leadership of human power suppliers vis-à-vis placement service people, the leadership of destitute women and prostitutes, orphans, low-paid employees in government or Public sector or private field, the leadership of hotel or motel employees.The individual carries out responsibility quite successfully, though simultaneously the individual also keeps climbing the political ladder.If the individual goes into partnership business, the individual will not allow the other partners to drive him or her out when the partnership concern starts making big profits and grows into expansion.Where the question of association with social, religious, charitable or any public service formation or organization is concerned, the individual will, first of all, find out what is "in it" for the individual, and then walk into it for rendering any real or superfluous service.An individual would work hard and make others too work hard for the progress and advancement of the organization, no doubt retaining a slice for personal benefit!Saturn has little faith in religion or prayers etc. but gives the individual a talent to make pretensions of any and every kind of religious activity to make others believe the individual's religious trend, trait, and tradition. The individual's eyes are only on the personal benefits therefrom.Sun and Saturn in the 10th House :Saturn and Sun combination gives a slap and in the same instant sweets by the other hand, sometimes openly and sometimes secretly.Saturn gives a tendency for indulging in unusual actions, without bothering about the opinion of others or good name and bad name.Saturn is in conjunction with Sun in 10th, though both enemies in permanent as well as birth-time relationship, Saturn has a hidden feeling in mind that after all Sun being father would come to rescue at the time of any physical, financial or legal trouble.Saturn itself doesn't bother, (and influences Sun too not to worry) about appreciation or criticism, approval or disapproval of means, sources and actions used for reaching the desired aim or result.If Saturn and Sun in the 10th lead to a love affair for the individual, it is a whole-hearted affair, no falsehood. However, even the slightest iota of doubt or suspicion about the beloved or the lover results in Saturn not only finishing the affair but also making the opposite party not to quickly think of repetition in these terms throughout life. It applies to Saturn (and Sun's) approach of mind and action in politics and job-competition also.This combination leads the individual to position of power slowly and gradually, from a lower rank to a higher and then highest too, but the path is neither an easy one nor a clear road.It is also a fact that Saturn forces its enemy-father (Sun) never to become ungrateful to these people who extended help and support in time of need, whether Saturn can do any favorable thing to those helpers and supporters in return or not.Sun and Saturn in the 11th House:This combination in the 11th house gives an inbuilt tendency for dishonestly begotten money, whatever the individual's source of income.Even highly placed persons in politics, defense, judiciary, public bodies and organizations of the country go corrupt.An individual with this combination keeps themselves fit.They have confidence in their physical strength and frequently engage in physical bouts.They readily render financial help to near and distant relative.These individuals are quite often dry-natured and not emotional types.These natives are slow to fall in love and also reluctant to declare the love dead.They marry as per family customary. And are loyal to the spouse, notwithstanding their platonic love to others outside the marriage.They believe in action, and they plan implementation thereof.In case of pregnant women, Saturn with Sun in 11th house gives prolonged labor pain at the time of delivery of the child, sometimes the labor pain is intermittent and also fluctuating. But this combination rarely gives cesarean section delivery.Sun and Saturn in the 12th HouseThe first effect is physical injury, illness, and disease concerning bone-structure of the entire body, including the skull.Saturn and Sun combine gives hard injury and generally no bleeding.The medical treatment takes very long and patient as well as the family mustn't become impatient with a due or undue lengthy period of the treatment.Saturn is not very much in favor of a change of treatment-giving medical person, but Sun's presence in the 12th house favors treatment in government-owned or government-aided hospitals.One problem with this combination in the 12th house is that it leads to medical termination of pregnancy, or natural miscarriage or abortion.Loss of money or other valuable assets and possessions including jewelry, cash, and bullion, etc. in due to this combination.In all kind of illegal activity, the individual has either to constitute own gang or join a gang of criminals. And because of the presence of Sun in the 12th house, the individual gets apprehended at some stage sooner or later and is brought to book in the normal course of law.Individuals with this combination in the 12th house prove very efficient investigators, intelligence personnel, efficient police or army or air-force officers.Very often they cannot be expected to be honest in the investigation work.Trading (including smuggling) in all kind of contraband goods, including drugs, liquors, wines, alcohol preparations, intoxicating elements.If they do not indulge in activities of this type, at least they consume any of these items, and because of Saturn, they store the items of their consumption.Another important aspect of this combination is that if they are not directly involved in trade or smuggling of these items they clandestinely help and support persons who trade and smuggle these items.A good many among these individuals are given to some gambling, whatever its shape and form or formality.In some rare cases, and not in case of all individuals, these persons could get sentenced to imprisonment, simple or rigorous, for short or long terms.Saturn (and Sun) does present chances of pre-mature retirement (volunteered by self or imposed by the employer), especially in the case of public and semi-public servants.Termination of job or outright dismissal, with or without pension benefits or without other gains attached to the job.As far as the worst placement goes, every house placement has its own ups and downs. Please analyze yourself.Thanks for reading.

