At the beginning of the campaign, the Japanese army in the South Pacific was a two-pronged approach to capture Port Moresby and recapture Kuah Island, and even in the initial stage, it took the direction of Port Moresby as the main operational direction, so that the Japanese army in the direction of Kuah Island lacked sufficient troops, weapons and ammunition, and did not have enough strength to break through the US defense line.

At first, it was believed that the number of US troops would not exceed 2,000, but in fact there were more than 10,000 US troops on Kuah Island and 6,000 on nearby Tulagi Island, a total of 16,000 troops. Therefore, the Japanese army thought that it would be easy to recapture Kuah Island, and the first time they went to the island, only 1,000 people were the vanguard of the Ichiki detachment, and after the defeat in the first battle, they increased their troops to the island, and the second time they went to the island with about 1,500 people, and after the defeat in the second battle, they increased their troops by about 3,500 for the third time, forming a "refueling" tactic of increasing troops one by one, so that the troops were scattered and the attack was repeatedly lost. By the end of October, the Japanese army judged that the number of American troops on Kuah Island was about 7,500, but in fact the number of American troops was as high as 23,000. Until the end of the campaign, the Japanese army still failed to correctly ascertain the strength of the American army, which had a great negative impact on the use of Japanese forces.

On the other hand, the U.S. Army invested the entire division of the 1st Marine Division, with a total of 16,000 men, and the landing was effective in one fell swoop, and the airfield was quickly occupied, laying the foundation for the victory of the battle. Subsequently, several large-scale reinforcements were organized under the cover of superior naval and air forces, which strengthened the strength of the ground forces on Kuah Island, reaching 60,000 at its peak, and was supported by heavy equipment and sufficient ammunition and supplies, which could not only hold the vital airfield, but also have enough strength to launch an attack. This was in stark contrast to the use of force by the Japanese army.

Fifth, in terms of tactical setup, the Japanese army only attached importance to attacking US military targets, and almost disdained the US military's logistical supply and transportation vehicles and materials. You must know that the Battle of Kuah Island was a landing battle, and the transport fleet in the landing battle had a decisive impact on the outcome of the operation, fighting on such a sparsely populated island far away from the rear, without the support of the transport fleet, even if the troops landed on the island, they would fail due to lack of support, the Japanese army was almost ignorant of this point, and only focused on the attack on US planes and warships, and the most telling thing was that in the Battle of Savo Island on August 8, the Japanese army dealt a heavy blow to the escort strength of the US transport fleet, But they turned a blind eye to the transport ships and the mountains of supplies piled up on the beach, and walked away. On the other hand, since the end of the naval battle, the US military has been vigorously attacking Japan's logistical supply lines, so that Japan cannot send heavy artillery, and the lack of firepower has had a great impact on the Japanese army's operations. More importantly, the Japanese army's logistical supply was basically cut off, and it could only use small submarines to deliver rice and some medicines day and night (that is, the "Tokyo Express"), and even salt could not be delivered! This more directly led to a significant weakening of the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army. At least 13,000 of the Japanese attrition were non-combatant, which was also an extremely high proportion in the Pacific War. This battle developed into a war of attrition that was extremely unfavorable to the Japanese army, and the planes on both sides fought against planes and warships against warships, and the Japanese army fought with its own shortcomings compared with the strengths of the American army, and the losses of the American army could be quickly made up by virtue of its huge industrial capacity, while the Japanese army had almost no ability to replenish the losses, not only lost Kuah Island, but also had a far-reaching impact on future operations.

Take aircraft carriers as an example, at the beginning of the campaign, the US military had 4 aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean and the Japanese had 6 aircraft carriers. In the battle, the U.S. army lost 2 aircraft carriers, and although no Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk, 4 were heavily damaged, and only 2 were left to fight. However, by the end of 1943, the US military had more than a dozen aircraft carriers in the Pacific, while the Japanese army did not have one aircraft carrier in service until March 1944.

Misassessment of the assessment

Sixth, the Japanese military underestimated the US military's ability to dominate the sea and air. After occupying the airport, the US military completely controlled sea and air supremacy. This is also the reason why every reinforcement of the Japanese army fails. The third reinforcement of the Japanese army was very reckless, the large transport ship directly unloaded without artillery preparation, and as a result, it became the target of the American army, and not a ton of supplies were unloaded, and 1,000 tons of supplies and 12,000 Japanese troops were all buried in the belly of the fish. From then on, the Japanese army "learned from the top" and did not dare to bring a large number of heavy weapons, and as a result, they were repelled again and again by American 105-mm guns and bombers. The Japanese army should strengthen its covering firepower and forcibly transport heavy weapons ashore, and perhaps it will not lose so badly.

