The original plan was that an offensive in the Central Pacific would begin with the capture of the Marshall Islands. However, the more carefully Han Jing and some of the Philippine staff officers in charge of drawing up the battle plan came into the sense that the plan was inadequate, the more they considered it in terms of strategic and logistical support.

Like many other island groups in the Central Pacific, the Marshall Islands are made up of coral reefs. Each of the flatter coral islands is surrounded by reefs, with a lagoon forming on the inner side of the reef. The Marshall Islands consists of about 35 atolls, most of which could be converted from one or more small islands as airports.

The Gilbert Islands, the Eastern Caroline Islands, and Wake Island are all within the radius of combat activity of the allied shore-based air forces in the Marshall Islands. The Marshall Islands came under Japanese trusteeship after World War I and has been off-limits to foreigners since 1935.

During the period of the blockade, Japan made full use of the natural conditions to build the islands into some strong fortresses.

As for the attack on the Marshall Islands some time ago, it was actually just a play, in order to attract the attention of the Allied fleet, and China did not really attack the Marshall Islands with great fanfare because of the Australian battlefield. At present, the Marshall Islands are actually still in the hands of the Allies.

On the basis of all available information, the more the personnel involved in the proposed battle plan studied it, the clearer it became that the Central Pacific Force lacked the necessary forces to capture the Marshall Islands while the main force of the enemy's fleet depended.

Of course, a large part of the ground forces that China can use in the Pacific theater are deployed at various bases for defensive tasks, and some are sent to participate in the Aleutian operations. There is also an offensive in the South and Southwest Pacific against the last Allied islands.

Although the strength of the Chinese attack fleet has gradually increased, its strength is still far from the requirements of the plan.

In addition, no one knew how to use aircraft carrier forces against the enemy's large number of shore-based air forces in the vicinity of the Allied strongholds. The islands in the Mediterranean Sea are claimed to be unsinkable aircraft carriers, but in the Central Pacific, there are many more unsinkable aircraft carriers.

Accordingly, Hanking's staff officers concluded that the attack on the Marshall Islands should take a step-by-step approach, as was the case with the previous attack on Rabaul. Enable China's shore-based aviation to conduct adequate aerial reconnaissance. And with the aircraft on the aircraft carrier, they complement each other and operate in tandem.

The Marshall Islands, like Rabaul, have a route that can be approached gradually by means of the islands. Like the Bismarck Islands, the Marshall Islands are located at the northwestern end of the island chain. At the southeastern end of this island chain is the Anglo-American condominium of Samoa. In the middle of the island chain. There used to be the British Gilbert Islands and the Ellis Islands, and the Tuvalu Islands.

After the occupation of Samoa, China built aviation bases in Samoa and Canton Atoll. Canton Atoll is located north of the Samoan Islands and east of the Gilbert Islands. The distance to both archipelagos is about 800 nautical miles.

The Marshall-Gilbert-Samoa island chain, which roughly parallels the Solomon Islands, has long been on the radar of the Allies. Immediately after the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Allies occupied the Gilbert Islands and built a water airfield at Makin Atoll, turning the archipelago into a reconnaissance base in the southeastern Pacific.

On the other hand, in order to prevent the Allied invasion from the Gilbert Islands, the Chinese forces set out from Samoa and traveled north along the island chain to the neighboring Ellis Islands, where they built a mooring ground and a bomber base in Funafuti, 700 nautical miles from the Tarawa Atoll.

After this meeting, Qian Sihai received instructions to prepare for an attack from the Central Pacific. Construction began again in Funafuti Atoll.

Marines and naval engineer battalions occupied the Nukufetao and Nanomea islands north of the Ellis Islands, where they began building airstrips for bombers.

An aeronautical engineering battalion landed at Baker Atoll, 480 nautical miles east of the Gilbert Islands, and built a fighter airfield there to coordinate operations with the airfield at Canton Atoll.