The Battle of Aberdeen1859 ADAndaman IslandsHe could see it all before him; the thundering clouds lightning above the dreary islands, sparking the gloomy skies and throwing light on the land beyond the dark waters. The rough ocean cradled all the other nine ships with equal ferocity, as it did the one on whose deck he was standing, digging the state of the art 1853 Enfield Rifle Musket on the wooden floor and shifting balance on both his feet equally to not let the force of the ocean throw him overboard. He had only heard of the great seas down south in the twenty seven years that he had been alive, but the thought of crossing one had never occurred to his mind.“Demons lurk beyond the dark waters”, his grandmother used to tell him as a child. “Those are black waters, Kaala Paani, and must never be crossed.”Yet there he was, sailing with fifty three other convicts who were entrusted with rifles by the twenty one officers of the British Army, heading towards the haunted islands together, their hatred for each other shrouded by the common fear of the unknown.He slowly gazed at the convict standing to his left, whose old face was rife with terror just like him. They didn’t speak, they couldn’t utter a word; but he was sure that the old man was a Sepoy in the army of the East India Company too, and just like him, he knew that the old man had rebelled against the colonisers with all that he had two years ago, before being beaten down and captured, suppressed and broken, forced to live the life of a convict.He slowly shifted his eyes behind him and glanced over his shoulders to see the seven other boats following them, only to look back as the two boats ahead of him made landfall. He gradually stared up at the evening sun, piercing the grasps of the dark thundering clouds for just a moment; hoping that the only familiar god in his alien surroundings would give him the strength to emerge alive.A storm was coming.The little sunlight piercing the clouds was suddenly shrouded by darkness. But it wasn’t the billowing mass that was the culprit, it was something else.“Take cover”, he heard a white officer yell at the top of his voice, and even though he did not understand the foreign language, the sight before him told his instincts what needed to be done. A volley of hundreds of arrows showered upon them, obscuring the sunlight and cracking hard on the wooden floor of the boats. He rolled swiftly to his right and managed to hide behind a box of supplies, as the wooden arrows pelted all around him. He heard the cries of a few of his fellow crew mates, and he battled against the rattling noise of the arrows falling all around, but he managed to survive— at least for the time being.He got up by stomping his rifle on the floor below and came back to the position where he stood, as his eyes met the dead ones of the old convict who was earlier standing to his left, unable to save himself from the volley— multiple arrows piercing through his legs, chest, and neck. The sight of the blood blanketing the floor of the deck definitely froze him, but it was the jolt from the hull of the boat crashing with the land below that made him lose his balance and go down on the floor. The boat had come to a sudden halt, it could move ahead no longer. The journey was now on foot.“Go. Go. Go”, he heard the white officers shouting in the alien language again. But this was a command he knew well. He took in a deep breath and held his Enfield Rifle tightly, as he picked himself up and rushed ahead along with all the men in the boat who were jumping overboard in a hurry and running for the beach a few meters ahead where the real action would take place. He rushed hard to the front of the deck, before grabbing the railing with his left hand and jumped off the boat towards the rough waters.His feet sank in easily and found the soft sand below. It didn’t take him any more time to balance himself for he didn’t have any. Digging his feet further into the sand, he marched ahead in the waist high waters as he saw hundreds of dark figures emerging on the beige sanded beach, carrying wooden spears and bows, and engaging with the men of the first two ships which had made the landfall. He rallied hard along with his compatriots, a few fearless ones running ahead and firing their rifles from that distance, which he was certain did not do them any favours from that far. But all of a sudden the men who were running ahead, started falling down one by one, being swallowed by the disturbed waters in which they were pouncing. And that is when he realised that his enemies weren’t just fighting the battle on the beach ahead, but also silently sleeping in the waters below, holding their long breaths as they were known for, and pulling down the oncoming soldiers who didn’t know what struck them. By the time they were able to make any sense of the travesty, they were already dead— their heads smacked in by wooden clubs or strangulated in the water by their abnormally strong assailants.Realising the threat which lurked beneath his feet, he quickened his pace, hoping that the shallow waters closer to the beach would help his cause. But it was only a matter of time before he felt human hands grabbing his legs and moving upwards at a ferocious pace, and before he could react, they were around his neck. He was pulled inside the dark waters in an instant, unable to even grab one last breath. The strong arms trying to strangulate him tightened around his neck like a python constricts its prey. The enormous pressure, coupled with the lack of fresh air to breath almost made him lose his consciousness. His lungs burnt and his throat ached, but there was nothing in his power that he could have done. He tried scratching at the hands that were holding him to no effect, their strength magnifying with each moment that brought him closer to his end. And so he did the only thing that he still could have done. He turned the barrel of his rifle to face the face of his assailant, and utilised the last whiff of strength that was left in his body to move his free hand and place his finger on the trigger. He pulled it without any delay, hoping that he’d somehow survive— which he did. The musket made a subdued noise, but propelled the bullet ahead which greeted the face of his assailant with might. The arms strangulating him freed all their energy, and he pumped his feet into the sand below to jump up with everything that he had.For a moment he couldn’t hear anything other than the sound of his own breath, growing louder and louder with each moment, filling his lungs with more air than they could hold. It took him some time to