In the Second World War, During the Struggle for New

question 69

Short Answer

In the Second World War, during the struggle for New Guinea, intelligence reports revealed that the Japanese were planning to move a troop and supply convoy from the port of Rabaul at the Eastern tip of New Britain to Lae, which lies just west of New Britain on New Guinea. It could either travel via a northern route which was plagued by poor visibility, or by a southern route, where the visibility was clear. General Kenney, who was the commander of the Allied Air Forces in the area, had the choice of concentrating reconnaissance aircraft on one route or the other, and bombing the Japanese convoy once it was sighted. Suppose that General Kenney had a third alternative: Splitting his reconnaissance aircraft between the two routes Kenney's staff drafted the following outcomes for his choices, where the payoffs are estimated days of bombing time: $\begin{array} { l }&\text { Japanese Commander's Strategies }\\\begin{array} { l } \text { Kenney's}\\ \text {Strategies }\\\end{array}&\begin{array}{|l|c|c|}\hline & \text { NorthernRoute } & \text { SouthernRoute } \\\hline \text { Northern Route } & 2 & 2.5 \\\hline \text { Split Reconnaissance } & 0.5 & 2 \\\hline \text { Southern Route } & 1 & 4 \\\hline\end{array}\end{array}$
What would you have recommended to General Kenney

__________ (Northern Route or Split Reconnaissance or Southern Route)
What would you have recommended to the Japanese Commander

__________ (Northern Route or Southern Route)
How much bombing time results if these recommendations are followed

__________days

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Definitions:

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The amount of money that must be paid to obtain a given product or service.

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The loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen.

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