Japanese Military Strategy in the Pacific War

America had stayed out of World War II until the Japanese killed thousands of Americans in an attack at Pearl Harbor. It was after the attack that America joined the World War II to battle it out with the Japanese and the Germans. The Japanese controlled the war until the Americans dropped two bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6^th and 9^th August 1945, respectively forcing the Japanese to surrender.

There were a series of land, sea, and air attacks from the Japanese and the Americans before 1944, but this paper will focus on the American military attacks between January 1944 and August 11, 1945, which led the Japanese to surrender. Furthermore, it will discuss the land, sea, and air attacks between May 1944 and April 1945 that led to the defeat of the Nazi Germany.

US military operations against the Japanese between January 1944 and August 11, 1945

February 29, 1944, marked the beginning of another series of attacks on the Japanese with a 1000 military officers attached to the Fifth Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, attacked the Japanese on Los Negros (Wood, 2007). The Japanese put up a tough fight, and by March 3, 1944, most American soldiers were dead or wounded leaving Sergeant Troy A. McGill and another soldier in his squad to battle it out with the Japanese until they were both killed. The brave act won the sergeant Medal of Honor award.

The next move was to attack Hollandia, and MacArthur was the man in command (Garraty, Carnes, & American Council of Learned Societies, 1999). He led Adachi to believe that he planned to attack the Madang-Hansa area. On April 22 the 24th and 41st Divisions, under the command of Lieutenant General Robert Eichelberger landed and attacked Hollandia. At the same time, the 163d Regimental Combat Team attacked Aitape from the sea.

The US saw great opportunities in coral airstrips, which were commonly used for heavy bombings (Rottman, 2007). On May 27, MacArthur and Kenney organized the 41st Division to attack the BiakIsland. The first wave was successful, but unfortunately, series of subsequent attacks missed their targets following strong currents. The US Army intensified attacks on the island, and by mid July 1944, it had captured the airfields on the island under the command of MacArthur and Krueger.

The war continued all through 1944, and in January 1945, the American soldiers moved to the shores of the Lingayen Gulf before entering Manila. Once here, they fought with the Japanese until February 24, 1945. MacArthur led the liberation of Philippines, which was announced on July 5, 1945. A series of attacks and captures followed under the guidance of Major General Roy S. Geiger, who was later killed and succeeded by General Joseph Stilwell on 22 June 1945. The US captures Ryukyus giving air forces and Allied naval strategic bases, leading to intensive air attacks and naval bombardment that led to the surrender of the Japanese in August 1945.

US Military Operations against Nazi Germany between May 1944 and April 1945

The US saw England as a strategic base to set up camp in order to conquer over the Nazi Germany, so the Allied set up a base in the UK in April 1942. The Allied military conducted its first attack on Germany on June 6, 1944 dubbed as the D-Day (Sylvan, Smith, Hodges, & Greenwood, 2008). The US and the British troops attacked the Normandy coast in France through intense air and naval attacks.

The Germans countered the D-Day attack effectively, prompting the Allied troops, led by the Americans, to form Operation COBRA, which attacked the Germans on July 25 at the Falaise (Henry, 2002). The Americans progressed into Paris on August 25 under the leadership of General Eisenhower, then to Lyon and Besancon. The troops later captured Belgium and Luxembourg.     Operation Market Garden was planned to seize the Netherlands, but once again the Germans resisted with more force (The Military Order of the World Wars, 1995). On December 16, the Germans struck the US First Army in the Ardennes, and on December 18, Eisenhower commanded Patton's Third Army to attack Germany’s southern border. This move paved way for American defenders to seize some German strongholds, which destabilized the Germans. Patton and his troops continued to attack the Germans, and by the end of January, the Nazis had lost ground.

In February 1945, the Allied military marched into Germany, where the US First Army seized Cologne on March 5 and the RemagenBridge on March 7. Through airborne attacks, the US went ahead to capture the Rhine, the Rees-Wesel-Dinslaken area, and Worms. At this point, the Germans began surrendering, and Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945. The Germans continued relinquishing their territories in May 1945, and on May 7, the German High Command relinquished all its forces unconditionally leading to the V-E Day on May 8, 1945.  

In conclusion, the US joined the World War II to fight the Japanese and the Germans. Despite being a sleeping giant at the time, America faced serious challenges in outdoing its enemies and at some point resulting to collaborate with the Allied military to gain victory. The US troops employed a series of land, air, and sea attacks to win over both Japan and Germany simultaneously. The US won over Germany in May 1945 and over Japan in August 1945 albeit several of its troops were either killed or injured.