realise that he was still alive, and just when he saw the dead body of his assailant calmly floating to his side with a blown up face, he knew that what he was witnessing was real. He took in another deep breath and looked up at the tangerine sun, as he resolved to not die… not that day.He saw more of those charcoal skinned assailants approaching towards him in the shallow waters, running with determination, carrying their wooden spears and clubs. He knew that he had to react. He swiftly pulled out a cartridge which was stuck to his belt, tore the paper case wrapped around it with his teeth, pore the gunpowder down the muzzle of his rifle before thrusting in the bullet, and pulled out the ramrod from a slot beneath the rifle barrel before thrusting it into the muzzle as he prepared to fight the three tribals approaching him.The Rifle Musket, though state of the art, shot just a single bullet in a go and had to be filled with another bullet which took its own precious time. And he knew, that he wasn’t going to able to fire another shot. He had one bullet and three men to kill, and in those unfavourable circumstances he knew that he’d have to use his own strength.As soon as the three tribals approached within his firing range, he carefully held the Musket with both his hands and steadied himself to make the kill shot. He had to ensure that they were close, for if he missed the shot, he was dead. A taller one among the three leapt ahead hard, swinging his wooden club in the air and yelling his battle cry, completely unaware of the foreign weapon which could blow his head to pieces before he’d even realise what had transpired. The Musket bearing man closed his eyes, took in a long breath, and pulled the trigger.His rifle clicked definitely, but failed to fire the shot. He stared at his gun in disbelief and pulled the trigger again, only to fail to fire.That was the moment he knew that he was dead.The tall tribesman yelled harder as he came face to face with the Musket bearer, and swung his club furiously as he leapt in the air. But the man fortunately ducked in time, as the club went past his head and failed to smash it in. He trotted ahead as he realised that his strength was the only thing which could keep him alive. As soon as the next tribesman approached him, he held onto the muzzle of his rifle and took a circular turn as he brought down his weapon with might, the wooden back of his gun hitting the face of his assailant and making him fall down.He didn’t stop, but turned back to face the tall tribal again, who was back to attack at him. He switched his hands, as he made the bayonet, the spike-shaped bladed weapon attached to the front of his gun, slash at the hand of the tall tribal, making him lose his grip and slipping the wooden club which he held. He made his gun face him again, as he pulled the trigger, the gun failing to fire the shot again, probably since it had been submerged under water. But he didn’t let this stop him.He turned back around, lifted the Musket with his hands over his head, and thrust the bayonet like a spear with everything that he had; making the blade traverse through the eye of the third tribal and exiting cleanly from the back of his head— fracturing his skull, slicing through his brain, and killing him instantly.He pulled it out, yelling and bracing for an incoming attack from the second tribal. The muzzle of his gun clashed with the wooden spear of his assailant, whose strength clearly overpowered his, making him withdraw his weapon and jump back to evade the spear attack. He pointed his gun at the second assailant again, as he pulled the trigger, only to see his gun failing him yet again. So he held onto the muzzle and swung the gun, but missed his mark by a lot of distance. The tall tribesman had had enough of his antics by then, who rushed ahead, managed to hold onto his weapon, and overpowered his strength with ease as he twisted his arms and managed to snatch the gun out of his hand.Losing his weapon though meant imminent death to the Musket bearer. So he instinctively dashed ahead and slammed his body into his assailant’s ribs, probably cracking a couple, and making him fall down in the shallow waters.He soon eyed the wooden club of his attacker which was floating in the water. He picked it up and turned back in time, as he dodged the spear attack of the second assailant and rolled his body around while marching ahead, before cracking his fist on the attacker’s face— once, and again, and again, and again— punching his face, breaking his nose with his newfound strength, and finally smacking the club diagonally to his jaw, snapping his neck bone and killing him instantly.He turned back again to face the tall tribesman who now held the 1853 Enfield Rifle Musket. The tribal stared down the barrel of the foreign weapon, curiously analysing what it was, and why the man tried clicking at the little clap beneath it so many times. He clicked on the trigger— once, twice, thrice; and that is when the loaded Musket realised what its purpose was. His head blew up instantly, the final shot of the gun more than effective. The tall tribesman’s dead body swayed along with the direction of the gentle wind, as it struck the surface of the shallow knee-deep waters, his curiosity leading to his demise.The convict’s face was left perplexed as he witnessed the manner of his assailant’s death, his faith founding belief in the gods again, who seemed to have abandoned him lately. He gradually looked all around, the battle on the beach ahead erupting with chaos. Seven boats had made the landfall and the men had rushed out and started fighting the tribals with hook or crook. They had the advantage of the weapon they carried, but loading a bullet after every shot could not be afforded in the close range in which they were being hunted by the tribals who had superior numbers, spears, and indomitable strength. The battle between the two sides was very much equal.He looked at his gun which silently drowned in the shallow waters, as he decided to slowly waddle ahead, towards the right end of the beach which stood a little away from the battle. The tangerine sun had somehow found its way away from the billowing mass, and now shone with pride, overlooking the chaos happening below. The convict gently struck his feet on the soft sand of the beach finally, as he looked to his left and oversaw the carnage— skulls were being broken, hearts were being pierced, arms getting chopped off, and horrified men suffering cardiac arrest— the beige sand of the clean beach was already marked by blood and gore. It was a battle that was slowly slipping away, the tribesmen looking at the prospects of a decisive victory from the foreign invaders.But that is when the three remaining ships made landfall and their men rushed out on the beach. They didn’t run in to join their dying friends; they simply formed the positions they were instructed to by the white officers and stood ground, waiting for their enemy to come and meet them. The eighteen men gladly followed the order, nine of them got down on their knees while the nine others stood stout; all of them pointing their guns ahead. It was going to be a volley fire, as the men would take turns shooting. The tribals were ecstatic to see so many targets gathered together, and they rushed ahead ferociously, yelling their battle cry at the top of their voices and holding their weapons above their heads.And that is all that the foreigners wanted.