From the Tang Empire's "First Battle of the Marianas" to the surrender of the U.S. troops on Agripan Island on January 25, 24, the fierce battle of nearly 20 days was called the "First Battle of the Mariana Islands" by the United States, and the Tang Empire called it the "First Phase of the Battle of the Mariana Islands", although the name is different, but it refers to the first round of contention between the two sides around the Mariana Islands.

During the "armistice" period of more than 10 days, the US military made even more thorough adjustments than the Tang Army. Nimitz was well aware of the situation on the battlefield in the Mariana Islands at this time, and if the Tang Army took any further steps, the US military would fall into the abyss from which it would never recover, and there was no way out. And as the situation opened, the whole situation was very unfavorable to the US military. The Don Army had more offensive directions. The only way to turn the tide of the war is to invest more troops.

Since the 22nd, the U.S. military has stepped up its efforts to invest in the Mariana Islands battlefield. On the same day, a fleet of more than 3o transport ships left Pearl Harbor and headed straight for Guam. On the 24th, the U.S. Pacific Theater Command organized more than 3oo transport planes and began to transport troops to the front-line battlefield (war materials mainly rely on sea transportation, while air transportation is mainly soldiers) On the 25th, a fleet arriving from the United States mainland sent a large number of war materials. The supplies were originally planned to be unloaded at Pearl Harbor, but Nimitz temporarily changed the order, and the fleet only stayed at Pearl Harbor for more than ten hours, refueled, and continued to sail to Guam. On the 28th, a group of 256 B-17 bombers arrived in the Hawaiian Islands and flew to the Mariana Islands on the same day. On the 31st, a fleet of ships carrying replenishment fighters arrived, reinforcing at least 5oo tactical aircraft for the theater of operations. On the 3rd, the last flotilla left Pearl Harbor and headed for Guam, carrying a large number of artillery, armored vehicles, ammunition. Fuel and other supplies, in addition, there was equipment for two 6 divisions.

Judging from this level of investment alone, the United States put almost all the equipment and materials it could collect into the Pacific theater, and Nimitz immediately sent these equipment and materials to the front line, leaving almost nothing. In just ten days, the U.S. military has reinforced two 6th divisions and two 6th divisions to the Mariana Islands. Over 60,000 troops. These divisions were armed with a total of 12oo artillery pieces and 5ooo tanks and armored vehicles. In addition, there were at least two bomber groups, and five tactical aviation groups were put into the front-line battlefield, including 25o heavy bombers and more than 6oo tactical aircraft. The U.S. military organized more than 4oo ships of all sizes and delivered more than 550,000 tons of ammunition and materials to the front line!

These troops and materials account for almost 60 percent of the area that the United States has invested in the Pacific theater. Of the 60,000 additional troops, one and a half of the 6th Division was sent to Anatahan Island, one 6th Division was deployed to the Caroline Islands, and the other half of the 6th Division remained on Saipan. The other 6 Army Division remained on Guam. Tinian Island, Rota Island. Counting the fact that the US military had already deployed surface combat troops in the area at that time, the US military had invested a total of 150,000 troops in the Caroline Islands and the Mariana Islands at this time! And with the arrival of a large number of supplies. The U.S. military built more than 10 of the most important islands in the two archipelago into sea forts, and built a large number of fortifications, bunkers, bunkers, machine gun fire points, shore defense artillery positions, anti-aircraft positions, and so on.

By February 4, the U.S. military had 120,000 troops (ground combat troops, not counting logistics and aviation) in the Mariana Islands and 30,000 in the Caroline. And this is one of them. Ground combat troops on Anatahan Island reached 35,000. And this island is only a few tens of square kilometers!

It can be said that the scale of military and material input of both sides is unprecedented in the Pacific theater. Even when the Tang Empire strategically counterattacked Japan, that is, in major battles such as the 6 operations on Ryukyu Island and the 6 operations on Iwo Jima, the investment of the warring parties was not so much, and the scale was much smaller.

