The battle of Gilbert was fought for more than a month, and the Americans became more and more angry.

Although the Americans had obvious superiority in the sea and air, they were still deflated on land and could not completely destroy the permanent fortifications of the Japanese.

The small islands or atolls in the projectile land were filled with tens of thousands of American casualties, but there were still some islands and reefs under the control of the Japanese.

"They don't have a lot of supplies, especially fresh water, and many places are underprepared. As long as you trap them, they will always surrender! Spruance suggested to Nimitz.

Due to the high casualties, Nimitz was under a lot of pressure.

Relative to the Army, the Marine Corps is expanding, but now it numbers only 430,000, and there are more than 100,000 in Europe and North Africa.

After experiencing the battles of Vanuatu and Kuah Island, more than 30,000 marines were removed from the service list due to casualties, and this time the battle was only in Gilbert, and before it reached the Marshall Islands, more than 2,000 corpses were transported back, which really caused the morale of the Navy to plummet.

If it weren't for the U.S. Army's main attack, Irian Island, which would have suffered more damage as it advanced, I am afraid that the domestic pressure on the navy would have been greater, but it had already made Nimitz very depressed.

"However, we need to control the Marshall Islands first!" Nimitz could only let go of Gilbert's hard bones first and focus on the Marshall Islands.

One of the important purposes of the whole campaign was to get a passage through Hawaii.

Following the Battle of Midway, the U.S. Marines also recaptured Johnston Island during the repossession phase.

Johnston Island covers an area of only 1.5 square kilometers, and there is no fresh water source on it, so only more than 800 Japanese troops were stationed, and the Japanese troops who retreated from the vicinity of Midway Island were only about 1,000 people. There were no reinforcements. There was a serious shortage of supplies, which lasted for two weeks, and was overcome by the full force of the Americans.

Such. Hawaii has already opened a section of the west-south passage, and the rest needs to be knocked on Marshall and Wake Island, gradually extending to Southeast Asia and mainland Japan.

Marshall is inescapable.

"The Japanese have been running the Marshall Islands for many years. I'm afraid this battle won't be easy to fight! Nimitz said heavily, he now felt MacArthur's feelings, and he was afraid that the casualties of the entire Marshall would cause another uproar in the country.

"In fact, there are many islands in the Marshalles, and we can also besiege them without attacking them, trapping them until they surrender." Spruance suggested on the side.

"The Japanese are stubborn, and it's hard to wait for them to surrender. And we don't have that much time to wait for them to run out of ammunition! Nimitz said bitterly.

In the original history, the Americans could calm down, advance little by little, and the hard bones could be bypassed. It dragged on until the final surrender of the Japanese. But now that a powerful Huaxia has emerged, it is naturally not so leisurely.

If the Americans want to make a big move in Southeast Asia, they need the opening of the Hawaii channel to support logistics.

The United States is also worried about China's attitude. Once you turn your face with them. Even if the Americans occupied the Philippines. may also be driven away by Huaxia soon, and another rout will escape.

Strategize for the future. It is necessary to be clear about the threats on the channel. However, some of China's moves in Southeast Asia have always put pressure on the Americans to be in a hurry for time.

"The navy of the Chinese people is getting stronger and stronger in the South China Sea!" Nimitz sighed.

The U.S. military has just received the latest information, and China has recently launched a large-scale landing operation in the South China Sea.

……

"Sir! The stele is erected! A sailor saluted Lin Zun.

Lin Zun looked at the three big characters on Taiping Island and the few lines of small characters on the bottom, and couldn't help but feel a burst of pride in his heart.

At his feet, the largest reef in the South China Sea had been taken back by him from the Japanese.

Although the position of the Fujian Navy in the navy of the Chinese National Defense Force was somewhat embarrassing, Lin Zun was the first group of Fujian officers to get closer to the past under the pull of the vanguard army.

It was only because of the lack of talent in the Chinese Navy that Lin Zun spent a long time in the naval academy and in the exchange activities with German naval officers.

The origin of his several military exploits was also mainly the submarine attack he learned from Germany, and he rarely had the opportunity to fight on the surface.

The Battle of the Yellow Sea, which sank the Musashi last year, made Lin Zun, who led a group of young naval cadets to practice on a German battleship and did not catch up, regretted it, but it didn't take long for him to be overjoyed by an opportunity.

He became the captain of the cruiser Pingyuan, preparing for the recovery of islands and reefs in the South China Sea.