“Fire”, the British officers standing with their men ordered them, and they responded with might. The nine men sitting on their knees fired first, followed by the standing ones while they reloaded their weapons, and they all continued the suit. The volley fire was effective, horrendously effective, as it butchered the tribals and left no stones unturned. The men and officers fighting ahead rushed back too and formed another formation some distance away, repeating the orders, and executing them to perfection. The carnage was just horrific.The bullets hit their heads and blew them, struck their hearts and stopped them. The state of the art 1853 Enfield Rifle Muskets, which had played a huge part in starting and suppressing the Indian Revolution of 1857 as well as the Crimean war in which the Russian Empire was defeated, showed its mettle and turned the tides to the favour of the foreigners in no time. Wooden spears and clubs stood no chance against the combined action and the tribals started falling down like cards.The women of the tribes, who didn’t participate in the battle, saw their husbands and sons being butchered from the distance, and they knew that they couldn’t hold back. Most of them picked up the weapons and rushed for the battleground.A few, six to be precise, knew that the battle was lost. They also knew why the foreigners were trying to snatch their home so desperately. They didn’t want the land for they already had the biggest empire in the world. They were looking for something else. An elder one among them nodded slowly, and they all decided to rush back to their settlement with only one task to do. Guard the ‘Stone of Gods’ which their tribe had protected for centuries, and ensure that it survives— even if their own people don’t.The convict, who stood on the beach, a little away from the battle soon saw a tribesman running towards him. The man had seen the massacre, he knew that the foreigners would win, and so he decided to take on the man who stood a little away and didn’t carry the ungodly weapon. He yelled his battlecry as he swung his club, willing to take down as many foreigners as he could. The convict had had enough by then, and knowing that his side was winning the battle, he found his lost courage.He lifted up his left hand as he blocked the oncoming attack of the tribal, before bringing up his feet and levelling it on his attacker’s chest, pushing him back and making him lose his balance. And he didn’t waste any more time to let the man recuperate. He rushed ahead and jammed his right fist on the tribesman’s face, blocked another attack, and brought his fist again with might at the same spot. The attacker grew a bit dizzy and lost the grip on his club. The convict on the other hand found a tiger inside of him— right punch to break the nose, blocking the oncoming attack and twisting the arm, shattering the wrist bone; swinging in a circle and thrusting the elbow to the assailant’s head, kicking his knee, peeling his eyes out with his fingers, a left punch on the chin to open the gash, and finally going around to stand behind the broken man, holding his head for some time, before twisting it and breaking his neck in a single snap.As soon as his assailant’s body hit the sand, he looked around at the battle which was in its last leg. The butchered bodies of the tribesmen sprawled all across the beach, the remaining ones bravely trying to match the bullets or bayonets, but failing miserably.Men with dangling intestines crawled their bodies ahead towards the water, preferring to drown in the sea than let the pain kill them slowly. Wasted limbs and a thick blood cover plagued the place, death was all that was left on the silent beach. The convict’s eyes suddenly caught the sight of a group of six women trying to slip back towards their settlement, rushing through the dense woods hurriedly unlike the other women who had joined their husbands on the battlefield to die. He knew that something was amiss. He took in a long breath and looked up at the setting sun as he closed his eyes and thanked the sun-god for keeping him alive, before grabbing the wooden club of the man he just killed with his bare hands and rushing for the dense forests, following the trail left by the six women.

I am keen to see the supposed assessment of the German observers in this question. I have never read such an assessment.But based on my understanding of expert assessment of Japanese military performance, the short answer is Yes, it was obsolete judging by the standards of modern warfare in WW2.Because this answer features personal opinions in addition to facts and expert assessments, take it with a grain of salt. (quite long but please bear with me)PreludeDuring WW2, Japan was unique in that it was the only major Asian combatant nation that boasted a formidable war machine and significant technological-military-industrial capability. Some may argue that India and Chinese were also major combatant nations due to the large number of Indian + Chinese troops involved in the war but I disagree because it is my opinion that for a nation to qualify as major combatant nation, manpower alone isn’t sufficient. That nation had to possess significant technological-military-industrial capability with a degree of self-sufficiency. Only 7 nations possessed that: the US, Nazi Germany, British Empire, the Soviet Union, France, Japan and Italy.The Japanese armed forces - its capabilities and philosophy - were not well known and well understood. Indeed, Japan was (and still is) a nation that was in every way different from European nations + the US. Japanese language, customs and traditions can be hard for non-Japanese