"You're going to attack at night?" Halsey asked.

"Of course!" Zhang Chi replied.

"But you know...... We can't provide fire support to your troops at night, or only a small amount of fire support. ”

"We don't need fire support!" Zhang Chi replied: "In fact, even in the daytime, the navy can't provide us with enough fire support, right?" ”

Halsey thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

The reason was that the survivors of the 2nd Marine Regiment were still on the island, and the width of Bito Island was only about 500 meters, so it was almost impossible for warships or warplanes to bomb the Japanese without accidentally injuring their own people.

"One more point!" Halsey said worriedly: "It's hard to tell friend and foe at night, and it's going to be a big problem!" ”

Of course, there are problems, especially the language barrier between the Chinese and American troops, and worse, the Chinese look very similar to the Japanese.

But Zhang Chi replied confidently: "I don't think we need to think about this!" ”

"Tell me about your plans!" Halsey was a little disbelieving, or he couldn't believe it.

MacArthur also set his sights on Zhang Chi, and he was also curious about what method this Chinese planned to use to take Beato Island, which even had more than 3,000 American soldiers in need of rescue.

"First of all, we have to determine the strength and distribution of the Japanese!" Zhang Chi said: "I think there are about 6,000 Japanese troops on Beato Island, and most of these forces are distributed on the west and south sides of Beato Island, that is, the two directions in which the 2nd Marine Division attacks!" ”

Halsey stared at the map for a moment and replied, "Of course, the Japanese will concentrate their forces on the west and south flanks, because only these flanks are on the outside for our army to attack......"

As mentioned earlier, Tarawa is an atoll, with 26 large and small reefs in a circle, so the island of Beato in the southwest of the atoll is only facing the wide sea to the west and south, and the north and northeast sides are surrounded by the atoll in an arc, and if the U.S. forces want to attack Beato Island from the north and northeast, they must enter the lagoon through a narrow entrance on the west side of the atoll (note: the lagoon refers to the local seawater area that is surrounded and separated from the open sea by the atoll), and then attack the Japanese army.

In such an attack, it would obviously cause more trouble for the US military, and even the firepower of the Japanese troops distributed on the islands of the atoll would form a natural encirclement of the US troops entering the lagoon.

It was also because of this that the Japanese defenses on the inner side of the lagoon were weaker.

"What I don't understand is...... How do you judge that the Japanese have more than 6,000 troops! Halsey asked, "You know, we tried our best to reconnoitre, but we couldn't get any information about it!" ”

Zhang Chi rummaged through the pile of photos on the table, picked up one of them, handed it to Halsey, and asked, "Do you see those small huts in the photos?" "Yes!" Halsey replied, "Does that mean anything?" ”

"That's a Japanese toilet!" Zhang Chi replied: "According to Japanese habits, a squadron usually has such a toilet, and there are more than 20 such toilets in this photo......"

"Oh!" Hearing this, Halsey couldn't help but suddenly realize.

After being stunned for a moment, he pulled out a few more photos from another pile of documents, and after looking at them, he handed them to MacArthur who was beside him with a suspicious face.

MacArthur looked at it for a while, then laughed and said, "This is ridiculous, this can't be ...... If you do this calculation, there will only be six or seven hundred Japanese on Makin Island! ”

"Maybe Chang is right......" Halsey replied, "which also explains why Mei 27 landed on Makin Island so smoothly!" ”

"But Rick, you're trying to tell me...... More than 6,000 people in the two regiments of the US 27 were blocked by more than 600 Japanese and could not move? MacArthur felt humiliated.

"At least...... We'll know when the war is over! Halsey replied, "Because it's an island, isn't it?" The Japanese will not come out more, and there will be no less, unless they commit suicide by throwing themselves into the sea! ”

MacArthur snorted coldly and stopped talking.

In fact, Halsey was a little dissatisfied with MacArthur in his heart, because MacArthur was the planner, and when formulating this battle plan, he even swore that the navy would not run aground when attacking Tarawa, but now that this situation has really happened, MacArthur seems to have completely forgotten what he said before, and even became complacent because the US 27 compared the Marine Corps, which made Halsey feel a little deceived.

"Colonel!" Then Halsey asked Zhang Chi again, "What's next?" I think you're planning to enter the lagoon and land from the north and northeast! ”

"Yes, General!" Zhang Chi replied: "First of all, as I said before, the Japanese troops on these two sides are not many, and the defense is not strong. Secondly, if we land from the north, we will not be confused or injured by mixing with the 2nd Marine Regiment. Again, landing from the north can form a two-sided attack on the Japanese! ”

"Reasonable!" Halsey nodded.

"I'll have to put you up, Colonel,......" MacArthur interjected, somewhat unconvinced, "it's dangerous for troops to enter the lagoon, first of all you have to pass through the narrow entrance, which is likely to be blocked by the Japanese with mines. Secondly, you may be hit in all directions when you enter the lagoon! ”

"So I didn't plan to be discovered by the Japanese!" Zhang Chi replied.

"Not to be discovered by the Japanese?"

Hearing this, Halsey and MacArthur stared at Zhang Chi in confusion.

Halsey asked, "How is this possible?" The sound of the landing craft's motor will reveal your location! ”

Halsey's suspicion is of course justified, if it was just one or two landing craft, it would have been possible to land without the Japanese noticing, but it would have been dozens or hundreds of landing craft.

"That's why we need artillery bombardment!" Zhang Chi explained: "What we need is not artillery support, but the sound of shells exploding!" ”

"Oh!" Hearing this, Halsey understood: "Mask the sound of the motor with the sound of the explosion of the cannonball!" ”

"Yes!" Zhang Chi nodded, and then added: "If necessary, the 2nd Marine Regiment is also needed to launch a feint to attract the attention of the Japanese!" ”

"Good way!" Halsey agreed.

"But how did you get the landing craft to avoid the Japanese searchlights?" MacArthur asked.

"We need smoke grenades!" Zhang Chi said: "I think the 2nd Marine Regiment can do this for us, on the other hand, when we take the landing craft into the lagoon, the first wave will not land directly with the landing craft, but swim across the river with arms!" ”

(To be continued.) )