This is the second volume in a three volume series documenting the US war effort in the Pacific front during World War II. The first volume, Pacific Crucible, chronicled the very beginning of the war, 1941 to 1942, immediately after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and through the American sea victory at Midway Island in 1942. The third volume of Dr. Toll’s series on the Pacific theater in World War II, Twilight of the Gods, 1944 to 1945, documents the final phase of conquering Japan despite its stubborn insistence to perpetuate the war with delusional strategies.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the American forces reconstructed Pearl Harbor which became a forward command post for The US Pacific forces. American intelligence specialists in Pearl Harbor eventually broke the encrypted Japanese communication codes which led to anticipating Japanese plans to take Midway Islands. American naval leaders set a trap which resulted in a major sea battle and a devastating defeat for the Japanese Navy at Midway Island.
A highlight of this second volume of Dr. Toll’s series on the Pacific theatre in World War II was the brilliant surprise attack on Admiral Yamamoto in 1943. Because American intelligence could then read Japanese communications, even minor Japanese military operations could be tracked. American intelligence eventually discovered that Admiral Yamamoto planned to fly to a major island base for an inspection tour with a specific date and time. American warplanes were stationed at a nearby island and were well within striking distance of Admiral Yamamoto's travel plan. Several American flight fighter pilots were ordered to intercept Admiral Yamamoto in route and shoot him down. These US fighter planes surprised the small group of planes escorting Admiral Yamamoto and succeeded in shooting down Admiral Yamamoto's plane as well as most of his escort planes. One of the Japanese escort planes that escaped then confirmed to the Japanese authorities that Admiral Yamamoto had been killed by the surprise attack. Eventually his death was reported to the Japanese people who mourned their national hero. Admiral Yamamoto was the mastermind of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. He was also revered as a brilliant military leader of the Japanese people. Militarily, his death was a major setback for Japanese leadership which contributed to the compounding military losses for Japan leading to the loss of Guam, a major strategic win for the US forces.
In this second volume, Dr. Toll details the American strategy of taking the southern Pacific islands where the Japanese had built tactical military bases. US forces began with the very eastern domain of Japanese strongholds to eventually taking Guam at the very western part of the Japanese domain. The Japanese had fortified many of the islands of the South Pacific and eventually they all had to be taken by U.S. forces. On many of these islands, Japanese had stationed thousands of troops which had established stubborn strongholds in fortified bunkers and in deep caves. The US occupation strategy was to destroy the supply lines for these numerous Japanese bases by sinking their oil tankers, their supply lines and destroying their defenses on these remote islands. American carriers and submarines were very effective in destroying the Japanese logistics supply lines. In island after island, thousands of Japanese troops were trapped without food supplies, ammunition and fuel as Japanese tankers and freighters were sunk mercilessly. Japanese shipbuilding and armaments industries could not replace these losses as fast as they were being sunk. Meantime, US industries were producing new ships and increasing troops, sailors and supporting supplies at an unstoppable rate. When US forces occupied Guam in 1944, the Japanese had militarily lost the war although they stubbornly refused to concede defeat. Once the US captured Guam, a large military base with a rebuilt airstrip became the forward base of the US forces. Guam was well within the distance that bombers needed to begin bombing the Japanese mainland mercilessly. Although Japanese military strategists knew they had no realistic options to somehow stop U.S. forces with a miraculous knockout blow, they continued to stubbornly wage war. Once the US bombers began to regularly bomb the Japanese mainland, the Japanese people then also became the victims of Japanese military intransigence.
The Japanese military leaders and Emperor Hirohito continued to wage war with the delusion that the US would eventually tire of their losses. They expected the American public to sue for peace so that they could returned to their comfortable lifestyles. However, after the capture of Guam, U.S. forces were emboldened. The US now had a practical base for relentless bombing of the Japanese mainland cities, industries, and military installations. Nazi Germany had surrendered by 1944 and now the US and its allies would be able to redouble their efforts to defeat Japan's war effort.
In The Conquering Tide, a troubling aspect of the Japanese society during World War II becomes apparent. The Japanese had an all-consuming dedication to their divine emperor. A whole nation was caught in the deadly serious cult following of their emperor-god. Soldiers and sailors were dedicated to a mentality that death was preferable to surrender. Soldiers trapped in enclaves on their islands would banzai charge entrenched US military machine gun defenses where they would be mercilessly mowed down in masse. Japanese civilians on islands captured by U.S. forces would jump over cliffs to their deaths with their children rather than surrender to American troops even when assured that they would not be harmed. The entire citizenry of Japan had been mesmerized by a death cult with full dedication to their emperor-god. In the US in modern times, the threat of religious and political cults continues to prey upon the ignorance of people who look for abstract and escapist narratives.
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Popular Highlights in this book
With fewer than 2 percent of all naval personnel, the submariners could claim credit for more than half of all Japanese ships sunk during the war, and 60 percent of the aggregate tonnage.Highlighted by 578 Kindle readers- THOUGH AMERICANS WERE SLOW TO APPRECIATE IT, they had just won the decisive victory of the Pacific War. Capture of the Marianas and the accompanying ruin of Japanese carrier airpower were final and irreversible blows to the hopes of the Japanese imperial project.Highlighted by 539 Kindle readers
- The fanaticism of the Japanese was unnerving, but it prompted them, again and again, to fight in tactically idiotic ways.Highlighted by 519 Kindle readers
- Raymond Spruance, when discussing the war after it was over, often returned to the point that tactical decisions in major battles were less important than the superior logistics of American forces.Highlighted by 509 Kindle readers
- Admiral Spruance, when interviewed by historians after the war, often remarked that strategy and tactics never approached the importance of logistics in the transpacific campaign.Highlighted by 479 Kindle readers
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A "must read" for students of the war in the Pacific
This, and "Pacific Crucible" are right up there with Hornfischer's stuff. Very comprehensive yet readable.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2024
Top reviews from other countries
- GeraltReviewed in the United Kingdom on September 19, 2024
The best Pacific theatre book around.
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- Dr. Kurt JogunReviewed in Germany on November 22, 2020
A rather balanced account of WW2 in the Pacific. US history writing at its best.