to fully master and appreciate.Japan’s peculiarity coupled with prevalent European’s racial arrogance toward non-Europeans resulted in underestimation of the Japanese armed forces. With the exception of a few astute observers, most Westerners - both civilians + military personnel - viewed the Japanese with contempt. A stereotypical perception of a Japanese soldier was that of a monkey-like figure with buck-teeth, bespectacled, bow-legged, unkempt in ill-fitting uniforms. From this contempt stemmed the belief that Japanese fighting men were inferior and unworthy opponents to European or American fighting men.That was a belief widely held by British and American military personnel up to when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and executed their Oriental Blitzkrieg with astounding ferocity and efficiency that concluded in a sequence of resounding Japanese victories and humiliating Allied defeats. Not only did the Americans and British paid dearly for underestimating the Japanese, the bitter pills of defeat prompted a somber reevaluation of an enemy they had persistently considered inferior.The end result is eye-opening insight into the strength and weaknesses of the Japanese fighting force.Army leadership mindset and its effect on doctrines and tacticsJapanese infantry tactics in WW2 were influenced by the following factors:European influencesCombat experiencesMost importantly, the peculiar mindset of army leadersLong story short, the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) that fought in WW2 was established in response to the need to eradicate rebels opposed to Emperor Meiji who sought to modernize the nation to deter foreign intrusion.In order to create a powerful military capable of defending the nation against foreign threats, the Japanese recruited European military experts. Convinced that their army and navy had to be modeled after the best army and navy in the world, the Japanese army was modeled after the Prussian (later German) army while the Japanese navy was modeled after the British Royal Navy. Consequently, Japanese army tactics/doctrines were heavily influenced by German infantry tactics/doctrines (at least initially).First and foremost, the IJA (and to a lesser extent the IJN) displayed an unfailing faith in the value of fighting spirit. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that one salient characteristic of the IJA that distinguished it from the armies of other major powers was its overemphasis on elan and fighting spirit over other factors, including weaponry, firepower and material.This had to do with the philosophies embraced by the founding leadership of the IJA all of whom were former samurais. The samurais stressed heavily the value of seishin (fighting spirit) and hand-to-hand combat in war. Although the army composed of commoners they commanded in the Boshin War defeated the samurai rebels, they praised the samurai rebels for their unmatched elan and skills in hand-to-hand combat. At the same time, they complained bitterly based on battlefield observations or anecdotal stories about the lack of martial spirit and aggressiveness of the commoner soldiers.As a result of their entrenched mindset, army leadership insisted on rigorous spiritual training to foster bravery and aggressiveness in the foot soldiers. Enlisted men were subjected to intense physical conditioning AND - most importantly - hand to hand combat.Now, this emphasis on hand-to-hand combat was at least understandable in an era when weapons did not yet possess the mass-destruction capability back in the late 19th and early 20th century (before the advent of automatic weapons like MG and SMG, tanks, artillery).However, what was incomprehensible was the fact that such emphasis on close-range combat and fighting spirit lasted throughout the time frame that spanned the years preceding and during WW2 in which weapons with mass-killing capabilities were introduced into service around the world; and the perpetuation of that combat style stemmed from support from the highest echelon in the IJA as well as combat experience in China.This warrants an elaboration.During the years between WW1 and WW2, there were intriguing developments among the leadership of the IJA that would affect everything associated with the service: its growth, structure, weapons, doctrines and tactics.Those developments revolved around the intense disputes over the restructuring of the IJA. Essentially, IJA leadership was divided into two camps: traditionalists and reformists.The reformists consisted of reform-minded officers who had been sent to Europe as attaches and observers of modern warfare between the Entente and Central Powers. Upon returning to Japan, they sought to modernize the IJA based on their evaluation of European-style modern warfare as well as their anticipation of what future conflicts would entail.Essentially, the reformists favored modern technologies, combined-arms warfare and triangular divisions. Having witnessed the effectiveness of triangular divisions supported by artillery in Europe, the reformists argued that smaller triangular divisions had greater mobility well-suited to mobile warfare (bewegungkrieg). Also, the reduction in manpower could either be used to form more divisions or artillery units attached to infantry divisions. The reformists also foresaw that future conflict would likely be protracted war against industrially powerful enemies (such as the US, Great Britain, and Soviet Union). Fighting such a war effectively demanded effective total mobilization of all kinds of resources: industrial, economic, technological and manpower. Finally, solid logistics could not be overlooked.Opposing the reformists were traditionalists who called for maintaining a large standing army. They argued that because Japan lagged significantly behind European nations and the US in terms of industrial capacity and material resources, it would not be able to fight a protracted war effectively. However, it could win a short war by attacking the enemy with overwhelming force and dealing a crushing defeat. This in turn demanded large manpower to sustain heavy casualties and to overwhelm the enemy by the application of superior seishin and hand-to-hand combat rather than technologies and firepower.The traditionalists’ opposition to modern technologies stemmed from the following factors, of which some were valid and some were not:The IJA operated in Asia which, unlike modern industrialized Europe, was largely agrarian and without modern transportation infrastructure. The absence