With the defeat of the Battle of Kuah Island, the Japanese army lost not only Kuah Island, but also the heavy losses of ships and aircraft, which greatly weakened the strategic defense strength of the Japanese army and had a huge impact on the development process of the war. As Yamamoto wrote in his diary, "What a glorious battle we had in the beginning! What a terrible operation we have fought since Midway! ”

Regarding the idea of the future occupation of East Asia, Yamashita Fumifumi believes that Japan should not fight everywhere, and Yamashita Fumifumi has two ideas.

The first is to support the Burmese Front at present, first seize the entire territory of Burma, separate China and Britain, China can not get supplies, it is impossible to have a big move, such as a counteroffensive, causing a big passivity to the Japanese army, even if the Japanese army does not do it for a while and a half to defeat the squadron and force China to surrender, then there is no need to be contained too much manpower and material resources.

And after seizing Burma, Japan should concentrate on seizing Australia, because Australia's strategic location is too important, and the materials that the United States supports China and Soviet Russia, especially China's materials, are changed from here, as long as Australia is defeated, then the sea area centered on Australia and Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands will become the inland sea of the Japanese army, as long as more aircraft are built, it can basically ensure that nothing goes wrong, the reason why we don't talk about early warships is because it has taken too long to build warships, In addition, it is much easier to train pilots than to train ship crews.

When Australia is taken and stabilized, it can concentrate on attacking China and forcing China to surrender, and in addition, it can also attack India, gain access to the vast market here, and even join forces with the German army in the Middle East.

If all of this can be done as planned, Japan will be able to realize the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

The second is to seize Burma and build Burma into a forward fortress against the Allies, when Australia is not taken at the time of parting, it is easy to receive attacks from India, the Western Pacific and the South Pacific, and China will definitely be more difficult to surrender, and it will be pinned down by China, and even counterattack, and Soviet Russia may attack when necessary, so Japan is actually in a huge encirclement, so controlling strategic points is the premise of ensuring the fruits of victory.

In addition, it is best to make a forced landing in China, and other countries have talked about it, but not with China, other countries have lost a little bit of their colonies, but China has lost its own territory.

And in order to ensure that the years of hard work are not in vain, so it is still necessary to take the first way, Australia must take it, with this largest island in the Pacific, its vast territory, rich resources, sparse population will become the strongest fortress of Japan, and even if necessary, the royal family and government can be moved to Australia, because it is safer than the Japanese mainland.

After Yamashita passed on his advice to the country, he didn't know if the country could listen to it, he could only hope that the bigwigs in the military department would listen to it.

However, the Japanese military department was still very attentive to the report of the Malay Tiger, and after reading it, they were very angry, and when Yamashita Fengfumi analyzed the failure of Kuah Island, he obviously accused them of being too ambitious and incapacitating.

However, the Japanese emperor also read Yamashita Fumi's report, and he didn't think so, and Hirohito felt that Yamashita Fumi's analysis was very reasonable. In fact, the problems that Japan is now facing are the same as those of Germany, a three-front war, Japan's industrial capacity is too weak, and it is still impossible to fight against a China that has almost no industrial capacity, and in the face of the United States, which has a population larger than Japan, its industrial strength is almost ten times that of Japan, and the resources that can be mobilized are even a hundred times that of Japan, Hirohito is also terrified, although he agreed with Yamamoto Fifty-six in his heart last year, Hirohito still took the risk of gambling to try it.

But then again, if the United States does not embargo Japan and block energy to contain Japan, Japan will not need to turn against the United States before China surrenders, but the United States has stuck Japan's energy supplies, and Japan has been fighting for five years and the people's livelihood has withered, and there are not too many materials to attack the Chinese government in the mountains, not to mention that the United States has secretly supported China, and it is a loan, a delivery of materials, and a lot of arms to China. Especially in the later period, China and Japan are always consumed by each other.

Hirohito is much more ambitious than his father, and it may not be time to dominate the world, but dominating East Asia and the Western Pacific is his dream all along, and the United States wants Japan to give up the fruits of the bloody struggle of millions of Japanese troops in five years, even if he agrees, the people below will definitely not agree, not to mention that no Japanese will agree, including himself, of course. Therefore, war is the only way to resolve disputes.

Hirohito once again looked at Yamashita Fengfumi's report, he felt that maybe it was time to change his strategy, and his tone was to cut off China's supply of goods from Burma, it was better to cut it off from Australia, and with the Burma cut off, China might not be able to get any supplies, surrender was a matter of time, and he could even move the capital to Beijing, the former center of the world.

Hirohito felt his blood boil when he thought of the Celestial Empire that had led the world for 5,000 years, and drove the people there like slaves.