The first newly formed group of logistics supply ships was first stationed at the Funafuti berth. Shore-based aviation units are deployed in Funafuti, Nukufetau, Nanomea, Canton and Baker. The main force of this aviation unit is 90 Djinn heavy bombers of the Army's Seventh Air Regiment, which intends to carry out air strikes against the enemy from the Ellis Islands. At this time, the 2nd Marine Division stationed in New Zealand, the 27th Infantry Division stationed in the Solomon Islands, and an infantry division of the Jungle Army Group were conducting final landing combat drills, ready to be ready to attack Gilbert at any time.

In the depths of the Pacific Theater, when the Battle of the Great Naval War began, this landing battle was also carried out at the same time.

On 13 November, an aircraft carrier task force with three light aircraft carriers at the core of the attack fleet attacked Minami-Torishima, causing serious damage to Allied military installations and destroying several Allied bombers.

Another aircraft carrier task force with three aircraft carriers as the core, in conjunction with the Army's 7th Air Regiment stationed in Canton Atoll and Funafuti, attacked the Gilbert Islands. The main purpose of the air strikes was to weaken the combat effectiveness of Allied aircraft on Tarawa Atoll and Makin Atoll in order to reduce the pressure on Allied warplanes on the China Air Base in the Ellis Islands. The results of this operation have been greater than expected.

After that, the Allies left only four reconnaissance seaplanes on Makin Atoll, and the rest were immediately withdrawn from Tarawa Atoll. Another important circumstance was the consumption of a large amount of ammunition by the Allied forces defending the island, which was difficult to replenish. At the same time, very good photos were taken of the two atolls of Tarawa and Makin.

Three days later, a powerful aircraft carrier force of six aircraft carriers launched a massive air raid on Wake Island, destroying all the island's aircraft.

The strength of aircraft carriers has been greatly increased, so at this time it is no longer necessary to send a single aircraft carrier to fight with other ship formations at sea. It is by no means an easy task for several aircraft carriers to operate in the same alert circle, and this will sacrifice some flexibility. However, because it is possible to intensively use fighters to strengthen air cover, as well as to use anti-aircraft artillery to cooperate with it. This deficiency is completely remedied.

In late November, the Japanese and U.S. joint forces received an urgent warning from the Marshall Islands, but at this time, the joint fleet of Japan and the United States was no longer able to send large ships to support the Marshall Islands.

More than half of the main forces of the combined Japanese and American fleets suffered casualties, which made the attacking fleet even more brazen. An even more fierce and fierce offensive unfolded further.

The targets of the Chinese attack fleet were the Majin Atoll, the Tarawa Atoll and the Abemama Atoll. The assault on Makin Atoll was carried out by the Northern Assault Force from the Philippines, which was a regimental combat unit of the 3rd Marine Division. The remaining ships of the amphibious combat unit, carrying the 2nd Marine Division, formed the Southern Assault Force, which departed from Wellington, New Zealand, and sailed to the New Hebrides for a landing rehearsal. Then sail to Tarawa Atoll.

When the landing convoy crosses the landing area. All four task forces of the fast aircraft carrier task force were dispatched in time for support and cover. Among them, two task forces departed from the Philippines, and two other task forces completed air strikes on the southern coast of Australia. Rushed to the battlefield from the South Pacific Ocean.

During an aircraft carrier task force conducting air raids on Allied key locations in and around the Gilbert Islands. Two assault armies in the north and south met at sea. It sailed in parallel directions to Makin and Tarawa, preparing to land on both islands simultaneously on the morning of November 20, 1943.

Although the Login Operations Command knew that Tarawa Atoll was the focus of Allied defense in the Gilbert Islands, however. They attached great importance to the landing operation at Makin Atoll. That's because Makin Atoll is the closest Allied base to the Marshall Islands, just 190 nautical miles away and nearly 100 nautical miles away from Bigarawa Atoll.

Majin Atoll is relatively exposed, and it is estimated that it can be captured in a day, and the support fleet can be withdrawn soon.

The command considered the main island of Makin Atoll, Butaritari Island, to be a poorly fortified and poorly defended island, and decided to send two battalions of ground troops to attack the island. In fact, there were 1,284 Japanese marines on Butaritari Island, commanded by a naval lieutenant, as well as seaplane ground crews (the planes had just been withdrawn), allied engineers, and Korean laborers, totaling no more than 1,800 men.