of paved roads, railroads and steel bridge would make movements by mechanized and motorized units extremely difficult. What was the point of using technologies if the conditions to facilitate their use did not exist in the IJA’s theater of war? Later when the IJA won numerous tactical victories against the poorly armed, led and trained Chinese troops in China and against Allied troops in the Pacific with existing outdated weaponries, their disinterest in modern weapons intensified. They thought that there was no point in investing scarce resources to create modern weapons when what they already had were more than enough to defeat their enemies.Despite the great strides they made in industrialization, Japan’s industrial capacity was surpassed by a wide margin by that of European powers and the US. The difficulty of mass production, poor quality control and lack of wherewithals for R&D made it exceedingly difficult to manufacture modern weaponries in quantities demanded by modern war.Army leaders were not only skeptical of but also disdainful of modern weaponries. Being former or descended from samurais, they preferred hand-to-hand combat, the swords or bayonets and regarded technologies as Western conceit. If anything, modern weapons took a backseat to the fighting spirit of individual soldiers. (not valid)Again, army leaders’ undying belief in the power of seishin to overcome material and technological inferiority. (questionable)All in all, the traditionalists won the disputes although with some compromises. Arsenals were built to research and build new weapons. Light and medium tanks were developed to support IJA infantry in China. Some IJA divisions were transformed from square to triangular structure. But for the most part, the philosophies, and consequently doctrines and tactics of the IJA remained largely unchanged: an overemphasis on hand-to-hand combat AND superior seishin and aggressiveness.Japanese infantry tacticsThe afore-described mindset of IJA leadership profoundly shaped Japanese infantry doctrines and tactics.In 1928, a new edition of “Principles of Command” was issued. Unsurprisingly, it stressed again and again that elan and morale were key to defeat or victory and therefore constituted the cornerstone of IJA’s modern doctrine.In essence, Japanese infantry training emphasized:offensive-mindednessexploitation of the cover of darkness to achieve surprise, to encircle the enemy with stealthdeception and infiltrationswift shock action combined with sheer tenacity and aggressiveness to close in and engage the enemy in hand to hand combat embodied in the bayonetThe rationale underlying those tactical elements was:to compensate for deficiencies in modern weaponries and materials. Also, by fighting the enemy in close quarter, the Japanese hoped to nullify their enemy’s advantage in artillery, automatic weapons.the Japanese’s unshakable conviction in the power of seishin to overcome anything: including bombs and bullets (once again)Accordingly, Japanese infantry recruits trained ceaselessly in bayonet drills and various forms of close-quarter fighting such as kendo, judo, wrestling.Bayonet trainingKendo matchThroughout the war, Japanese soldiers stood out with their bayonet-affixed rifles in encounters with their enemies. It became an iconic image of IJA infantrymen.Therein lay the strength of Japanese army training program. It produced a large number of fighting men who were physically resilient, agile and deadly in bayonet combats. Zhukov commented on the IJA troops who fought the Soviets in the Mongolian border class in 1939:Well-trained especially in close-quarter fighting that involved the bayonets. Well-disciplined, tenacious in combat, stubborn in defense. Junior commanders were well-trained and fanatically determined in battle.HoweverThere were serious weaknesses which the Japanese failed to rectified throughout the war. Little attention was given to combined-arms attacks that involved a well-balanced force composed of AFV, artillery, air support and infantry. This was easy to understand because Japanese leaders had little understanding of and disdain for technologies (mentioned above); and even if they had wanted to conduct combined-arms attack, Japan’s limited resources meant that they could not procure enough hardware to accomplish that.Moreover, there was a notable lack of individual initiative, imagination AND cooperation between large-scale friendly formations. This stemmed from several factors:Japanese culture encouraged competitive spirit. Competition was preferred to cooperation. Within the IJA, team combat tactics were discouraged. There was also regionalism. The leadership believed that by organizing conscripts from the same geographical regions into regional units and inciting them to outcompete units from other regions, they would be motivated to fight hard for the honor of their regions. This meant that IJA units were highly motivated individually but lacked the willingness and the ability to operate together in large-scale operation over vast geographical area (due to inferior-quality radios which hampered field communication)Widespread brutality in the army (and navy):Since its establishment, the officer corp of the IJA was composed of samurais which occupied the highest social class whereas the foot soldiers came from lower classes. This resulted in officers treating their men with contempt and brutality.To counteract the spread of individualism and baleful western influences (during the Taisho democracy era), Japanese officers resorted to corporal punishments to instill discipline and to purge harmful liberal ideas from the men.Believing that swift victories in combat could be achieved by swift execution of order, army officers endeavored to turn their subordinate into automatons who would carry out orders without questions and thinking. This in turn necessitated instilling fear by sadistic beating, hazing and abuse of the recruits.The unconscionable violence pervading the army produced fearsome killing agents who would fight the war with astounding barbarism and efficiency, leading to atrocities. But at the same time, unquestioning obedience stifled individual initiative and creativity in military situation.Indeed, IJA’s infantry training exercises were marked by little imagination, almost invariably staged with predictable outcomesunsupported infantry units routinely penetrated the first line of Soviet defenses. Despite the many deficiencies exposed during maneuvers, esp the lack of combined-arms cooperation, they always ended with an infantry