Chapter 84 Deadlock

On September 12 and 13, 1944, according to Nimitz's deployment, Halsey dispatched 2,400 sorties to bomb the Japanese airport in the central Philippines in preparation for the attack on the Palau Islands. In two days of bombing operations, the U.S. military shot down 173 Japanese aircraft and destroyed another 305 on the ground, while they encountered incredibly little resistance, losing a total of only 8 aircraft and 10 pilots. This shows that the defense forces in the central part of the Philippines have not been really strengthened, or that the Japanese army is powerless to strengthen them. When Tojo was in office, he refused to accept Sato’s suggestion and transferred the forces of the Mariana Islands and the Caroline Islands to the Philippines. , has now been reported.

Halsey immediately reported to Nimitz and Washington: "The enemy's timid attitude is unbelievable and strange. We found the central Philippines to be a poorly defended, unequipped shell!" Halsey's discovery dispelled the concerns of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Except for Ginger, the rest of the members stood firmly on MacArthur's side. On September 15, the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a new strategy to guide the Pacific War - the "Musketeer II" plan.This plan is basically a replica of MacArthur's "Smooth Gunner" plan, except that Mindanao was replaced by Wright Island as the first island to capture.

The only change in plans came at Halsey's suggestion.During the U.S. air raid on Mindanao, a carrier-based plane crashed on Wright Island. The pilot heard from the local residents that the Japanese defense forces on the island were relatively weak.After escaping and returning to the team, the pilot sent the information he had obtained to Halsey. However, the "Musketeer II" plan was released a bit late, and it was too late to cancel the Morotai Island landing operation that MacArthur implemented to attack Mindanao. On September 15th, MacArthur watched the live landing on the cruiser - 28,000 officers and soldiers of the "Poplar Troop" quickly rushed to the coast of Morotai Island without even hearing a single gunshot. About 500 soldiers on the island The Japanese soldiers fled without a trace.

Two hours after the successful landing of the U.S. military, MacArthur went ashore for inspection, and he stayed on the shore for three hours before returning to the warship.There is no doubt that the Battle of Morotai Island was the easiest amphibious operation for the US military in the entire Pacific War. On the same day, Nimitz's troops also landed on Peleliu Island, the southernmost of the Palau Islands, in accordance with the "stalemate operation" that had been formulated long ago. In the defense system of the Japanese army, the Palau Islands have always been in a chain position. At the same time, it is relatively close to the southern Philippines and can be reached by medium-sized bombers. It can be called the gateway of the Philippines.If the Japanese controlled Palau, it would be enough to pose a potential threat when the U.S. army attacked the Philippines, and once it was in the hands of the U.S. military, it would turn into a pistol facing the Japanese stronghold.

It is for this reason that, regardless of MacArthur's "Smooth Gunner" plan or the Ginger plan that Nimitz was going to adopt, Palau was not missing from the two offensive routes. As the most important island in the Palau archipelago, Peleliu Island has the most important airport in this area, and it is of course a key link in the occupation of Palau.The U.S. military also learned about the defense of Peleliu Island. Through aerial reconnaissance, they found that there were no steep mountains or other terrible obstacles on the island. The Japanese military documents seized from Saipan and other documents From fragmentary information, it can be known that the number of Japanese troops on the island is about 10,000.

Peleliu Island is a small coral island, the longest length is only 6 miles, and the largest width is no more than 2 miles. It can be described as small as a projectile.Some people have calculated that as long as the U.S. military has a reinforced division to land, each person can only be allocated 2.5 square meters of land on average. Such a small island can be pierced by bullets.All of these convinced Nimitz and most senior naval officials that Peleliu was the easiest to conquer among all the tactically important islands in the Palau archipelago. Before the war, Halsey had worried that Peleliu Island would become the second Tarawa. He suggested that Nimitz simply cancel the "stalemate operation" and hand over the ground troops preparing to participate in this landing operation to MacArthur's command for Into the landing operations on Wright Island.

Nimitz did not agree. He believed that there was no contradiction between occupying Peleliu Island and landing on Wright Island. Peleliu Island could be used as a supply station for attacking Wright Island.Furthermore, Peleliu Island is not far from Guam. Once it falls into the hands of the US military, in terms of the overall effect of the "leapfrog tactic", it will seal the last gap in the encirclement from Mariana to Caroline. The main force landing on Peleliu Island was the 1st Marine Division of the 3rd Amphibious Army.The First Marine Division is the chief trump card of the US Marine Corps, the famous "Butcher of Guadalcanal Island".There are 17,000 soldiers, including the troops directly under the army, a total of 28,000 people, both in quality and quantity, are considered to far exceed the defenders on the island.

According to the timetable of "stalemate operation", it only takes two days for the First Marine Division to take the entire Peleliu Island. The current division commander, Major General Ruputes, is quite conservative, adding two days to four days, And expects: "This will be a short operation, a 'fierce' quick fight." Everyone was full of ambition, and no one expected that the unfortunate name of "stalemate" actually coincided with the whole process. The subsequent Battle of Peleliu Island changed from a quick battle to a protracted delay. Let alone four days, it took four weeks or even less This did not end for a longer period of time.