It should be said that Halsey and MacArthur's plan was still very tight.

The targets of the US military in this operation were mainly three islands, namely Bito Island, the main island of the Tarawa Atoll, Makin Island, 185 kilometers north of Tarawa, and Abemama Island, 140 kilometers southeast of Tarawa.

The three islands were chosen to attack because they were about the same distance and were all suitable for the construction of airfields...... Most of the islands around Tarawa are flat and suitable for airports.

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

Then, after the U.S. military builds airfields on these three islands, it will form an encirclement of the inside of the Iron Triangle, which can easily cut off the remnants of the Japanese army inside and wipe them out, and externally, it can use air superiority and more advanced radar to keep the Japanese out of the combat radius of the fighters.

Among them, Makin Island was doubtful before this.

Originally, the U.S. military decided to attack Nauru Island, and the reason why they wanted to attack this island was mainly because the island had a Japanese airfield and was only 700 kilometers away from Tarawa...... The distance of 700 kilometers is not far away, but it is not close, and this distance is exactly within the combat radius of the Japanese fighters, so the US Chief of Naval Operations Ernest proposed to attack Nauru Island.

(Note: The Chief of Naval Operations was originally Knox, and was succeeded by Undersecretary of the Navy Ernest after his death)

When Zhang Chi heard about this, his first reaction was that Ernest was definitely a layman...... And it's a layman who reacts slowly and can't keep up with the rhythm in half a beat.

If this had been before, that is, when the war situation was still "invincible in zero battles," then this battle plan would certainly be correct, because any Japanese airfield would become a serious threat to the US Navy, and it would also bring great interference and trouble to the US Navy's landing operations.

But now, the US military already has overwhelming air superiority, with 12 main aircraft carriers and eight escort aircraft carriers, and there are also "hellcats," the natural enemy of zero combat, and the Japanese pilots are still green and yellow, so the threat of the Japanese airfield on Nauru Island to the US military is already very small, and it is a big deal to send two aircraft carriers to carry out suppressive bombing against it.

On the other hand, Nauru Island is far from Tarawa, large in size, and difficult in terrain, making it unsuitable for attack.

The large area and complex terrain mean that the Japanese army has many garrisons and it is very difficult to attack, and it is estimated that if you want to take this 24-square-kilometer island, you need at least one marine division, but the US Navy at this time does not have so many marine forces.

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

Zhang Chi's judgment was right, because Halsey was obviously glad that the newly appointed Chief of Naval Operations did not insist on attacking Nauru Island, and Halsey even told Zhang Chi that Eisenhower once said that the best way to speed up the end of the war was not to defeat the enemy, but to kill Ernest!

These words couldn't help but make Zhang Chi laugh, and Americans will also encounter something similar to "pig-like players".

Beato, Makin, and Abemama, these three islands are not large in size, but the U.S. Navy has invested a staggering amount of troops.

The Army alone is three divisions...... Originally, there were two divisions, and according to Halsey's plan, the new 1st Division was the main force and the 2nd Marine Division was the preparation, which was enough, but Zhang Chi resolutely refused to fight this battle, so Halsey could only temporarily change his mind and transfer MacArthur's 27th Army Division to participate in the battle.

Considering that the army units had no experience in amphibious operations, they were responsible for attacking Makin Island, which was weakly defended, and the 2nd Marine Division was responsible for attacking Bito Island and Abbemama Island.

The new 1st Division serves as a reserve, that is, to see the excitement at the back first.

The navy was even stronger, with Halsey sending 12 capital carriers, 8 escort carriers, 12 battleships, 14 cruisers, and 56 destroyers in one go...... The total number of warships exceeded 100, and the number of carrier-based aircraft was nearly 900, and together with the 350 fighters of the land-based air force, the number of fighters participating in the operation reached more than 1,000.

This is undoubtedly a big deal, arguably the largest lineup of all time, and even the battles of Midway and Guadalcanal are dwarfed.

It's no wonder that Wang Mazi gasped and muttered when he heard this data: "Yankees are crazy, sending so many troops for three small islands!" ”

But Zhang Chi knew that the Americans were not crazy, they were playing a big game: luring the Japanese Combined Fleet to come to the rescue, and then eating the Japanese Combined Fleet in one go, it would be much easier to do the next...... You must know that at this time, the US military has already had an all-round superiority in the air, and if it can still inflict heavy damage on the Japanese Combined Fleet, then the small islands on Japan's so-called "absolute defense circle" will be nothing but nothing, just waiting for the US Navy to eat them one by one.

On the other hand, if the Japanese Combined Fleet is not fooled, then these newly commissioned aircraft carriers of the US Navy can also regard this battle as a real combat exercise...... In fact, it was not just a drill, these dozen or so aircraft carriers still had actual combat missions, and they were responsible for bombing Japanese airfields in the Marshall Islands, so that their air forces could not carry out reinforcements to Tarawa.

Halsey then divided the remaining warships and escort carriers into two groups, the 52nd and 53rd Task Forces, which were responsible for the attack on Makin Island and Tarawa respectively.

As for the remaining one of Abemama...... The island's defenses were the weakest, and Halsey judged that the defense on the island was only a few hundred men, so he only needed to send a few destroyers at random.

In fact, there are only 25 troops stationed on Abemama Island, but the US military has not yet grasped the real information, and finally it is a reconnaissance unit sent by US military submarines...... The 68 marines and 10 sappers used for demining found that the Japanese army was not as strong as them during the reconnaissance mission, so they simply took the island, and the final casualty was 1 killed.

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 superiority in troops, it is no wonder that the US military has the idea of underestimating the enemy.

If Zhang Chi didn't know that this battle was very difficult, he would have been like MacArthur or other American generals when he saw this, thinking that this was just a trip, and on the way to shoot a few cannons and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the shells exploding on the islands, and then he could plant the victory flag on these islands.

(To be continued.) )