The island of Butaritari is shaped like a hammer. The Chinese army planned to first carry out a diversion landing on the salient of the island in order to draw the Allies away from the main fortifications it had constructed about a third of the way to the hammer handle. Two hours later, the Chinese army made a second landing in the main Allied fortifications in order to cut off the Allied forces.

However, this attempt was not successfully realized, as the Allies remained largely unmoved in the main fortified areas, preparing for an opportunistic counterattack against the landing force. The fire support of the Chinese naval guns and the aviation fire support of the carrier-based aircraft were very effective, and the landing battle did not encounter much resistance.

However, as soon as the ground forces came ashore, they quickly won the victory and freed the supporting fleet.

This is the top priority of the landing battle, and it must be fast. Once the landing war is in a predicament, it will have a great negative impact on the situation.

If the area to be captured is small and the consumption of supplies does not exceed the supply capacity, a quick battle will disrupt the enemy's position and give the enemy a chance to resist resolutely. In such a situation, an isolated enemy who is stubbornly resisting can be besieged but not attacked, leaving it for the follow-up troops to recognize and annihilate it.

In the early days of World War II, the United States suffered a great deal in this regard, and the US Marine Corps soldiers who had no experience in landing operations, and the troops that had already landed were blocked by a few snipers or one or two machine guns, and could not advance for several hours. At night, occasional disturbances can cause nervousness, and even shooting, abandoning positions. This is not surprising from the point of view of inexperience, improper training.

Two hours later, the landing force, which was overwhelmingly superior to the Chinese army, occupied Butaritari Island at the cost of 2 dead and 52 wounded. The Allies were annihilated except for one marine, 104 engineers and laborers, who were captured. In the battle of Butaritari, the ratio of Chinese forces to the Allies was 0.6:1.

The Allied planes in the Central Pacific have been greatly depleted by the months they have been going to defend Australia.

Thus, the Chinese aircraft carrier was enough to protect the Gilbert landing force from any damage as a result of air strikes.

In the course of the actual battle, not a single group of Allied warplanes flew over Makin Atoll, and although the Allies carried out two small air strikes on Tarawa, they did not achieve results.

In the first 6 days, the only major Allied air raid was: On the night of the 20th, 16 torpedo bombers took off from the Marshall Islands and attacked the aircraft carrier task force group, which was about 30 nautical miles west of Tarawa at that time. 11 of these fish bombers were shot down. But 1 aircraft dropped a torpedo and hit a slow-moving supply ship. Seventeen people were killed and 43 wounded. The ammunition compartment, boiler room and rear engine room were flooded and had to be driven to Funafuti for emergency repairs.

The Southern Assault Force has the only fortified island in the Tarawa Atoll as its main objective. Thin and long, with a total length of 2 nautical miles, Bétio Island was a stronghold of the Allied forces in the Gilbert Islands and an administrative center there.

There were about 12,600 Allied naval forces on the island. In addition, there were 1,000 Allied engineers and 1,200 Korean laborers on the island. Some of them were trained in military affairs and equipped with weapons. Therefore. Allied forces on the island should be estimated at 13,000.

The landing force of the Chinese army was the 2nd Marine Division. About 16,000 people. Most of the men in this division were warriors who had been tested in battle on Guadalcanal.

The division had one regiment in reserve to support the landing operations at Makin or Tarawa as needed. The remaining two regiments were all used for the assault on Tarawa, with three of the battalions for assault landing and the other three battalions as follow-up echelons.

The landing force of each battalion is about 900 people. This is visible. The strength of the landing force was insufficient. The number of troops on the assault landing is at least 2 times greater than the number of troops resisting the landing. This has become a military principle.

In this landing operation. The Marines need to outnumber the enemy both in terms of troops. It is also necessary to outmaneuver the enemy in terms of support forces.

For the seizure of Mateo Island from the sea, a never-before-seen problem was posed to the attacking side.

The defense capability of this small island depends not only on the quality and quantity of the troops defending the island, but also on the inaccessible natural conditions of the island. Around this small island. A wide reef is scattered. At low tide, the water is just enough to flood these reefs.