For more than half a year, Lin Zun led a group of destroyers, frigates, and numerous submarines to intercept Japanese cargo ships everywhere, and even some seaside fortifications, while exploring and familiarizing himself with the terrain of various areas in the South China Sea.

With the "Passage of the South China Sea Route" and the experience accumulated by the Chinese fishermen for a long time, as well as the charts and marine information scavenged by the clone spies from the data rooms of various countries, the Chinese Navy already has a very complete set of information.

The Huaxia submarine force cruised between China and the South China Sea for a long time, and also had a preliminary understanding of the sea conditions in various places.

All that remains is for Lin Zun to integrate these forces and carry out targeted training to seize the island.

The final order was not issued until February 44, and when Lin Zun saw that the list of commanders in charge of seizing the island was still his name, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

After years of sharpening, it's time for the sword to be unsheathed.

A fleet consisting of one Baltimore-class heavy cruiser and one Cleveland-class light cruiser, as well as four Keeling-class destroyers and seven frigates, began to head for many islands and reefs in the South China Sea under the pressure of one second-class aircraft carrier.

The Japanese navy in the South China Sea is not weak, but it does not have many troops stationed on many islands and reefs in the South China Sea.

Even if the Japanese lost in the South China Sea and began to use many islands and reefs in the South China Sea, except for a slightly larger garrison on Taiping Island, the garrisons on the other islands and reefs were still very few, and there were no permanent fortifications.

In the face of the Japanese garrison, which even on some large islands was only one squad or at most a small team, the naval guns bombarded and the fighters rushed, basically sweeping all the way.

Only on Taiping Island, the largest island in the South China Sea, did Lin Zun's fleet encounter slightly greater resistance.

The availability of fresh water and fertile land on Taiping Island relieved the logistical pressure, and the Japanese army had troops stationed on it after they were taken from the French.

When blocking the southward movement of Huaxia cargo ships, the Japanese built a submarine base on Taiping Island. There is also a Marine Corps of more than six hundred people.

However, these were still not enough for Lin Zun's fleet to attack.

The nine 203-mm guns on the Baltimore-class heavy cruisers were enough to knock open the proposed fortifications built by the Japanese. Even the two permanent fortifications made of reinforced concrete and steel plates were blown up into the sky by aerial bombs that took off from the aircraft carrier.

Lin Zun felt that before he could enjoy the fight, Taiping Island was swept away by the PT-76 amphibious tank of the accompanying Marine Corps.

At the cost of the destruction of 4 amphibious tanks and 32 casualties, Huaxia completely recovered Taiping Island, annihilated more than 800 Japanese troops, and by the way, sank two submarines docked in the Japanese submarine base.

In just one week, Lin Zun recovered more than a dozen islands and reefs, and erected boundary monuments on the main islands and reefs that Meng Xiang had prepared for a long time.

Meng Xiang doesn't have such a good memory, except for a few big islands who know the names and make reservations, the others are all names selected from the submissions of the people who actively participated in the call for names.

Although this series of results was not as conspicuous as the offensive of the Americans, it was much stronger than the Americans' encounter.

Of course, this is also related to the surprise attack of Huaxia and the Japanese ignorance of these islands and reefs, in any case, Huaxia's series of island-grabbing operations in the South China Sea have attracted the attention of the Americans.

Although the targets of the landing were only those islands and reefs in the South China Sea, it gave the Americans a great sense of crisis.

Since Huaxia can land on those islands and reefs, it means that it has the ability to land on some islands in the Philippines.

The Japanese army did not fortify every part of the Philippines, and with the response of the Chinese forces and even the natives in the Philippines, it was easy for the Chinese landing force to open a gap and gain a firm foothold somewhere in the Philippines first.

The aborigines of Southeast Asia and Australia were extremely disgusted with the British and French colonizers, and many of them turned to the Japanese, but some of them were not very disgusted with China.

Once the Chinese people are allowed to gain a foothold, the question of the ownership of some parts of the Philippines will become a rift incident, and unless the Americans really make a decision to turn their faces, I am afraid it will be difficult to solve it.

In the face of this news, the US top level has no choice but to continue to speed up the pace and rush forward for time.

……

"The Sansha has already erected a boundary monument in the dark sands of the great-mother, and now we are turning north." After lingering for a while in front of the stone tablet engraved on Taiping Island, Lin Zun ordered the fleet that had rested on the island for a day to continue to set off, "Target, Huangyan Island!" ”