breakthrough. In other words, exercises relied more on memorization of predictable tactical solutions than on imagination.One consequence was the unimaginative application of tactics even in unfamiliar situations wherein conditions for success did not pertain. Prevalent among IJA’s officer corps was an uncritical adherence to textbook prescription. This was akin to a student who was very studious but not particularly clever who frequently consults his/her notes for clues to solve an unfamiliar problem. Zhukov pointedly captured this weakness:their officers, esp senior officers, lack initiative and are apt to act according to crammed rulebook.At this point, you can clearly see how outdated Japanese infantry tactics were: characterized by little individual initiative, unimaginative application of tactical solutions, and an obsessive stress on seishin and hand-to-hand combat.Next, let’s see how effective such tactics were in the war.Effectiveness of IJA’s infantry tacticsIn the wake of humiliating defeats at the hands of an enemy they had regarded as inferior, Allied soldiers were astounded by the audacity, rapidity, tenacity and sheer barbarism of their Japanese foes. Almost overnight, stereotypes of the Japanese were overturned from inferiority to superiority. Allied soldiers ascribed almost superhuman qualities to Japanese fighters. Some let their first impression prevailed over their rationality by asserting that the Japanese were even better than the Germans (ridiculous).However, a rational assessment reveals the true strengths and weaknesses of the IJA and its soldiers and officers.There were several factors accounting for the incredible success of the IJA’s conquest of European colonial possessions.Battle experience: the IJA had fought the Chinese for years before 1941 so they obviously had accumulated a great deal of experience. While the poorly trained and armed Chinese soldiers were not comparable to Allied soldiers who were more physically fit and better armed, the experience fighting the Chinese hardened IJA infantrymen and accustomed them to the stress and perils of combat.Morale fueled by inflated sense of racial superiority: racial arrogance and contempt pertained in Japan too. The Japanese emulated their Nazi ally in formulating and promoting their own brand of racial superiority. Japanese troops were inculcated with the myth of Japanese spiritual superiority, racial purity that would enable them to defeat the materially superior but hedonistic and cowardly European troops (Chinese soldiers were regarded as armed bandits. British, French and Dutch soldiers were deemed as fit for fighting rebels in their colonies only. But the Japanese respected the Germans).The incompetence of Allied commanders and soldiery: German victory in Europe compelled the British to concentrate most of their resources to counter German threat in Europe at the expense of defense in Asian colonies. Inadequate funding, supply and refusal to reinforce Singapore and Malaya led to deterioration of defense there. Allied troops were poorly trained and unmotivated. Their commanders were incompetent and underestimating the Japanese.All of these factors contributed to easy Japanese victories. It stands to reason that their success was due as much to the shortcomings of their adversaries as to their own strengths.However, as the Allies recovered from their setbacks, reorganized and fought back with vigor and determination, they would come to appreciate both the strengths and weaknesses of the IJA.On the one hand, Allied soldiers and officers recognized the daring and ruthlessness with which the Japanese conducted flanking maneuvers and night-fighting that relied heavily on speed, stealth and surprise. According to one US Army handbook:Surprise is a cardinal principle of all Japanese actions. It is accomplished through rapidity of advance, deception of all kinds, and infiltration and demonstration in the enemy rear; in short, all means available are utilized, and speed is greatly emphasized.The Japanese proficiency in bayonet combat was acknowledged, esp in the jungles on Pacific islands which greatly reduced combat range and allowed the Japanese to engage in close-quarter action.And finally, the Allies respected the Japanese for their sheer tenacity and bravery both in offense and defense. The Japanese proved very adept in the defense as demonstrated on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Also, they consistently stayed where they were and fought to the death.But on the other handsAllied soldiers quickly recognized the serious shortcomings explained above: lack of imagination, inability to conduct combined-arms operation, lack of cooperation in ground operation, inflexibility and above recklessness (engendered by a mixture of arrogance and overemphasis on attacking).Japanese troops unfailingly showed a fondness for reckless attack even when they lacked the resources to ensure success, when they were outgunned and outnumbered. Their disregard for heavy casualties made it easy for them to do so. US Marines were amazed at both the fanatical bravery and stupidity of Japanese troops they fought on Pacific Islands. Their fanaticism (fueled by contempt of the enemies) caused them to fight in tactically asinine manner which ended in self-annihilation.The IJA’s unimaginative tactics, tactical inflexibility, lack of initiative and cooperation on the grounds brought disastrous consequences in battles against well-prepared enemies. One example was the Battle of Imphal between the IJA and British-Indian force commanded by British General William Slim. In 1942, Slim’s forces suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Japanese in Burma because the Japanese employed swift flanking maneuver to encircle and cut off retreat route of the British. To achieve this, IJA small units carried minimal amount of supplies to move unencumbered on the field. They were able to defeat the British by swift surprise overpowering attack and capture British supplies for their own use.Recognizing that Japanese tactical success depended on surprise and speed of attack at the expense of logistics, Slim knew that if his soldiers could defeat Japanese flanking maneuvers and protect the supply, Japanese attack would falter and fail eventually. This was exactly what British-Indian forces did in the battle of Imphal in 1944. The Japanese applied the same tactical tricks they used 2 years before against an enemy well-prepared to counter that tactic. In the end, Japanese flanking maneuvers and ill-supplied IJA units ran out of