In 1944, the world anti-fascist war entered a state of major counterattack. On June 6, the Allied forces launched a counterattack in Normandy. The U.S. Fifth Fleet and Task Force 58 also left Pearl Harbor and prepared to launch a counterattack in the Pacific. Their goal is very clear, the Mariana Islands. For the US military, simply tearing apart the Mariana Islands is equivalent to tearing apart Japan's absolute defense circle. As for Japan, they will also defend this island to ensure that they can stop the US military. The two sides started a new round of bloody battle here.
First Focus, Guam
Guam is an important island in the Mariana Islands, 48 ??kilometers long, 14 kilometers wide, and has a total area of ??544 square kilometers. This island is located at the southern tip of the Marinada Islands in the western Pacific Ocean, between Manila Bay and Pearl Harbor, and is one of the best ports. Any ship sailing from here can reach the Philippines, Australia, Japan and the Strait of Malacca within four days, and the west coast of the United States in nineteen days.
So its importance is self-evident. Since it was seized by the United States from Spain in 1898, Guam has always been an important stronghold of the US military in the Pacific.
For the US military, Guam is not only the US defense center in the Western Pacific, but also a comprehensive supply station for US naval forces in the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately, because of the Washington Naval Treaty, the U.S. Navy, with limited military spending, can only prioritize the defense and construction of Pearl Harbor, the largest anchorage in the Pacific. Therefore, Guam's military strength was not strong. So when the Pacific War broke out on December 7, 1941, there were only 574 soldiers on the island, which was simply not enough to fight the Japanese army.
After the Japanese troops landed on Guam on December 10, the U.S. military defending the island was almost defeated at first touch. The Japanese army successively occupied government buildings, the U.S. Marine Corps camp, and invaded the city of Agana. Seeing that the U.S. military was losing ground, the U.S. Governor in Guam, George J. McMillin, gave up resistance and declared surrender at 06:00 on December 10; all sporadic fighting ceased. Since then, Japan has occupied Guam.
After the Japanese army occupied Guam, they stepped up construction work on Guam and stationed troops in order to occupy it for a long time. However, unlike Saipan, which was occupied by Japan during World War I, Guam's defense strength is not as abundant as that of Saipan, nor is it as solidly built. After all, the Japanese occupied Guam for just over two years, so it was not difficult for the US military to capture it. However, because of the heavy losses in previous battles to seize the island, the US military still attaches great importance to this place.
According to the U.S. military’s plan, the combat plan for the Mariana Islands requires intense bombing, first from aircraft carriers and shore-based aircraft from the Marshall Islands to the east. After gaining air superiority, battleships will conduct close-in bombardments. Shore bombardment. Guam was chosen as the target. Apart from political reasons, Guam must be recovered.
It is also because Guam’s huge area can be used as a logistics base for the Allied forces to support the next military operations against the Philippine Islands, Taiwan and Ryukyu Islands, and against the Japanese mainland. However, considering the brutality of the Battle of Saipan, the US military finally decided to shell and bomb Guam first, and postpone the attack on the island for one month. This was formulated for the purpose of artillery fire destroying Japanese fortifications and killing Japanese troops. plan.
2. An unexpected surprise
The Japanese base camp was also aware of the US military's attempt to attack the Mariana Islands. After Deputy Takeshi Toyoda succeeded the slain Koga Mineichi and became the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, he launched Operation A (あ戦) on May 20, hoping that when the US military attacked Mariana, Lieutenant General Ozawa Jisaburo The mobile force composed of nine aircraft carriers led by the US Navy can carry out a fatal blow to the US Fifth Fleet.
Of course, launching this operation is also a last resort, because if it is not launched, Japan's communication lines will be severed, and then the troops in Southeast Asia and the Philippines will not be able to receive weapons and ammunition from the country. Japan, on the other hand, does not have access to production raw materials from Southeast Asia and the Philippines, especially precious oils.
So for Japan, "Operation A" is actually an all-or-nothing battle. If it is not carried out anyway, the fleet remaining in the south will become useless by then. It is better to devote all its strength to fight to the death. Fight. However, the operation itself became a disaster. Japan's First Mobile Fleet was severely damaged by the U.S. Task Force 58. The U.S. military only paid a minimal price of 76 casualties, the loss of 123 aircraft, and minor damage to four warships. The enemy suffered heavy damage to four aircraft carriers and one battleship, and severely damaged three ships. The aircraft carrier and two oil tankers were sunk, 600 aircraft were destroyed, and most of the aviation personnel were killed. Although it could no longer inflict more damage to the enemy, it was still a decisive sea battle, and sea control in the Western Pacific completely fell into the hands of the US military.
After that, the US military could blockade Guam unscrupulously, and use its powerful fleet and air force to bomb Japanese positions and important facilities in Guam. On the other hand, an American soldier who had been lurking on Guam for many years, George Ray Coweed, a communications sergeant who was originally affiliated with the communications battalion of Hartgarner Base, used a homemade signal light to successfully communicate with the US military on July 10, 1944. The U.S. Navy made contact and was rescued by the U.S. Navy.
Kuweid has been lurking on the island for many years, carefully avoiding searches by the Japanese army, and has been collecting intelligence about Japan for more than two years. After observing the presence of the U.S. fleet and bombers, he began to strengthen intelligence collection on the Japanese garrison in Guam, recorded the Japanese military's troop configuration in detail, and drew defense maps.
Although Kuweed was not a professional intelligence officer, the map he drew was not accurate, and his estimate of the Japanese troop strength was not very accurate. But for the U.S. Navy, it's still very important. Because in all island-attack operations, the biggest trouble for the US military is that it does not understand the situation on the island. Even if a reconnaissance aircraft is relied on to take risky aerial photos, and then intelligence personnel analyze the photos, the results obtained will not be very accurate, and there may even be large-scale errors in judgment.
That’s why Kuweed intelligence is so important to the U.S. Navy. After carefully evaluating Kuwait's intelligence, the U.S. military decided to stop the bombardment of Guam and planned to land on Guam on July 21, 1944.