"Of course!" MacArthur made a gesture of invitation: "We invited you here just to hear your suggestions. I heard General Halsey say that you always have unique insights!"

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

"I think..." Zhang Chi said: "We can do it at the same time on land and sea!"

"Of course it is carried out at the same time!" Halsey replied: "But there must be a focus, because the speed of offensive at sea cannot be synchronized with the direction of land! We must choose a focus so that we can hit Rabaul!"

MacArthur just smiled and didn't say anything. His expression seemed to be telling Halsey that he had expected Zhang Chi would not have any good ideas.

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

"I think you know these difficulties too!" Halsey replied: "After the Japanese occupied Rabaul, they carried out a series of transformations on Rabaul. They dug a large number of underground passages there, built above-ground residential areas, hospitals, communication facilities, warehouses, etc., as well as more than 100 kilometers of air defense bunkers, and naval bases and airports. So this Rabaul became a military fortress for the Japanese to attack and retreat. It would be much more difficult than attacking Guadalam!"

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

Upon hearing this, Halsey was stunned and replied: "It goes without saying that after gaining air supremacy, he would block Rabaul and then launch a login battle!"

This is a common tactic used by the US military. In fact, not only the US military, but also the island warfare basically adopts this model. First, it is to seize air supremacy. After gaining air supremacy, it can easily defeat its navy. Then it can use sea supremacy and air supremacy to block the target islands, and then it will land on the ground offensive...

"But Rabaul is different from Guadao!" Zhang Chi replied: "Guadao is a barren land and has a small area. We can easily implement an effective blockade on Guadao, causing the Japanese army to lose supplies. But Rabaul... As far as I know, the total area of ​​the New Britain Island where it is located is 37,000 square kilometers, seven times the area of ​​Guadao, and there are also a large amount of fertile land!"

"You mean..." When MacArthur heard this, he felt that the suggestion Zhang Chi was not as simple as it seemed.

"I mean!" Zhang Chi continued: "If we use conventional combat methods, it will be difficult to get it or have to pay a heavy price to get it. The reason is that the Japanese have made sufficient preparations in Rabaul. As the general said just now, their air defense bunkers on Rabaul have reached more than 100 kilometers. On the other hand, our blockade will not play much role in Rabaul, because I think it is very likely that the Japanese have grown food in Rabaul!"

Upon hearing this, MacArthur couldn't help but turn his gaze to Halsey. Halsey shook his head in a daze and said, "We only care about reconnaissance of the Japanese military fortifications, but ignore whether they grow food!"

Zhang Chi would know this because this is because the Japanese troops stationed in Rabaul did this in history, which made Rabaul's Japanese troops able to survive under the tight seal of the US military because they could already be self-sufficient on the island.

They kept guarding until Japan surrendered, and even when the Allies planned to deport them back to Japan, they were reluctant to go back... The reason was that Japan was already full of holes and had an extremely shortage of food, and life in Rabaul was obviously much better, which made them continue to live in Rabaul for two years. When they were repatriated two years later, they also carried a large amount of food and agricultural tools, and once they returned to China, they became local tyrants.

"Well!" MacArthur frowned while holding the pipe, "What the Colonel said makes sense. If the Japanese grow food in Rabaul... then they don't need to transport food from the outside. Then our blockade plan will be difficult to achieve any effect on them!"

"Their ammunition will be finished one day!" Halsey said: "They will never produce ammunition by themselves, right!"

"If I were Japanese!" Zhang Chi replied: "I would store a large amount of ammunition in Rabaul. After all, they all have the ability to build such a long air defense bunker in Rabaul, and it would be even more impossible to build a few super-large underground warehouses. On the other hand, the Japanese's combat spirit... I think it is obvious to all!"

MacArthur nodded: "So, even if one day we have air and sea control over Rabaul, we may have to pay a heavy price and take a long time to win Rabaul!"

This is of course, because in history, the US military did not attack the hard bone of Rabaul, but instead attacked many small islands around Rabaul to block it, and then skipped Rabaul and continued to march towards Japan... The US military called it the "island-jumping tactic."

This tactic certainly makes sense: the United States is a commercial country, and their wars often have calculations of the benefits. For a place like Rabaul, where fortifications are solid and self-sufficient, it is found that it is more cost-effective to surround it and basically does not affect its attack on Japan's mainland, so naturally choose to surround it instead of attacking it.

Of course, neither Halsey nor MacArthur realized this problem at this time. They are still thinking about approaching Rabaul step by step and then taking down Rabaul, an important port and aviation base.

It was not until a few months later that the US air force launched air strikes and blockades on Rabaul that it was discovered that the problem was serious... The bombing of the aircraft seemed to have no effect on Rabaul's Japanese army at all, because there were a large number of air defense bunkers, which also formed a well-connected transportation network, and some areas even built solid cave positions. It was almost difficult to capture it than climbing to the sky.

"Then... Colonel!" After thinking for a while, Halsey asked Zhang Chi: "What's going on at the same time when you are talking about land and sea attacking at the same time?"

"What I said is to attack from land and sea at the same time, but they are actually just feints!"

"Few attack?" Halsey and MacArthur couldn't help looking at each other.

If there are feint attacks from land and sea, where can we launch a real attack from? Is it from heaven?!

(To be continued.)
Chapter completed!