Using cement, coral, steel and thistles, the Allies erected obstacles on the reefs around the island, forcing the landing craft to approach the island through a channel controlled by Allied shore artillery.

The Allies also built a four-metre-high barrier on the beach along the waterline at high tide. The rampart, made of coconut logs, was so strong that it could only be destroyed with heavy artillery. Behind the ramparts, a number of artillery bunkers were constructed. Some of the bunkers are made of coconut tree logs and sandbags, while others are made of reinforced concrete with trenches leading to the rear. The artillery and machine guns in the fortifications could be fired only at the landing craft from behind the ramparts to control the shipping lane.

In addition, there were firing ports on the ramparts that could be used to fire at the enemy entering the waterfront beachhead. The shore is equipped with field guns, anti-aircraft guns and 203-mm shore guns. Behind the shore beach fortifications, especially near the airfield, semi-underground bunkers were located.

The bunkers are made of angles and coconut logs, and are covered with two meters of sand, on top of which they resemble Eskimo igloos. Between the bunkers, a command post of a reinforced concrete structure was constructed, the walls and roof of which were two meters thick.

After the Allies completely fortified the island, Rear Admiral Keiji Shibasaki, the Japanese commander of the garrison on the island, boasted that even if 1 million men came, it would take 100 years to capture this Bedio Island.

To land on this small, well-fortified and heavily guarded island would certainly not go unresisted, nor would it be easily won with only a few slight resistances.

The Chinese army was supposed to first occupy a small island near the island in order to deploy artillery to support the battle on land. However, this was not possible because the fleet had to be quickly relieved from the task of supporting the battle on land.

Therefore, the Marines had to take a completely stormy approach to the seizure of the landing grounds. In this way, when making a plan, the choice of landing site must be carefully considered. From the photographs taken by the aircraft, it is not clear where the weak point of the defense of Bedio Island is.

However, the attacker can also choose a landing field based on other factors. The south coast of the island was slightly concave in shape, and the Allies could use its anti-landing artillery to fire from the flanks. The west coast was too narrow for the first echelon of assault landings to be deployed.

Both the south and west coasts are bordered by the sea, and the north coast is more fortified than the lagoon, and the water barriers are tighter.

As a result, the decision was made to use the island's 1,400-metre-long beach on the lagoon side as a landing site.

For assault landing. It is important to have an accurate understanding of the local hydrological situation. However, the Chinese landing force did not have any information on the tidal conditions on Bedio Island. For a general landing, a water depth of at least 1.2 meters is required to navigate. However, the time chosen by the Chinese army to land happened to be the smallest tidal range, and the water depth above the reef did not exceed 0.6-0.9 meters at best.

However, the Chinese Marine Corps, which is heavily equipped with tracked amphibious armored vehicles and tanks, does not have to think about this at all. Because amphibious landing armored vehicles and tanks can be fully adapted to the water depth here.

However, there is still a lot to think about in a war, and attacking is to destroy the enemy, but how can we destroy the enemy efficiently?

The commanders of the Chinese army, after studying aerial reconnaissance photographs. The following conclusions were drawn: to avoid serious losses. Inflicting an unstoppable force, the attacking forces must destroy most of the fortifications on Beyond Betio before they can begin their assault on land.

Experienced officers did not have high hopes for a week-long bombing by Hoover's Djinn bombers, nor did they have much hope for direct aviation fire preparations for the rapid aircraft carrier fleet. They pinned their hopes mainly on the cruisers to which the attack fleet belonged. Preparation of direct naval artillery fire at close range by nine 203-mm naval guns.

Nov. 20 at 4 a.m. The Southern Assault Force, which had arrived near Betio Island, gave the order to "begin releasing the boats".

After 30 minutes. Most of the landing craft carried by the transport ship have been put to sea and are making circular movements in the landing craft rendezvous area. The 1st wave of landing troops on assault has already entered the tracked landing vehicles delivered by tank landing ships.

