"It's obvious!" MacArthur said: "We need more landing vehicles, and this is the key to our success in the Marshall Islands!" ”

MacArthur was right, of course, but there was nothing creative about it.

And this is true, because the landing vehicles shone in the Battle of Tarawa...... The Higgins ship would run aground due to insufficient water levels, but the LVT landing vehicle rushed directly to the beachhead without being restricted by hydrology or obstacles set up by the Japanese, and the machine guns on it could even provide fire support for the landing force.

It is believed that if it were not for the role of the LVT landing vehicle in the Battle of Tarawa, the 2nd Marine Regiment attacking Bito Island would most likely have been wiped out.

It's uncreative to say this because it was proven before the Battle of Tarawa ended.

In other words, MacArthur told the truth that everyone knows.

"General MacArthur!" Lieutenant General Turner responded, "Of course we need more landing vehicles, and I even want all the landing troops to take landing vehicles to attack those damn islands...... But the problem is, we don't have that much time to prepare! ”

"Okay then!" MacArthur spread his hands and said, "Then we should think about the running of the ship Higgins!" ”

MacArthur threw a conundrum at the forefront.

The grounding problem was the biggest mistake in the Battle of Tarawa and the main cause of the large number of casualties for the American army.

But...... It's an unsolvable problem.

At this time, the US military seems to have two options:

One is that, like in the Battle of Tarawa, the Higgins ship was forced to land knowing that it would run aground.

It's a stupid approach, but there are some people who support it. The reason is that at this time the amphibious tanks of the US Navy were already in service, and some US generals believed that they could let the landing force forcibly wade and land under the cover of the firepower of the landing vehicles and amphibious tanks, and another advantage was that they could also get the fire support of powerful warships and warplanes during the daytime attack.

However, this was clearly a risky approach, as the Battle of Tarawa proved that the landing force was vulnerable in the process of wading ashore and that heavy casualties were almost inevitable in the event of an attack.

On the other hand, LVT landing vehicles and amphibious tanks, although they can provide fire cover, are poorly armored and difficult to survive enemy fire.

Another option is to land at night.

The biggest advantage of this plan is that ...... "avoid" the tide that will rise at night, the Higgins ship can land directly, which means that the landing force will not have to wade into the water, which will be much less dangerous.

But the problem is that the U.S. military is not good at fighting at night, and this is precisely the strength of the Japanese army, and worse, attacking at night means that the landing force cannot get fire support from warships and warplanes, which is also fatal to the U.S. military.

The U.S. Admirals present knew all this, and they had discussed it many times before that, so when they thought of this, they all whispered helplessly.

"General!" At this time, Smith spoke: "I don't think it's feasible to attack during the day, I should choose to attack at night!" That way there is no stranding problem! ”

"Really?" Halsey asked rhetorically, "So how to solve the problem of night fighting and the problem of no fire support?" ”

"General!" Smith glanced at Zhang Chi and replied, "First of all, I don't think the problem of night battles is a problem at all!" ”

"Oh!" Halsey could see what Smith wanted to say from the look in his eyes: "You mean to let the Chinese army carry out a landing operation?" ”

All the officers turned their eyes to Wang Mazi and Zhang Chi, Wang Mazi understood the meaning of the Yankees from the translator, and his face couldn't help but be a little proud, and he whispered to Zhang Chi: "Damn, the Yankees have so many troops, and in the end they have to command us to fight!" ”

Smith nodded at Halsey and said, "Yes! Before that, I consulted the history of the Chinese army, and was surprised to find that the Chinese troops fighting side by side with us had repeatedly defeated the Japanese army in night battles, and allow me to pay tribute to the commander of this army again! ”

Saying that, Yao Yao bent over Zhang Chi, and asked Zhang Chi: "Colonel, from this I judge that the ability of your troops to fight at night is no worse than that of the Japanese, I don't know if my judgment is accurate?" ”

"Yes, indeed!" Zhang Chi replied: "But we still try to avoid night battles with the Japanese, because this is actually a lose-lose situation!" ”

Zhang Chi is telling the truth, of course he will not boast at this time that he can easily defeat the Japanese army in a night battle...... It is true that this will make a long face at this meeting, but at the cost of the expeditionary force attacking the enemy's fortifications in the darkness of the night.

Smith nodded, satisfied with Zhang's answer. Then he said to Halsey: "General, we are fortunate to have such an army, whose ability to fight at night is equal to that of the Japanese, but which is significantly better equipped than the Japanese, so why don't we use this army as the basis for an offensive plan to land at night?" ”

The American generals in the conference room nodded their heads, because this was indeed a feasible plan, avoiding the problem of the Higgins ship running aground, and not suffering a loss in night fighting, the only drawback was that it could not get the fire cover of warships and fighters, and this could be compensated for by the more advanced equipment of the Chinese army than the Japanese army, such as the Chinese expeditionary force had M1 rifles, Thomson submachine guns, various machine guns and Bazooka rocket launchers, etc., plus American landing vehicles and amphibious tanks...... Therefore, it is not impossible to carry out the landing on this basis.

Halsey couldn't help but look at Zhang Chi.

Zhang Chi couldn't help but smile bitterly, he actually didn't believe that Halsey hadn't thought of this, but Halsey was embarrassed to bring it up...... You must know that at this time, the Chinese army has fought all the way from Guadalcanal Island to the present, and several landing battles have not fallen, while the US Marine Corps has taken turns to rest and recuperate in several batches, but the Chinese army has not "rested" once.

On the other hand, the Chinese army is also a special force, and if the Chinese expeditionary force is a US force, it is better to say that those who are capable work harder, and now the US Marine Corps has just begun to be formed, and there is a shortage of troops, and every batch of recruits who come up are recruits with no combat experience.

The problem is that this expeditionary force is a Chinese army, so Halsey's constant letting Chinese troops carry out dangerous missions is a bit of a suspicion of desperately sending Chinese troops to the battlefield to be cannon fodder while protecting their own troops.

That's why Halsey had to wait for someone else to make this suggestion.

(To be continued.) )