The news of the U.S. military's intention to attack Okinawa soon reached Zhangchi's ears. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

In fact, there is no need to tell Zhang Chi about the US military's intention to attack Okinawa...... Zhang Chi was already located in Northeast China at this time and could not participate in this plan, not to mention that there was a certain risk in transmitting this information to Zhang Chi, in case the information was intercepted and deciphered by the Japanese army, then the combat intentions of the US military would also be exposed.

However, this was actually revealed to Zhang Chi by Roosevelt through Halsey, and his purpose was self-evident, that is, to know what Zhang Chi's opinion was...... At this time, Roosevelt had already trusted Zhang Chi more than MacArthur's opinion.

In fact, if Zhang Chi had been an American, Roosevelt would have chosen Zhang Chi's opinion a long time ago. Just because Zhang Chi is Chinese, Roosevelt always believed that Zhang Chi considered the problem more from the perspective of China rather than from the interests of the United States, so he always had a skeptical attitude towards Zhang Chi.

There is no problem that Roosevelt would think so, because in fact Zhang Chi considered the problem from China's point of view, but at this time China's strength was weak, and Zhang Chi knew that it would only make sense if it was in line with the interests of the United States while considering China's interests, otherwise it would be just a pipe dream.

"What do you think?" Halsey asked in the telegram.

"I have no opinion!" Zhang Chi called back and said, "Actually, I think it's long overdue!" ”

Zhang Chi was not surprised by Roosevelt's decision at all, Roosevelt decided to attack the Philippines at the beginning, more for the purpose of not wanting the Japanese army to withdraw to the mainland or increase the pressure on the US military in the Pacific direction, now that China has occupied the northeast, the Japanese combined fleet has basically been wiped out, and the Japanese army basically has no possibility of withdrawing to the mainland, so there is no great need for the US army to attack the Philippines again......

The occupation of the Philippines can cut off the transportation routes of the Japanese army, and the same can be done to occupy Okinawa, and at the same time, the area of the Philippines is much larger than that of Okinawa, the terrain is much more complex than Okinawa, and the garrison is much larger than that of Okinawa, so attacking Okinawa is obviously a better choice.

After thinking about it, Zhang Chi called back again: "But pay attention to supplies and troops!" ”

When Roosevelt received Halsey's words, he couldn't help but nod secretly, this Chinese was a sentence that broke through the difficulty of attacking Okinawa...... Supplies and troops.

You must know that at this time, the United States organized several major wars one after another, first attacking the Philippine Islands, then attacking the puppet Manchukuo, and then the Battle of Leyte Gulf...... After several major battles, even the logistics capabilities of the US military, which is as powerful as the US military, are somewhat unable to hold up.

In fact, Iwo Jima's reserves had long since been almost depleted during the attack on puppet Manchukuo, and now the only way to attack Okinawa was to transport them from Pearl Harbor, 4,000 miles away, and the West Coast, 6,200 miles away, which required 17 and 26 days of sailing time respectively for the "Victory Wheel". All of this requires extraordinary effort and huge supplies.

In addition, warships were needed to escort these transports, and the staff officers calculated that a total of 458 ships would be needed to meet the basic needs of the attack on Okinawa...... God, more than 400 ships to meet basic needs? This is more than three times as difficult to supply as it is to attack the Mariana Islands!

The second is the troops, at this time most of the troops have been thrown into the Philippine Islands, and the battle in the Philippine direction is not over, so you can't draw back the elite troops in that direction and throw them into Okinawa!

But after thinking about it for a long time, Roosevelt decided to attack Okinawa...... Because even if they were not well prepared, the enemy was also not well prepared, and when they were ready, the Japanese were afraid that they would have already made Okinawa impregnable.

Therefore, Roosevelt vigorously mobilized merchant ships and oil tankers to assist in transportation at home, and as for troops, he stationed troops from various small islands such as Espírito Santo, Guadalcanal, La Salle Islands, Saipan, and Guam...... Wait for the troops to be searched all over.

Roosevelt's move was still very wise, the Pacific War had already reached Okinawa, and at the same time, the Japanese Combined Fleet basically did not exist, that is to say, the possibility that the islands garrisoned by the US troops would be attacked by the Japanese army was basically zero, and at the same time, most of the US troops stationed on these islands had experience in landing operations and island operations, so it was a good way to throw them into the Okinawa campaign.

As a result, Roosevelt successfully formed the 24th Army of the Army, which included the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th Divisions of the Army, and transferred the 6th Marine Division, which was more suitable for landing operations, with a total strength of more than 100,000 troops.

However, it was later discovered that these forces were simply not enough to deal with the situation on Okinawa.

While Roosevelt was actively preparing for an attack on Okinawa, Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima, commander of the Japanese 32nd Army, who was stationed on Okinawa, became alert.

He sent a telegram to Umezu Yoshijiro: "Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, I have heard that the Americans have been actively mobilizing merchant ships and oil tankers to transport supplies and troops, and I think that the Americans are very likely to launch an attack on Taiwan or Okinawa, please strengthen the defense of Okinawa with Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief!" ”

Ushijima Man: This is a strategic analysis of this result, for the Japanese mainland, the real choke point of the transportation line is Taiwan or Okinawa, especially Okinawa, once this island is lost, it can be said that the Japanese mainland will be blocked.

But Umezu Mijiro's reply disappointed Ushijima: "Ushijima-kun, the Americans' transportation of supplies and troop movements are more likely to support the war against the Philippines, of course we support the defense of Okinawa, but it is the Philippines that needs to be supported more at present!" ”

When Ushijima received this telegram, he couldn't help but "snort" and said to himself, "What a fool! ”

Ushijima was also the principal of the Army Non-commissioned Officer School before taking over as commander of the 32nd Army in Okinawa, and he was more of a steady and conservative teacher than a general on the battlefield.

But it is often the same commander who is more terrifying, because he is detached from the war and less subjective, to put it simply...... In Ushijima's eyes, the battle for Okinawa was more of a lesson or an art than a war.

In this state of mind, Ushijima saw one thing very clearly: at this time, the US military had already won a complete victory in the naval battle, and it was only a matter of time before the Philippines was taken...... The Philippines is made up of more than 7,000 islands, and without the support of the navy, it will be naturally divided into more than 7,000 parts, and the Japanese troops stationed on it can only wait for the American troops to clean them up one by one and do nothing.

Therefore, it is unlikely that the Americans will mobilize transport ships and mobilize a large number of troops for the Philippines at this time.