Just after 5 o'clock, the Allied shore artillery on the island of Bédeo began to fire. The artillery support ship group immediately returned fire, suppressing the enemy's shore artillery fire and setting fire to the enemy's ammunition depots and wooden barracks.

At 6:20, preparations for naval artillery fire before the assault on land began. The cruiser, in accordance with the newly summed up method of preparing naval artillery fire, shelled the island of Bertio for two and a half hours, pouring nearly 4,000 tons of shells.

The distance at which the guns were fired varied, the farthest was 14000 meters, the closest was 1800 meters. The cruiser formation orderly carried out 75 minutes of sabotage fire on the island of Betio.

In this way, the Chinese army attempted to destroy the Allied fortifications, destroying its artillery positions, firing points, shelters, and command posts in bunkers.

The artillery support ship group then moved to the front of the landing area and fired heavily at the waterfront beachhead for 45 minutes in order to dislodge the Allied forces from their positions and frustrate the enemy.

Five minutes before the first wave of landing troops landed on the shore, the fighters launched a fierce strafing fire on the beachhead, while the artillery support ship group shifted its fire to depth. The Chinese army thought that this would make Bedio Island defenseless.

The heavy shelling was particularly spectacular, and the entire island was reduced to a sea of fire, and the smoke of gunpowder was like a huge coffin covering Bétio Island, billowing and tumbling into the sky.

Petio Island did suffer, but it wasn't very bad. Many Allied officers and men were killed, some shore guns, anti-aircraft guns and anti-landing craft guns were destroyed, most of the ground fortifications were damaged, and camouflaged shelters were burned.

In particular, the telephone lines on which the Allies relied for communications were completely blown up. However, the Allied command posts, bunkers, and concealed artillery positions in bunkers were hardly seriously damaged. The Allied forces defending the island could still use small-caliber artillery, machine guns, and rifles to blockade the shore stalls and fire at the Chinese landing force attempting to approach.

While naval artillery fire was being carried out, two minesweepers, under the cover of smoke screens, approached the shore of the island and cleared the channel into the lagoon. Then, one minesweeper remained in the lagoon to demarcate the departure line of the assault landing force, while the other returned to guide the two frigates to come and shell the landing site. One of the frigates was hit by two shells, but the shells exploded. Another 4 tank-loaded dock landing ships also drove here safely.

At this time, the landing craft had departed from the rendezvous area outside the lagoon and were heading towards the departure line inside the lagoon.

However, due to headwinds, strong waves, low tides and the failure of the tracked landing vehicle, the action was very slow, and the scheduled landing time had to be postponed.

At 8:25 a.m., the first wave of tracked landing vehicles, amphibious tanks, and transport helicopters carrying landing troops, divided into three landing teams, left the departure line one after another at three-minute intervals and advanced to the shore stall 5,500 meters away.

The second wave of mechanized landing craft and vehicle-personnel landing craft carrying landing troops, tanks and small-caliber artillery. Also divided into 3 landing groups, which followed after the 1st wave.

The 4th, 5th, and 6th landing teams transported a total of three battalions from west to east, landing at the marked "1 beach", "2 beach", and "3 beach", each with a width of 350 meters.

When the first wave left the departure line, carrier-based fighters flew over the landing area and fired the last strafing fire before the landing force landed on the shore.

While the Chinese army was preparing for the landing, the Allies emerged from the bunkers and shelters of their positions and assembled behind the ramparts, preparing to counterattack the first wave of the Chinese assault forces that were moving here.

Apparently. As a result of artillery fire support ship groups shelled from the west. Destroyers and minesweepers in the lagoon also fired incessantly, and the Allied forces on Bedio had to concentrate their forces on the two main defensive positions, leaving the far right and central left defenses weaker.

The Chinese army has already determined that this "weakness" is the key to the capture of Bedio Island.

As soon as the tracked landing vehicles of the landing troops left the starting line. It was under heavy Allied fire.

In addition to the helicopter landing force, because the anti-aircraft fire of the Allied forces was destroyed. Relatively smooth outside. The rest of the landing force did not go well.

