Chapter 48 children set off firecrackers

On April 22, the Seventh Fleet arrived at the sea of ​​Jayapura. When the staff officers of the Japanese Army Command found that the Americans, their warships and transport ships had entered the harbor, they were all shocked. With the support of naval guns, groups of landing craft broke through the morning fog and rushed to the beach.This was the largest landing battle in the Southwest Pacific at that time, with as many as 84,000 troops participating, including 52,000 assault troops. The raid was very successful. Jayapura assembled 15,000 Japanese troops, but 90% of them were logistics troops. They fled to the mountains and jungles one after another.The first echelon of the U.S. military landed safely on the beach without encountering any major resistance.When they came to the front of the Japanese army's camp, rice porridge was still cooking in the iron pot on the Japanese stove, and weapons and various supplies were thrown all over the floor.

Four hours after the first echelon rushed to the beach, surrounded by Kruger, Eickelberg and a large group of reporters, MacArthur went ashore in a landing craft for inspection. Although the weather was suffocating, MacArthur, who was 64 years old at the time, was still walking vigorously during the two-hour inspection, and surprisingly, he didn't even sweat a little. After returning to the flagship, MacArthur made an exception to celebrate his favorite generals.Kruger, Eickelberg and others were taken to a dining room with a huge freezer, and each was given a piece of chocolate ice cream.

Eating ice cream at the equator is a rare treat, and Eickelberg swallowed his own portion in a hurry.Seeing this, MacArthur walked to him with a smile, and handed his untouched share to him. MacArthur and his subordinates had good reason to be happy, because this outing-like combat operation can be regarded as an excellent example of "leapfrog tactics". Ekelberg had been to Jayapura before. At that time, there were only a few villages inhabited by indigenous people and a large tract of virgin forest. Now it is a city with 140,000 people.The U.S. combat troops did not take much effort to completely wipe out the remaining Japanese troops in the area, and the engineers who followed immediately repaired the airport and other facilities.Soon after, Kenny's Fifth Air Force will be able to take off and land on the rebuilt airport facilities, which makes the link of "capture more airports to facilitate the advancement of the air force" in the "Leapfrog Tactic" to the greatest extent perfect presented.

MacArthur is about to return to Brisbane.Before leaving, he told his generals that he would leap another 108 nautical miles to the west, and before the Japanese army could gain a foothold, he would attack the next target-Waked Island in one fell swoop. Ekelberg was very surprised when he heard it, and raised objections, thinking that the "leapfrog" was too fast.Although Wewak was bypassed, there were still remnants of the 18th Army stationed there, with about 20,000 active troops. These Japanese troops were likely to attack Jayapura by land.In other words, now that one's own position is not stable, is it appropriate to attack "untenable" enemies?

MacArthur made this decision, not out of impulsiveness or recklessness.In addition to his extremely keen sense of the battlefield, the accurate information provided by the "Caster" code-breaking team enabled him to know almost everything about the enemy's troops and their movements.A secret report by the U.S. Army Intelligence Agency revealed MacArthur's tricks for using troops like a god: "Never has a commander been able to command operations with such an understanding of the enemy's situation as the Allied Southwest Pacific Command." "Caster" sent information, telling Waked Island that the defense was weak, how could MacArthur miss such a good opportunity. On May 17, he organized the "Whirlwind Force" to land on Wakerd Island.

The "Whirlwind Troops" encountered fierce resistance when they first landed, but once they landed, they were destroyed. In a little over two days, more than 800 Japanese troops on the island were wiped out, and the U.S. military only lost 40 people. After Waked Island, the U.S. military is about to "jump" to Biak Island, which is about 156 nautical miles away. "Caster" estimated that the Japanese army guarding the island was about 4,000 people, half of which were combat troops. The codebreakers had intercepted the Japanese army's order to increase the defensive force of Biak Island, but there was no clue to what extent it had been strengthened.

Knowing everything well and using soldiers like a god, both encounter obstacles here, because you don't know the exact situation of defending the enemy. If you fight well, you can "outing" like Jayapura. If you don't go well, you may encounter bloody battles like the Battle of Buna and fierce battle. Attack, attack, and attack again, this is MacArthur's combat creed.Children set off firecrackers, want to do it but are afraid, that is not acceptable, even if the situation is temporarily unclear, they will do it when it is time to do so. MacArthur used the 41st Division, the main force of the "Poplar Force", for the "Whirlwind Landing" on Biak Island.The 41st Division has 12,000 elite soldiers. No matter how the Japanese army reinforces them, it should be more than enough in terms of numbers alone.

On May 27, the 41st Division under the command of Major General Fuller rushed to the beach of Biak Island. Before the landing battle, Wakerd's runway was lengthened for the use of heavy bombers, and Kenny sent planes to take off from Wakerd Airport for close air support.The Seventh Fleet also launched a fierce attack on Wakerd Island from the sea, which made the 41st Division hardly encounter much resistance when it went ashore, which was quite a bit of an outing. The officers and soldiers of the 41st Division were generally in a good mood. They believed that the Japanese army on the island must have "lost three souls on the top gate and seven souls under their feet".

However, due to the smoothness of the first two landing battles, everyone was a little paralyzed mentally. The soldiers ran to the nearest airport excitedly without carrying cannons or sending search troops forward. Soon, "outing" turned into "sleepwalking", not a good dream, but a nightmare.