"Tarawa has an important strategic position!" Halsey continued: "In its north and west are the Marshall Islands and the Caroling Islands, respectively, while the south and the east are our bases, and it also happens to be on the lifeline of Hawaii and the United States to the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand..."

"General!" Zhang Chi interrupted Halsey and said, "I wonder how much do you have in Tarawa's intelligence?"

Halsey couldn't help but be stunned. He felt a little surprised, because Zhang Chi and Halsey had always gotten along very well, and Zhang Chi rarely interrupted Halsey like this impatiently.

"We did the necessary reconnaissance on it, Colonel!" MacArthur replied: "We sent a submarine and used the camera installed on the periscope to conduct photo reconnaissance on Tarawa Island and several nearby islands, and took the coastlines of several islands in full. We also surveyed the waterways close to the islands on the spot, correcting the incorrectness on the old chart..."

"But this is far from enough!" Zhang Chi replied.

"Not enough?" MacArthur smiled: "Col. Maybe you don't know what kind of islands are Tarawa and the three islands we are going to attack. I would like to emphasize that we asked the British soldiers who once lived in Tarawa. You know, Tarawa was once a colony of the British. We knew from them that these islands and reefs are not only small in size, but the area of ​​the Tarawa atoll Betto Island (also translated as Betio Island) is only 1.18 square kilometers. The soil of these islands is poor, and the geology of coral sand. With the erosion of rain and sea water, there is almost no vegetation and the terrain is very flat. I think you should know that it is not difficult to attack such an island!"

Of course, Zhang Chi knew what MacArthur meant... The soil was barren and there was no vegetation, which meant that the Japanese army had nowhere to hide, the coral sand was geological and flat terrain, which meant that it was very conducive to artillery and fighter bombing.

In fact, MacArthur and others were thinking this way. They were so flat and so big, and they used naval guns or aviation bombs to blow back and forth several times, and the Japanese above died in just a few strokes?!

But Zhang Chi doesn't think so...

"I have to remind you, General!" Zhang Chi replied: "The Japanese are very good at building underground fortifications, just like we saw in Rabaul..."

"Yes, we did see it!" MacArthur interrupted Zhang Chi's words: "But we don't think they can withstand 406mm shells and 726kg aviation bombs!"

"I express doubts, general!" Zhang Chi replied.

Because in fact, these bombs did not pose much threat to the Japanese army on Tarawa.

One reason is that Japanese commander Shibasaki Eji had already predicted that one day when the US army attacked Tarawa, Tarawa would definitely be subject to unprecedented violent bombing. So he commanded the engineers to strengthen the fortifications with coconut trees and coral sand. All artillery bunkers were covered with steel plates and thick coral sand. After fifteen months of construction, the fortifications across the island formed a complete defense system, and their solidity could be described as a copper wall.

Shibazaki Keiji boasted that even if the Allies spent a hundred years on a million people, they could not conquer Tarawa.

Another reason is the coral sand geology on Tarawa... This geology is an advantage that is conducive to the Allied offensive in MacArthur's eyes, but it just causes great trouble to the Allied offensive.

When coral sand is blown by artillery, tiny dust particles will form. These dust particles will cover the island to form natural smoke bombs, making US fighter jets and warships unable to see the target at all, and land attacks are easily lost. What's more serious is... These coral sands are also very likely to cause jumps. A considerable part of the shells fired from US warships hit the island and did not explode on the island, but took off to the sea on the other side.

Of course, the US military, including MacArthur, did not know about these, and Zhang Chi didn't know what to say.

"Oh, do you doubt it?" MacArthur raised his head proudly, smiling and saying nothing. His expression made Zhang Chi urge to rush up and kick him.

"Zhang..." Halsey interrupted: "In this regard, General MacArthur and I have the same idea, because we have enough advantages, and I believe we will crush the Japanese troops of Tarawa like an ant to death!"

“Our strengths?”

"Yes!" Halsey replied: "Maybe you don't know that we already have eleven main aircraft carriers at this time. If you include your "Pinghai", then there will be twelve ships, and there are eight escort aircraft carriers. We even have new fighter jets, a new fighter jet dedicated to zero warfare. Of course, we do not intend to use it easily in this battle!"

"Oh!" Zhang Chi understood after hearing this.

The Essex-class aircraft carrier in the United States has already been put into service. This large-scale aircraft carrier can be launched in only 14 to 16 months. In addition, the comprehensive mobilization of the United States' industrial potential has led to a large number of "shew" launches.

In other words, at this time, the United States surpassed Japan in terms of quality and quantity in terms of aircraft carriers. In addition, there was a new fighter "Hellcat", which gave the US Navy great confidence.

"In the army..." Halsey continued: "Because the First Land War Division returned to China to recuperate, the Second Land War Division did not have much landing experience, so I hope your new First Division can take on the main attack mission!"

What Halsey said is the truth. The Second Marine Division was the only US amphibious force available to Halsey at this time, but the division is not in good condition now. The reason is that they mainly conducted jungle war training during the seven-month rest in New Zealand... This is because of the lessons learned from the previous Guadalam Battle. American Marine Corps officers thought that most of the battles in the future would be like the jungle war in Guadalam. Who would have thought that they would encounter Tarava on the coral sand terrain next.

What's more serious is that many officers and soldiers of the Second Marine Division still maintain a deep attachment to the peaceful and beautiful New Zealand, and some people still get married and get married locally... This is how American soldiers are, leaving seeds wherever they go.

In other words, the officers and soldiers of the Second Marine Division have not even recovered from that state. They need a period of adaptation, so Halsey plans to use the New First Division as the main force and the Second Marine Division as the reserve force.

Halsey originally thought this was not a problem at all, because Zhang Chi and the Chinese troops gave him the impression that they were never afraid of war.

But this time...
Chapter completed!