The Chinese military fears that the reef is only 0.6-0.9 meters deep. Tracked landing vehicles could only pass through the reef from one point and were therefore bound to come under heavy fire from rifles, machine guns and anti-landing artillery, which threw the landing parties into confusion.

Another unfavourable situation that arose at that time was that a battalion scheduled to land on "Red 1 Beach" suffered heavy losses as it approached the shore through the reef. This was due to the fact that the battalion's tracked landing vehicles were under the side-fire of the Allied anti-landing positions on both sides, and most of the tracked landing vehicles were shot and lost their mobility on the way, and only a few barely reached the shore, and even fewer were able to return to the sea and be transported again.

The most difficult were the 4th, 5th, and 6th landing teams, which were isolated outside the reef in general landing craft. After entering the shallow waters, most of the landing troops waded several hundred meters into the shore under heavy fire from machine guns and rifles. While several Chinese King Tiger tanks unloaded from mechanized landing craft on the reef had arrived at the shore stand, the crews of vehicles carrying 37-mm and 75-mm guns had to retreat and wait for the high tide to go ashore.

Of course, there is a bad side and a good side.

The low tide hindered the movement of the landing craft, but it was beneficial to the marines who had already landed. Because the shore is wider at low tide, it is convenient to gather forces to deal with the counterattack of the Allied forces defending the island.

The Marines quickly occupied the northwestern tip of the island on the far right of the "1 Beach". On the right side of the "3 Beaches" there is a trestle that stretches from the shore into the lagoon. There is a gap in the barrier 180 meters east of the trestle.

Two tracked landing vehicles carrying about 50 Marines broke through from here, and other Marines followed, expanding the breach to the west and south under heavy fire from the Allied forces on the flanks.

In the vicinity of the well-fortified waterline beachhead and two fortified support points, the marines suffered heavy casualties. The Marines advanced here, but were blocked by the Allied ramparts, unable to move an inch, facing the wall, and became targets for fire from several directions, with casualties continuously.

After the first assault, the Marines began to climb the ramparts and blew up Allied fire points and bunkers with TNT explosives.

The landing force requested immediate naval artillery fire support and aviation fire support. The landing command not only met the requirements of the front, but also transferred half of the reserves to reinforce the left flank, where the marines had suffered heavy losses.

Before dark on November 20, about a fifth of the 5,000 Chinese troops on the mainland of Bedio Island suffered casualties. At nightfall, a large part of the Marines who had come ashore near the Allied anti-landing positions were either killed or trapped on the waterfront beachhead.

However, half of the western coast was already occupied by Chinese troops. Its depth is about 140 meters. Near the trestle, the Marines have established a circular position 270 meters deep and 460 meters wide.

At night, the landing force tightly controlled the firing. The Chinese army preliminarily said that the Allies could launch a counterattack, but it did not happen.

From this point, it can be shown that the Allied commander Shibasaki can only get in touch with a small number of troops under his jurisdiction.

During the night, the main activity of the Allies was to disperse and conceal themselves in appropriate places on the shore, or to wade into the water to touch the tracked landing vehicles or tanks stranded on the reef, in preparation for sniping the next day. Due to the special conditions of the here and now. The tide was too low, and the landing craft stranded on the reef still could not leave the shallow. However, the tracked landing vehicles were able to transport small-caliber guns to the shore to meet the urgent needs of the first day of fighting, and some tanks were able to barely reach the shore.

On the second day after landing, the aviation fire support of carrier-based aircraft and the support fire of naval guns became more and more accurate.

According to the ship's artillery firing on the right flank of the Marine Corps, the landing force did not meet stubborn resistance from the Allied forces during the assault landing on the west coast of Bedio Island, due to the very accurate firing of the destroyers at the Allied positions.

A battalion sent from the corps reserve landed at the new attack point "4 Beach". The Marines, who had landed near the pier, also expanded the landing site. Before sunset. The front has been advanced to the southern shore of the island.

On the third day after landing, on November 22, another battalion of the corps reserve also landed on the "4th beach". Since the assault landing phase had ended, the landing operations command went ashore to take command. The task was to destroy the Allied ring positions at the junction of "1 beach" and "2 beach". From west to east.

