January 1943, Brisbane, Australia.

An empty rain made the Australian city cool in the hottest season of the year, which made people feel very refreshing. However, MacArthur, the commander-in-chief of the Allied Southwest Pacific War Zone, was extremely angry at this moment, which was exactly the opposite of the weather at this time.

Although General MacArthur, who escaped from the Philippines to Australia, was bragged by the US government to become a hero because of his need, he could never hide the fact that he was defeated in the Philippines. He was ridiculed by the Axis newspapers as a "coward" and "the best general who escaped". MacArthur was furious about this, but could not refute it. The defeat of the Philippines and the surrender of more than 100,000 US-Philippine coalition forces was a great humiliation for this "Filipino Field Marshal". If he could not win on the battlefield and successfully recover the Philippines, he would not be able to wash away the stains in his life.

Therefore, after MacArthur arrived in Australia, he immediately established his Allied Command and began to implement a huge combat readiness plan to expand the Australian Army from 7 divisions to 21 divisions. At the same time, he was actively planning the next counterattack plan in Southeast Asia.

But MacArthur's actions have been constrained by Army Chief of Staff Marshall.

Marshall advocated that Europe was the first, and that the security of the British Empire was first to ensure the security of the British Empire. If the British were over, there would be no need to continue this war. Marshall believed that Europe was more dangerous, and the German and Austrian coalition had begun to attack the Soviet Union with all their might. Both Britain and the Soviet Union needed the full support of the United States to withstand the offensive of the Axis powers. If Europe collapsed, the Pacific battlefield would not be of much significance. Therefore, he advocated that all US military supplies and troops should be prioritized in Europe and the Atlantic battlefield.

The problem is that Marshall alone doesn't matter. Navy Commander-in-Chief Ernest King has been singing a show against Marshall.

In any country, the army and the navy have always been the enemy, and no one likes anyone. The army has raised the tension in Europe, and it is necessary to help the British and Russians with all their strength to withstand the offensive of the German and Austrian coalition forces, and open up a second battlefield in Africa to restrain the troops of Germany and Austrian countries. However, the navy does not think so. Admiral Kim believed that the Pacific was now very critical, the Japanese were about to collapse, and Australia was also facing the attack of the Axis powers. If Australia is lost, the American power would be in danger of being expelled from the Pacific region in full.

Europe or the Pacific?

These are two opposing strategies, which makes Washington very troubled.

After the Battle of Okinawa, there were more and more signs that the Axis powers turned their target to Australia, and the situation in the entire Pacific region became increasingly serious. Roosevelt had to convene members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to hold meetings at the White House for several days in succession to discuss countermeasures. The Australian and New Zealanders realized that the British Empire could no longer count on it and turned to the United States, which also put the United States on a burden, which needed to defend Australia and New Zealand from being occupied by the Axis powers. In order to deal with the threat from the Axis powers, the United States had to draw more troops and supplies to Australia, which means that the number of American troops gathered in Britain will be reduced, and the navy will be less than half. The US navy will be restricted in Europe's naval and air force, and the operational action plan to land in West Africa will be abandoned.

In order to cope with the critical situation in the Pacific, Admiral Jin Li Chen Haijun's proposal. Only by fully supporting Japan and fully counterattacking in the Pacific region can the enemy be prevented from going south to attack Australia. At the emergency strategic seminar convened by the President, General Jin proposed a memorandum, requiring immediate strengthening of material assistance to Japan so that it can resist landings from the mainland and restrain most of the Axis powers. At the same time, the Navy should concentrate more than 60% of its troops on the Pacific battlefield to ensure sufficient counterattack forces.

The Army General Staff did not like Admiral Kim's plan very much. A month ago, when Admiral Kim proposed that the Pacific islands stationed in the Pacific should have increased significantly. Marshall believed that such an action meant "a fundamental strategy change." Major General Dwight Eisenhower, Director of the Operations Plan, insisted that in order to ultimately defeat the Axis Group, it was absolutely necessary to concentrate most of the forces in the Atlantic theater in 1943 from a strategic and logistical consideration. In his opinion, if the Soviet Union and Britain could not hold on, the war could not be carried out, and the Axis Group's invasion of Australia "had no direct interest in the outcome of the war."

Admiral Jin could not agree with this view.

