"Of course!" MacArthur made a gesture of please: "We have invited you here just to hear your advice, I heard General Halsey say that you always have unique opinions!" ”

MacArthur said this on the surface, but he did not take Zhang Chi's words to heart in his heart, because he did not believe that the Chinese in front of him would make any creative suggestions.

"I think ......" Zhang Chi said, "we can do it both on land and at sea!" ”

"At the same time, of course!" Halsey replied: "But there must be a focus, because the speed of the attack at sea cannot be synchronized with the direction of land!" We have to pick a focus so that we can hit Rabaul! ”

MacArthur just smiled and didn't speak, as if to tell Halsey that he had expected Zhang Chi not to have any good ideas.

"General!" Zhang Chi ignored MacArthur's expression and asked Halsey instead: "I want to know what difficulties we will have in attacking Rabaul now." ”

"I think you know all these difficulties!" Halsey replied: "After the Japanese occupied Rabaul, they carried out a series of transformations to Rabaul, where they dug a large number of underground passages, and also built above-ground residential areas, hospitals, communication facilities, warehouses, etc., in addition to more than 100 kilometers of anti-aircraft bunkers, plus there are naval bases and airfields, so this Rabaul has become a military fortress that the Japanese can attack and retreat, and it will be much more difficult than attacking Kuah Island!" ”

"So!" Zhang Chi continued: "According to the plan of the two generals, if we fight from the sea or from land to get close to Rabaul, then how can we attack Rabaul? ”

Hearing this, Halsey couldn't help but be stunned, and replied: "Needless to say, after mastering air supremacy, we will implement a blockade on Rabaul, and then launch a landing operation!" ”

This is a common tactic used by the US military. In fact, not only the US military, but also island operations basically adopt this mode; first, it will seize air supremacy, and after mastering air supremacy, it can easily defeat its navy, and then it can use sea supremacy and air supremacy to blockade the target islands, and then it will land and launch a ground offensive......

"But Rabaul is not the same as Kuah!" Zhang Chi replied: "Kuah Island is a barren land. And because of its small size, we could easily impose an effective blockade on Kuah Island and deprive the Japanese army of supplies. But Rabaul ...... As far as I know, the island of New Britain is 37,000 square kilometres, seven times the size of Kuah, and there is a lot of fertile land! ”

"What do you mean......" Hearing this, MacArthur felt that Zhang Chi's advice was not as simple as it seemed.

"I mean!" Zhang Chi continued: "If we use conventional methods of warfare, it will be very difficult to take or we will have to pay a heavy price to take Rabaul. The reason is that the Japanese are already well prepared in Rabaul, and as the general just said, their anti-aircraft bunkers on Rabaul have reached more than a hundred kilometers. On the other hand, our blockade won't do much for Rabaul either, as I suppose. It is quite possible that the Japanese have been growing grain in Rabaul for a long time! ”

Hearing this, MacArthur couldn't help but turn his gaze to Halsey, who shook his head blankly and said, "We only care about scouting the Japanese military fortifications, but we ignore whether they grow grain or not!" ”

Zhang Chi will know this because the Japanese troops stationed in Rabaul have done this in history, which makes it possible for the Japanese troops in Rabaul to survive under the strict blockade of the American army, because they can already be self-sufficient on the island.

They held out until Japan surrendered, and they were reluctant to go back even when the Allies intended to send them back to Japan...... The reason is that Japan at this time was already in dire straits, and there was an extreme shortage of food. Life in Rabaul was noticeably much better, which led them to continue living in Rabaul for another two years. And when they were repatriated two years later, they also carried a large amount of grain and farm tools, and they became local tyrants as soon as they returned to China.

"Hmm!" MacArthur frowned as he held his pipe, and said, "The colonel has a point, if the Japanese grow grain in Rabaul...... Then they don't need to deliver grain from the outside. Then our lockdown plan will hardly have any effect on them! ”

"Their ammunition will run out one day!" "They don't produce their own ammunition," Halsey said. ”

"If I were Japanese!" Zhang Chi replied: "I will store a large amount of ammunition in Rabaul, after all, they are all capable of building such a long anti-aircraft bunker in Rabaul, and it will not be a problem to build a few super large underground warehouses." On the other hand. The fighting spirit of the Japanese...... I think it's obvious to all! ”

MacArthur nodded: "So, even if one day, we have air and sea supremacy over Rabaul, I'm afraid we will pay a heavy price and take a long time to take Rabaul!" ”

And of course, because in history. In the end, the U.S. military did not fight Rabaul, but knocked down many small islands around Rabaul to blockade them, and then skipped Rabaul and continued to march towards Japan...... The U.S. military calls it an "island-hopping tactic."

Of course, there is a reason for this tactic: the United States is a commercial country, and they tend to calculate the benefits of war, and for a well-fortified and self-sufficient place like Rabaul, it is more cost-effective to lay it down and surround it, and it is found that it is more cost-effective to encircle it, and it will hardly affect its attack on the Japanese mainland, so it is natural to choose to besiege it rather than attack it.

Of course, neither Halsey nor MacArthur were aware of this problem at this time, and now they are still thinking about approaching Rabaul step by step, and then taking Rabaul, an important port and air base.

It wasn't until a few months later, when U.S. air forces launched an air raid and blockade on Rabaul, that the problem was found to be serious...... The bombing did not seem to have worked at all against the Japanese forces in Rabaul, because there were a large number of anti-aircraft bunkers, which also formed a network of communications in all directions, and even fortified cave positions were built in some sections, and it was almost more difficult to capture them than to ascend to the sky.

"So...... Captain! After thinking for a while, Halsey asked Zhang Chi: "What do you mean by attacking both land and sea at the same time?" ”

"When I talk about attacking from land and sea at the same time, it's actually just a feint!"

"Feint?" Hearing this, Halsey and MacArthur couldn't help but look at each other.

If it is a feint attack from land and sea, where can a real attack be launched? Is it heaven?!

(To be continued.) )