It should be said that Halsey and MacArthur's plans are still very strict.

The US military's targets this time were mainly three islands, namely Bito Island, the main island of Tarava Atoll, Makin Island 185 kilometers north of Tarava, and Abemama Island 140 kilometers southeast of Tarava.

The reason I chose to attack these three islands is that the distance between these three islands is similar and they are all suitable for building airports... Most of the islands in the Tarawa area are flat and suitable for building airports.

Therefore, as soon as these three islands are taken down, the islands form an iron triangle that can support each other.

Then the US military built airports on these three islands, and it would form an encirclement within the Iron Triangle, which could easily cut off the remaining supplies of the Japanese army and wipe them out. From the outside, it could use air superiority and more advanced radar to block the Japanese army from the combat radius of the fighter jets.

Makin Island was previously questionable.

Originally, the US military decided to attack Nauru Island. The reason why they wanted to attack this island was mainly because the island had a Japanese airport, and it was only 700 kilometers away from Tarawa... The distance of 700 kilometers was not far away, and it was not close. This distance happened to be within the combat radius of Japanese fighter jets. So U.S. Navy Minister of Operations Ernest proposed to attack Nauru Island.

(Note: The US Navy Secretary of Operations was originally Knox, but after his death, he was replaced by Deputy Navy Secretary Ernest)

When Zhang Chi heard about this, his first reaction was that Ernest was definitely an outsider... and he was an outsider who was slow to react and could not keep up with the rhythm.

If this was before, that is, when the war situation was still in a "zero war invincible", then this combat plan would definitely be correct, because any Japanese airport would become a serious threat to the US Navy and would also cause great interference and trouble to the US Navy's landing operations.

But now, the US military has an overwhelming air advantage, with twelve main aircraft carriers and eight escort aircraft carriers, and the natural enemy of Zero Warfare "Hellcat". In addition, the Japanese pilots are in disguise, so the Japanese airport on Nauru Island has a very small threat to the US military. At worst, two aircraft carriers can be sent to carry out suppressive bombing on it.

On the other hand, Nauru Island has the characteristics of being far away from Tarawa, large area and complex terrain, which are not suitable as offensive targets.

The long distance means inconvenience of reinforcements. Even if the island is captured, it cannot be connected with each other. The large area and complex terrain mean that the Japanese army has many garrisons and the attack is very difficult. It is estimated that if the island with an area of ​​24 square kilometers is to be captured, at least one Marine division is needed, but the US Navy did not have so many Marine troops at this time.

Makin Island is a good choice, and its strategic location is obviously much more important than Nauru Island.

Zhang Chi's judgment is correct, because Halsey is obviously also glad that the newly appointed Navy Operations Minister did not insist on fighting Nauru Island. Halsey even told Zhang Chi that Eisenhower once said that if you want to speed up the end of the war, the best way is not to defeat the enemy, but to kill Ernest!

These words made Zhang Chi laugh, and Americans would also encounter things like "pig-like team members".

Bito, Makin, and Abemama, these three islands are not large in size, but the US Navy has invested quite amazing forces.

The army alone had three divisions... It was originally two divisions, and according to Halsey's plan, the New First Division was the main force and the Second Army Division was prepared. This was enough, but Zhang Chi refused to fight this battle, so Halsey had to temporarily change his mind and add MacArthur's 27th Army Division to participate in the operation.

Considering that the army troops had no experience in amphibious operations, they were responsible for attacking Makin Island, which had weak defenses, and the Second Marine Division was responsible for attacking Bito Island and Abemama Island.

As a reserve team, the New First Division is to watch the fun first and then.

The navy's lineup is even stronger. Halsey sent 12 main aircraft carriers, 8 escort aircraft carriers, 12 battleships, 14 cruisers and 56 destroyers in one go... The total number of ships exceeded 100, with nearly 900 carrier-based aircraft. In addition, 350 fighters from the land-based aviation force, the number of fighters participating in the operation reached thousands.

This is undoubtedly a big deal, and it can be said to be the largest lineup in history, even the two battles between Midway and Guadalcanal were inferior.

No wonder Wang Mazi gasped when he heard this data and muttered: "Americans are crazy, and they sent so many troops for the three islands!"

But Zhang Chi knew that the Americans were not crazy. They were in the next big game: luring the Japanese joint fleet to come for rescue, and then eating the Japanese joint fleet in one breath, it would be much easier to avoid... You should know that the US military had already dominated the air at this time. If it could still severely damage the Japanese joint fleet, then the small islands on Japan's so-called "absolute defense circle" would be useless, and they were just waiting for the US Navy to eat them one by one.

On the other hand, if the Japanese joint fleet is not deceived, then the newly-entered aircraft carriers of the US Navy can also regard this battle as a practical exercise... In fact, it is not just a drill. These dozen aircraft carriers still have practical tasks. They are responsible for bombing Japanese airports in the Marshall Islands, making it impossible for their aviation troops to implement reinforcements to Tarawa.

Then Halsey divided the remaining warships and escort aircraft carriers into two teams, namely the 52nd and 53rd special mixed formations, responsible for the attack on Makin Island and Tarawa respectively.

As for the remaining Abemama Island... the defense of this island is the weakest. Halsey judged that the defense force on this island was only a few hundred, so he only needed to send out a few destroyers.

In fact, there were only 25 troops on Abemama Island, but the US military had not yet grasped the real information. Finally, it was a reconnaissance unit sent by the US military with submarines... 68 Marines plus 10 engineers used to demine mines. During the reconnaissance mission, they found that the Japanese army had not had more troops than they were, so they simply took down the island, and the number of casualties was 1 person.

After listening to Halsey's description of the entire plan, Zhang Chi couldn't help but smile.

With such a strong lineup and such a degree of military strength, it is no wonder that the US military underestimates the enemy.

If Zhang Chi didn't know that the battle was very difficult, when he saw these, he would probably be like MacArthur or other American generals, thinking that this was just a trip. During the trip, he could also shoot a few shots to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the shells exploding on the islands, and then he could insert the flag of victory on these islands.
Chapter completed!