With the killing of Yamamoto Isoroku, Yamamoto Isoroku's carefully planned plan for the "I-Tsui Operation" came to an end in a hurry.

However, what Yamamoto Isoroku didn't know was that his death gave the Japanese army a little respite...... The U.S. generals thought that if Yamamoto was killed, the Japanese Navy would be gone, and the Solomon Islands would soon be taken by the U.S. military.

There is a certain amount of truth in this idea, because at this time the balance of strength between the United States and Japan in this part of the South Pacific is no longer proportional, and the US military has a total of 16 ground forces in the South Pacific and the Southwest Pacific, including 11 divisions in Australia, one division in New Zealand, two divisions in the United States, and two divisions in China, with a total strength of 200,000 troops. The total number of aircraft owned by the army and navy is more than 2,800.

The Japanese Eighth Front Army in Rabaul had a total of 100,000 troops, including the 20th Division, the 21st Division, and the 51st Division, and only a few hundred planes in its possession.

The key to the battle for the islands is air supremacy, and the US military can use Kuah Island as a base to easily block the sea and air space of any island with fighter planes, and then slowly torture the Japanese troops stationed on the island to death.

As a result, under this arrogant psychology, the US military began to debate how to launch a counteroffensive against the Japanese army next.

On this day, Zhang Chi was called to Halsey's headquarters again.

"General!" After saluting Halsey, Zhang Chi couldn't help but be stunned, because he saw Halsey sitting with a familiar face that he often saw on TV and in pictures...... MacArthur.

"You're Colonel Zhang Chi!" MacArthur didn't wait for Halsey's introduction, he took the initiative to get up and shake hands with Zhang Chi and said, "Your command is very admirable, well done, Colonel!" ”

"This is General MacArthur!" Halsey smiled and introduced, "He wants to meet you, the commander who designed to kill the 'Peacock'!" ”

"General!" Zhang Chi stepped forward and replied: "It was Major Michelle who killed the 'Peacock'!" ”

"No, no......" MacArthur put his pipe in his mouth, politely invited Zhang Chi to sit down, and said, "We have good pilots." But the most important thing is this ambush plan...... It's so seamlessly deployed that it captures the Japanese psyche so accurately that you know how they would react in that situation! ”

"Thank you, General!"

"So, I'm a little skeptical...... Are you Japanese?! ”

Hearing this, Zhang Chi couldn't help but be stunned, is this suspecting that he is a spy?

Then MacArthur laughed and said, "It's just a joke, Colonel!" I'm shocked how you know the Japanese so well! ”

Zhang Chi couldn't help laughing. Zhang Chi had heard of MacArthur's charisma in modern times, and now it seems that he has lived up to his reputation, just like now, MacArthur has only a few words to close the distance between a few people and make the conversation easier.

"Here's the thing!" Then MacArthur said to Zhang Chi: "Because you are in charge of the command of Kuah Island, and Kuah Island plays a pivotal role in our next counterattack against the Japanese, we want to hear your opinion!" ”

"Yes, General!" For some reason, Zhang Chi was always on guard against MacArthur.

In retrospect, Zhang Chi thought that this might be the reason why he knew that MacArthur would fight the Chinese army on the Korean battlefield in a few years. And. MacArthur still looked down on the Chinese army, at least in the Korean theater, so he repeatedly said that the war would be over in a few months, and even said that only 500 fighters would drive Chinese out of the Korean battlefield, but the result was that his "myth" was destroyed again and again by the volunteers...... This general, who was in the limelight in World War II and even surrendered to Japan when he surrendered, capsized on the small battlefield of Korea.

The reason why Zhang Chi was wary of MacArthur was not because he participated in the Korean War and was an enemy of China...... Wars between nations are not something that a single general can decide.

The reason why this happened was because Zhang Chi knew that MacArthur's amiable set just now was just an appearance. It was MacArthur who was showing his personality charm to buy people's hearts, and his real heart actually didn't take the Chinese officer in front of him seriously.

Zhang Chi guessed correctly. MacArthur actually made this his job...... The composition of the troops he commanded was very complex, including Australians, British, Americans, Chinese and even natives, these people came from different countries, and no one obeyed each other, and it was not easy to command them well and fight the Japanese army with a rope. And this is precisely MacArthur's strength.

"We think the next counterattack should be launched from the sea!" Halsey pointed to the map and said, "Now we have Kuah Island and Henderson Airport. Then we can attack north step by step and take a few islands and extend to Rabaul, and finally take Rabaul! ”

"But...... Then you'll have to fight at least five times to capture the island! MacArthur said, "And every time you take the island, it's likely to be difficult, because the Japanese will hold out until the last minute, and we have very limited marines and landing craft, and you're going to build airfields on the island after you take the island." This will take us a lot of time, and by then the Japanese army in Rabaul will have been ready! ”

Zhang Chi had to admit that MacArthur's words were reasonable, approaching Rabaul with the island step by step, and building the airfield while occupying it, it would be a long process, and the battle for the island was not conducive to the development of the infantry.

"So I think!" MacArthur went on to say: "The counteroffensive should focus on the occupation of New Guinea and the Philippines, and the rapid capture of these southern areas occupied by the Japanese is a shortcut to a quicker victory." Moreover, having conquered these areas, the supply of raw materials to the Japanese army would also be severely hit. ”

When MacArthur refers to raw material suppliers, he refers to New Guinea and the Philippines...... Japan is a country with severe resource shortages, and most of the strategic resources it needs come from the colonies it occupies, including New Guinea and the Philippines.

However, Zhang Chi knew that MacArthur actually had his own selfish motives in proposing such a plan, because he was driven out of the Philippines by the Japanese in the first place, and when he left the Philippines by speedboat, he also said a classic saying: "I will definitely come back!" ”

Now, it's time for him to get back to the Philippines. "May I make another suggestion?" Zhang Chi said.

(To be continued.) )