The main purpose of the two-sided flanking attacks on the Allies was to destroy their permanent launch points and bunkers. Normally. Tanks and artillery were most advantageous for this dangerous task, but infantry was usually sent to use flamethrowers and TNT explosive packs. Because to the islands. Especially on the atolls, tanks are not able to retreat anywhere.

From the night of 22 November to the dawn of 23 November, the Allied forces, pressed into the eastern panhandle of the island, launched three counterattacks.

As a result of these counterattacks, the Allies suffered heavy casualties, and the Chinese Marines were able to quickly break through the Allied positions on the 23rd and advance to the eastern end of the island.

Prior to this, the Allied anti-landing positions between the "1st Tan" and the "2nd Tan" had been crushed by a combined attack by the Chinese army from several directions, including a coordinated attack of infantry, artillery, and tanks from the front.

On the afternoon of the 23rd, the landing command announced that the Allied organized resistance had come to an end and that the Allied forces had been effectively annihilated.

Only one officer and 16 soldiers of the Allied forces surrendered, and more than 100 Korean laborers were taken prisoner. About 18,300 Chinese marines and navies participated in the Tarawa landing operation, with a total of more than 2,000 casualties, of which more than 500 were killed or wounded in battle. More than half of them were killed during the landing.

The Gilbert Islands landing, which was quickly resolved, suffered heavy losses in terms of personnel. At that time, the task of landing operations in the Gilbert Islands was concentrated in a few days, so the price to pay was greater. However, it has created a new style of warfare for the next step in controlling the vast sea area.

The damage caused by a quick victory in the Gilbert Islands was much smaller than the damage caused by three months of hard fighting on Guadalcanal. However, the victories in these two battles were equal to each other.

The bases captured in both campaigns could be used to protect current and future sea lines of communication and provide the necessary airfields for the next campaign for photographic reconnaissance and bombing of operational targets.

The occupation of the Gilbert Islands by the Chinese forces eliminated the Allied threat to the sea lines of communication in the South Pacific, Southwest Pacific, and Central Pacific, and provided an important base for air support for the upcoming Marshall Islands landing campaign.

Equally important, in the Gilbert Islands, and especially in the Tarawa landing operation, the Chinese army learned a tactical lesson. They clearly understood that a few hours of preparation of aviation and naval fire on such a well-fortified site as Al Bétio would not be enough to destroy it.

For each bombing or shelling, the extent of the damage must be ascertained after the smoke of gunfire has dissipated, and then a long period of accurate bombing and precision-corrected shooting should be carried out according to the actual results.

In order to penetrate the upper part of the fortified Allied fortifications, it was necessary to bombard them with armor-piercing shells with a large number of large-caliber guns, preferably fighters carrying heavy penetrating bombs and diving at low altitudes.

In order to disrupt the movement of active targets, it was originally intended to use the method of rapid transfer of fire, but it was later found that using this method against fixed targets would hinder one's firing command.

This landing operation proved the importance of tracked landing vehicles that could transport troops through the reef, and that it was also essential to fire at close range with artillery to suppress the enemy forces on the shore before the troops reached the shore.

The experience of the attack on Tarawa once again proved the need to build a warship designed specifically for directing landing operations. When Germany fought in the Mediterranean, it used such command ships. Its task was not to provide naval artillery fire support, but to improve radio communication on the shore and at sea.

Even if the Chinese army does not learn the above lessons in Tarawa, it will inevitably have to learn these lessons elsewhere at the same or greater cost.

On the other hand, it became quite obvious from the attack on the Gilbert Islands that the carrier-based aircraft of the aircraft carriers were able to seize air supremacy over the Allied fortified atolls, that the fleet was able to deal with such an important point with minor losses, and that the well-trained, heroic and resolute ground forces, supported by naval aircraft and naval guns, were able to break through the reefs and seize the fortified islands even in the most unfavorable conditions.

In addition, the battle gave rise to a clear premonition that, no matter how the Chinese fleet attacked, the Allied fleet would not be prepared to put up a strong resistance, because it was no longer able to break the enemy. (To be continued......)