He did not think that the United States would definitely defeat the German-Austrian alliance, and the Australian subcontinent must defend it, "because this will inevitably have a serious impact on the absolute rule of the Anglo-Saxon nation in the world." What the United States pursues is to replace Britain as the leader of the Anglo-Saxon people, rather than give up the British colony. He hopes that the United States' help to the European war is limited to providing material support, rather than standing on the front line. Through this war to defend Australia, the United States can bring the entire Oceania and Central Pacific islands, including Australia, New Zealand, under its command.

What King strives to shift the United States' strategic focus from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, because even if it wins in Europe, the United States will not be able to fully control Europe.

The problem is that Marshall brought out the latest telegram from the intelligence department. Based on this information, we can conclude: "All signs indicate that the Axis Group will immediately attack the Soviet Union and Russia with all its might immediately face the Soviet Union and Russia in the spring. Faced with such a large-scale offensive, the Soviet Union and Russia may be forced to make peace alone." This will be a very heavy blow to the global hegemony pursued by the United States and Britain. If the Soviet Union withdraws from the war, Britain will be unable to face the attacks from Germany and Austria alone. This danger allows General Marshall to refocus the strategic focus back on the combat aspects of Europe.

General Arnold, commander of the Army Aviation Corps, proposed the Army Aviation Corps' General Staff: "Go all to defeat the Axis Alliance in Europe." He believes that if Germany and Austria are defeated, the Chinese will be unable to fight against the attacks of the United States, Russia and Japan alone, and will inevitably face destruction. The Army Aviation Corps advocates not to send reinforcements to the Pacific - even if this means having to lose islands throughout Australia and the Central Pacific.

At the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marshall's support was obviously the majority, but behind General Kim, MacArthur was fully supporting him. MacArthur jumped up and down in Australia, and he wanted to counterattack and return to the Philippines. General Kim's proposal was very in line with his appetite. MacArthur not only revealed the contradictions at the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the media, but also urged the Australian government to make trouble with Washington.

Washington is also in a dilemma. Now MacArthur is very popular and is praised as a national hero in the minds of the people of the United States. President Roosevelt was forced to award him the highest medal of honor under the pressure of Congress. Many streets, dams and public buildings across the country were named after him. Washington was hesitant, so MacArthur continued to put pressure on him to hold a press conference and accept an exclusive interview with Time magazine. He asked Washington for money, food and soldiers through the media, claiming that as long as all kinds of materials were in place, he could immediately start a counterattack in the East Indies.

Washington was overwhelmed. Under pressure from Congress, Marshall finally had no choice but to come up with a compromise plan and demarcate the Pacific War Zone. However, the current combat mission is still mainly defense, and the bottom line is to ensure the safety of Australia and Hawaii. As for Japan, it has only slightly increased its aid efforts, and the main aid materials and soldiers are still "first in Europe".

The Pacific Battle will be mainly carried out by the Navy, but Admiral Kim refused to accept an order issued by an army general to his navy. Although MacArthur has made great efforts to achieve his goals, since the navy's operations will determine the course of war against the attack of the Axis powers, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, General Kimmel, must be the natural candidate for the commander-in-chief of the theater.

In the end, the Joint Chiefs of Staff decided that the command of the Axis powers would be divided equally by the land and the navy, and Kimmel served as commander-in-chief of the Pacific region, including the Central Pacific Ocean north of the equator and the South Pacific Ocean waters of New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, and the west to 160 degrees. Admiral MacArthur's position became "Commander-in-Chief of Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and the Philippine Allied Army Army, Navy and Air Forces."

In fact, most of the combat plans and operations will be formulated and implemented by the Navy.

MacArthur worked for a long time and was very frustrated to find that the order of the Joint Chiefs of Staff actually deprived him of command. This order retained a large part of the combat decision-making power in the hands of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to avoid conflicts in the future between the two jurisdictions in the Pacific. Therefore, MacArthur had to report to Chief Marshall and accept orders from him before the operation. The commander of the Pacific Fleet Kimmel will accept instructions through the Secretary of Navy Operations Admiral Kim, and the strategic differences between them will be resolved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

What also annoyed MacArthur was that he found that he could not actually "directly command the troops of any country" or control the entire strategy. The army units of the Southwest Pacific Allied Forces were commanded by Australian General Thomas Blemay; Lieutenant General Herbert Leary, the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Navy in the U.S. Fleet, was responsible for maritime operations; the Allied Air Force was commanded by General George Brett, and MacArthur could not directly issue orders to any unit.

The biggest problem is that the Allied Army has only 15 divisions in Australia with a total force of less than 430,000, and these troops are simply unable to defend against countries with the longest coastline in the world.

Moreover, the Germans, Austrians and Chinese are coming soon. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!