supplies and fell into disarray.Having been taught to obey orders without questions, Japanese soldiers were never allowed to think outside of the box and to take over when they lost their commanders. This was in stark contrast to the German army in which soldiers were encouraged to act above their ranks and to take over when officers became casualties which gave the German army high degree of organizational cohesion. Indeed, US General J. Lawton Collins who had the distinction of serving both in Europe and the Pacific made the following insightful statement (Who was the tougher World War II enemy, the Germans or the Japanese?)They were radically different. The German was far more skilled than the Japanese. Most of the Japanese that we fought were not skilled men. Not skilled leaders. The German had a professional army. . . . The Japanese army was very much like ours in a sense. They had a small corps of officers who were professionals. But the bulk of their people were not professionals in the sense of knowing their business and so on. They didn’t have the equipment that we had. They didn’t know how to handle combined arms-the artillery and the support of the infantry-to the same extent we did. … They fought very, very hard, but they were not nearly as skillful as the Germans.The lack of cooperation between field units was evident on Pacific islands. Ill-informed on the progresses of friendly units and disdainful of each other, IJA units mounted uncoordinated piecemeal attacks against US positions defended by barb wires and machine guns. The result was invariably the decimation of IJA units.ConclusionWhen judged against the framework of modern warfare of WW2 characterized by the widespread use of advanced technologies, communication and combined-arms operations, Japanese infantry tactics were indeed outdated.The outdatedness of those tactics could be attributed to the outdated mindset of IJA leadership. Locked in an old worldview of the romantic samurai tradition, IJA leaders obsessively emphasized seishin and hand-to-hand combat while neglecting the important role of modern technologies and communication. For the Japanese, modern weaponries were secondary to the intangible elements of warfare: surprise, deception, speedy maneuvers, faith in victory, and fighting spirit.The outcome was a fighting force made of soldiers who were exceptionally brave, physically resilient, agile, proficient in close-quarter combat, tenacious and at the same time well-drilled automatons who excelled in familiar combat situations but floundered in unfamiliar situations and were inflexible in the execution of their battle plans.Japanese tactics worked well against ill-prepared enemies and at close range. But against well-prepared enemies with modern weaponries and supported by airpower and artillery, they failed utterly. When given an order, Japanese commanders sought to achieve the objectives with the available resources rather than determine the chance of achieving success. The rigidity and lack of imagination of IJA leadership coupled with Allies superiority in technologies and weaponries led to repeated defeats for the IJA after the 1st few months of easy victories in 1942.Those aforementioned attributes made the IJA a truly unique fighting force. I think there is a factual basis in the cliche that the Japanese were first rate soldiers in a third rate army. The individual Japanese soldiers were tough, determined, brave and fanatical. But their leadership and everything stemming from it: tactics, doctrines, organization were ineffective and on many occasions proved spectacularly incompetent. A legitimate argument can be made that the IJA had the mindset of a 17th-century army equipped with 20th-century weapons. Their irrational and unfailing belief in the power of fighting spirit, intangible assets cheaper than materials such as sheer physical and spiritual strengths, and neglect of essential role of technologies showed that the Japanese were incapable of fighting modern war effectively and they paid the price dearly for that inability.General William Slim:Strength of IJA lay, according to Marshal Slim, not in high-level leadership and operational competence but in the spiritual strength of individual Japanese soldiers. It was the combination of obedience and ferocity that made the Japanese army whatever its conditions, so formidable, and would make any army formidable. It would make an European army invincible.The Japanese were ruthless and bold as ants while their designs went well, but if their plans were disturbed or thrown out—ant-like again—they fell into confusion, were slow to re-adjust themselves, and invariably clung too long to their original schemes. This, to commanders with their unquenchable military optimism, which rarely allowed in their narrow administrative margins for any setback or delay, was particularly dangerous. The fundamental fault of their generalship was a lack of moral, as distinct from physical, courage. They were not prepared to admit that they had made a mistake, that their plans had misfired and needed recasting. ... Rather than confess that, they passed on to their subordinates, unchanged, the order that they themselves had received, well knowing that with the resources available the tasks demanded were impossible. Time and again, this blind passing of responsibility ran down a chain of disaster... . They scored highly by determination; they paid heavily for lack of flexibility.Douglas MacArthur:Japanese troops fight with the greatest tenacity. The military quality of the rank and file remains of the highest caliber. The officer corps however, deteriorates as you go up the scale. It is fundamentally based upon a caste and feudal system and does not represent strict professional merit. Therein lies Japan’s weakness. Her sons are strong of limbs and stout of heart but weak in leadership. Gripped inexorably by a military hierarchy, that hierarchy is now failing the nation. It has had neither the imagination nor the foresighted ability to organize Japanese resources for a total war.Arthur Swinson:The Japanese martial system produces not only courage, loyalty and brutality but also rigidity and stupidity. It led to great daring and acceptance of risks but also to bad staff work and administrative blunders.Reference(s)1/ Japan's Imperial Army: Its Rise and Fall (Modern War Studies) - Edward J. Drea2/ Military Effectiveness: Volume 3, The Second World War (Military Effectiveness (Hardcover)) 2nd Edition, Kindle Edition - Allan R. Millett (Editor), Williamson Murray (Editor)