The Super Summary of World History - Alan Dale Daniel [219]
Figure 66 Marines at Tarawa
Marianas and New Guinea
In May of 1944 the United States attacked the Marianas which included the islands of Saipan, Guam, and Tinian. These were large islands with tough in-depth defenses, but the speed of the US advance precluded the proper and complete preparation Japan desired. At Saipan, fighting through difficult landings and rugged terrain, the US Army and Marine Corps pushed Saipan’s desperate defenders back. The Saipan struggle ended with a Bonsai attack by 3,000 Japanese troops that initially overwhelmed American lines and resulted in 650 US Marine dead. The fatal charge ended Japanese resistance on the island by July 9, 1944. On Guam, the Japanese chose to assault US lines repeatedly, thereby destroying their units. Japanese Imperial forces finally retreated into the jungle interior to continue their resistance. After intense jungle fighting, Guam was secured by August 8, 1944.
As US amphibious forces fought for the Central Pacific, Australian and US Army troops were conquering New Guinea. Using code decrypts, MacArthur avoided Japanese strong points and landed in areas where US forces could set up a defense and cut off the isolated Japanese units. The campaign in New Guinea went on from 1942 through 1945, much of it fought by Australian troops under the worst possible conditions. The fighting was intense, bloody, and merciless. Japanese forces fought determined battles even when outnumbered and in poor tactical positions. General MacArthur never gave the tough Australians their due, mainly because he would not get all the credit for their accomplishments. Nonetheless, they were vital to Allied victory in the Pacific.
Figure 67 New Guinea & Rabaul Offensives
Storming the well-defended Central Pacific islands was costly for the marines and the army, but the advance was swift. The navy-marine-army team moved from Tarawa to Saipan in the Marianas in about eight months against stiff enemy opposition. In just a few months, between November of 1943 and July of 1944, Japan lost vast amounts of its empire, and the Philippines were now ripe for invasion. The losses of Guam, Tinian, and Saipan in the Marianas were demoralizing blows to the Japanese empire. Admiral Nagumo[297] was in charge of Saipan’s defense. After the US Marines gained the shore he radioed Tokyo, saying, “Hell is upon us,” and he did not mean his troops on Saipan. Nagumo knew that B-29 aircraft would start bombing the home islands as soon as airfields were constructed in the Marianas. And the American Seabees worked fast.
Japan knew the Marianas must be held or disaster would ensue. Their fall would cut off oil, rubber, and other war supplies to the homeland from the conquered Southern Pacific areas. Capturing those resource rich regions was the reason Japan started the war. Japan’s Imperial Navy planned an all out air attack on the US fleet to protect the islands. On June 19 and 20, 1944, Japanese Combined Fleet attacked the US fleet, fighting the Battle of the Philippine Sea. During the engagement the US Navy lost 123 aircraft (80 percent of the crews were recovered), and the Japanese lost approximately 600 aircraft and 3 fleet carriers. Japan’s losses were heavy due to a poor plan and green pilots. After the battle, only thirty-five Japanese aircraft were fit for action. The losses Japan suffered at the Battle of the Philippine Sea were irreplaceable. It was over for the Japanese Imperial Navy. At Leyte Gulf the Japanese navy would sortie out once more, but the carriers were bait, and the surface ships were on a suicide mission.
The Philippines—The Return of the USA
On 15 September 1944, just prior