To be precise, during the more than 10 days of the "armistice," the two sides did not compete with each other in terms of the combat effectiveness of the army. The morale and will of the soldiers, the performance of the aircraft, and the strength of the battleship, the two sides fight for the ground is the country's war strength. Thousands of combat aircraft, thousands of ships, thousands of tanks, thousands of artillery pieces, and hundreds of thousands of tons of combat materials at every turn. I am afraid that at that time, except for Tang and the United States, no country could concentrate so much war power in a short period of time!

The decisive confrontation between the two powerful countries in the world, with the most powerful industrial power, the richest resources, the most vast land area (the first in the Tang Empire, the third in the United States), the most powerful war potential, the most populous (the first and second in the Tang Empire, 230 million), the most powerful military strength, and at the same time with completely different cultures, values, and traditional ideas, made the entire Pacific War enter the first place. This is just the beginning, just like two peerless masters with close martial arts, this is only the first round of the two sides, and it is also the first half of the battle.

In terms of grasping the situation of the battle, Nimitz has always grasped the key points. The Mariana Islands were the core of the entire battlefield, and any other tactical arrangements adopted by the Don Army were aimed at capturing the Mariana Islands. Similarly, any deployment of the U.S. military is aimed at holding the Mariana Islands for the last time. Nimitz also realized that it was only a matter of time before the Tang Army attacked the Caroline Islands, but the ground battle in the direction of the Caroline Islands was secondary, even if the Tang Army advanced steadily, it would take at least two months to uproot the US strongholds on the Caroline Islands one by one, and within two months, the four aircraft carriers of the US Army would be reunited, and even if the three aircraft carriers of the Tang Empire were successfully repaired by then, the fleet strength of the two sides would be restored to a balance point, and the final naval battle would determine the outcome of the battle. And the Tang Army, for the sake of safety, will certainly strive for a decisive victory before the American forces regain the superiority of the naval fleet, that is, to seize an important island in the southern part of the Mariana Islands, perhaps Anatahan, perhaps Saipan. If the Don Army can capture one of these two islands within these two months, then even if the American fleet recovers, the final outcome of the Battle of the Mariana Islands is locked, and the naval battle will be more favorable to the Tang Army.

From this fundamental purpose, it is not difficult to explain the investment of the Don Army in strengthening the direction of the Mariana Islands at this time. The troops deployed by the Tang Army in the direction of the Mariana Islands were all elite units, while the troops remaining on the islands of Ryukyu and Taiwan (most likely the troops to capture the Caroline Islands) were all reserves. At present, the two task forces of the Tang Army have left the anchorage, and the assembly and offensive preparations of the 6th Brigade of the Tang Army are basically in place, and the Tang Army Air Force has basically completed the preparations for the new campaign. So, where is the next target of the Tang Army?

As the supreme commander of the theater of operations, Nimitz must first judge the basic purpose of the new campaign of the Tang Army (the military system of the United States is different from that of the Tang Empire, and the status of the commander of the theater of operations in the Tang Empire is not high. And in the United States, the theater commander has a lot of decision-making power and does not even need to obey the president's arrangement) When more and more Don Army 6 squadrons were massing towards Aramagan Island, and the fleet of the Don Army was also massing in this direction, and the Don Army aviation intensified the bombardment of Pagan Island, Anatahan Island, Saipan Island and other islands, Nimitz immediately judged. The next target of the Don Army must be Anatahan, not Saipan!

At that time, there were 35,000 6 warbands on Anatahan Island, but the sea route was threatened, and air safety could not be guaranteed, so the Tang army only needed to go south 8o nautical miles from Alamagan Island to attack Anatahan Island. What is the concept of 8o nautical miles? It only takes 1o hours to board the 6 ships and make a round trip, a transport ship only takes 8 hours to make a round trip, and a tactical aircraft makes a round trip, counting the time to hang bombs and replenish fuel. Also throw hours. The Tang army can completely use Aramagan Island as a place to ascend 6. The tactical bombers deployed on Aramagan Island alone can drop thousands of tons of bombs in a single day, while the Tang Army's Deng-6 ships deployed in the waters of the Northern Mariana Islands can drop two batches of Deng-6 troops in a single day, sending at least 15ooo 6-fighters to the beach. Transports can run back and forth twice, bringing tens of thousands of tons of supplies to the beach!

On the contrary, there are at least 30,006 warbands on Saipan, more than 15oo artillery pieces, and Anatahan Island as a barrier, which can be supported by aviation on Tinian Island, Rota Island, and Guam. The aviation of the Tang Empire dropped up to 7oo tons of bombs in one day, transported 8ooo officers and soldiers of the 6th Squadron, and 20,000 tons of supplies. The defense of the US military here is not only stronger. The Tang Army's projection ability is also weaker, and the difficulty of boarding 6 has increased a lot, and the chance of success has been reduced by more than half.

Judging from the strength of the three 6th divisions deployed by the Tang Empire on the front line at that time, two of which served as reserve divisions, the success rate of capturing Anatahan Island was very high, while the success rate of capturing Saipan was not large. If the Don Army takes Anatahan Island, the four most important islands in the southern part of the archipelago will all be exposed to the range of the Tang Army's tactical bombers, and the Tang Army's fighters can quickly seize air supremacy. Provides cover for tactical and heavy bombers. Next, perhaps the Tang Army did not need to move the 6 operations at all, relying only on bombing and naval blockade would be enough to force the American troops on the other islands to run out of ammunition and finally surrender.

The focus is here, and if the Tang Army wants to land on 6 Anatahan Island, seizing sea supremacy is the most critical step. This is also the reason why the two task forces of the Tang Army left the anchorage ahead of schedule, and these two fleets will definitely wait in concealment, and then look for an opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the "Z fleet". In addition, the Tang Army's organization of the fleet in Naha Port and the combat operation that came to reinforce this side were precisely to play the role of the 6th support fleet when the two main task forces could not provide support for the 6th Sentai Squadron, and the judgment of Barnimitz, who played the role of the 6th Support Fleet, can be said to be very accurate, and the question now is, how to fight this upcoming battle? He has two choices, one is a head-on decisive battle, counting on Kimmel to create a miracle and kill the two main task forces of the Tang Army, at least one of them, so that the Tang Army will not be able to guarantee sea dominance, and the battle will drag on, maybe for a few months Obviously, this method is too direct, Kimmel has not yet made a name for himself, and the eight battleships look mighty, but they are not necessarily the opponents of the Tang Army.

Hard fighting will not work, then the only way left is to divert the attention of the Tang army and force the Tang army to move the main battlefield to another place. This can disperse the forces of the Tang Army, and second, it can delay the campaign and wait for the aircraft carrier to return. And this place is the Caroline Islands. If the Don Army can be brought into the Caroline Islands and dragged on here for a few months, then the tide of the war is likely to change!

Is there any way to attract the Don army to the Caroline Islands? It wasn't easy, and even Nimitz had a headache for days. He organized several of the most imaginative and talented staff officers, entrusted them with this secret task, and asked them to come up with a feasible method in the shortest possible time to attract the Don Army to the Caroline Islands, where the pace of the Don Army's offensive would be delayed for at least two months!

These staff officers came up with several methods on January 3o, there was a plan to send 6 warbands to attack Luzon Island (or Taiwan Island, or Ryukyu Island), and there was a plan to transfer the fleet to the Caroline Islands, but in the end, Nimitz saw a very bold plan, a plan that could provoke the Tang Army and make the Tang Army have to sweep the Caroline Islands first!

The plan was put in place on the 31st. The group of 25o B-17s that had just been transferred to Guam, as well as the nearly 2oo B-17s that were originally deployed here (nearly half of the B-17s had been lost in the previous battle) left the airfields on Guam and Tinian Island on February 4 (heavy bombers are no longer stationed on Saipan, and all the planes deployed on the airfields are tactical aircraft) This group of bombers first flew eastward, and after leaving the range of activities of the Tang Army's reconnaissance planes and submarines, they turned south. He landed at the airport on Pohnpei Island at 6 p.m., refueled it and took off immediately, flying 5oo kilometers south, then turning east, and finally landing at the airports of Baberdaub and Yap during the night. By daybreak, the bombers had completed a simple overhaul, refueled, and filled their bomb bays with bombs, left the airfield before dawn, and flew all the way northwest.

This huge fleet of more than 4oo bombers flew thousands of kilometers in 2o hours, landing and refueling several times before and after, and the pilots could only take turns to rest during the flight. They have a special, significant, and potentially game-changing mission, one that no one has done before!