He holds an MA in East Asian Studies from the University of Washington, and a BA in History from Guilford College.His research, transnational in approach, primarily involves the critical study of subjectivity and diary writing during the Second World War, including texts written by Japanese, Chinese, and American servicemen. The conflict is often termed the second Sino-Japanese War, and known in China as the War of Resistance to Japan. From these beginnings the operations
proceeded up the ladder of the Solomons, along the coast of New Guinea, and
across the straits to New Britain Island generally as scheduled, despite strong
Japanese reaction.In the Solomons by early August Army forces under Halsey had secured New Georgia
with its important Munda airfield, but the campaign was not completed until
October when U.S. and New Zealand troops occupied Vella Lavella, between New
Georgia and Bougainville. Moving cautiously, while its modern navy and army were still in the infant stage, Japan took over several groups of small islands not far from its homeland without having to fight for them. On Guadalcanal
and in the Russells, American forces then began to construct major air and logistical
bases for further advances.A Japanese overland drive toward Port Moresby in New Guinea had meanwhile forced
General MacArthur to begin an offensive of his ownthe Papua Campaign. But that was not the starting point of Japanese aggression. This the Japanese could never do, and because
they could not they had to lose the war. Reilly has published articles in The Washington Quarterly, China: An International Journal, Asian Survey, Survival, and several chapters in edited books.
The conflict is often termed the second Sino-Japanese War, and known in China as the War of Resistance to Japan. The hopes Americans
held, in the early stages of the war, that Chinese manpower and bases would
play a vitally important role in the defeat of Japan were doomed to disappointment. In each phase of the Solomons campaign, the
Japanese sought unsuccessfully to contest Allied air and naval supremacy, to
land reinforcements, and to launch strongMacArthur's forces meanwhile continued their offensives, with Australian troops
carrying most of the burden in New Guinea. Carried to the beaches
by landing craft manned by U.S. Army engineers, the Australians had air support
from fields on Morotai and in the southern Philippines. But
they failed in their main effort to take Midway Island, northwest of Hawaii,
and in the naval battles of the Coral Sea and Midway in May and June they lost
the bulk of their best naval pilots and planes. On April 22 Army forces under MacArthur
landed at Hollandia and Aitape.
The Allies would deceive and surprise the Japanese; they would
bypass major strongpoints and leave them reduced to strategic and tactical impotence.The necessity for relying primarily on support of land-based aircraft curtailed
the length of the jumps in the South and Southwest Pacific in 1943.
The Japanese were incapable of naval intervention
at Lingayen Gulf, and their most significant reaction was to throw a number
of kamikaze (suicide plane) attacks against Kinkaid's naval forces for four
days.General Tomoyuki Yamashita, commanding Japanese forces in the Philippines,
did not intend to defend the Central PlainsManila Bay region, the strategic
prize of Luzon. By a combination of bluff and bloodshed Japan’s warlords, in less than half a century, had increased their holdings from 147,669 square miles to more than 1,000,000.
Thus, when U.S. Army units reached Manila on February 3, it took them a month
of bitter building-to-building fighting to root out the Japanese. For this purpose he moved the bulk of his troops
into mountain strongholds, where they could conduct a protracted, bloody defensive
campaign.
Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321030.phpRacing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan Tsuyoshi Hasegawa Belknap Press (Oct. 30 2006)
In response, the U.S. declared war on Japan on Dec. 8, after President Roosevelt referred to the attack as "a date which will live in infamy."
But Japanese naval forces on Luzon, only nominally under Yamashita,
decided to ignore this concept in favor of defending Manila and Manila Bay. But valuable lessons were
learned that, added to the earlier experiences of the South and Southwest Pacific
Areas, established a pattern of island warfare which represented one of the
major tactical developments of the war. The Joint Chiefs decided, however, that although
the Japanese perimeter should be pushed back in this area, the foggy, cold North
Pacific with its rock-bound and craggy islands was not a profitable area in
which to undertake a major offensive. It also again demonstrated
that the U.S. Pacific Fleet's carrier task forces were the decisive element
in the Pacific war.Army and Marine divisions under Nimitz landed on Saipan in the Marianas on
June 15, 1944, to begin a bloody three-week battle for control of the island. It’s our problem now. It took 2 Australian divisions, 1 U.S. Army division (32d),
and another U.S. Army regiment almost four months of bitter fighting to dislodge
the Japanese. Australian troops
cleared Lae and Salamaua by mid-September and, flown into Nadzab, moved on to
the Huon peninsula. The Japanese bombers missed oil tanks, ammunition sites and repair facilities, and not a single U.S. aircraft carrier was present during the attack. The decisive
combat element of the fleet was the fast carrier task force, which carried the
war deep into Japanese territory and supported advances far beyond the range
of land-based aircraft. The 11th Airborne Division
undertook both amphibious and parachute landings in southern Luzon to start
clearing that region, and the 158th Regimental Combat Team made an amphibious
assault in southeastern Luzon to secure the Bicol peninsula. The Joint Chiefs on July 2 directed Allied forces
in the South and Southwest Pacific Areas to begin a series of operations aimed
at the ultimate reduction of the Japanese stronghold at Rabaul on New Britain
Island, thus establishing Allied control of the Bismarck Archipelago.The campaign would consist of three stages or tasks.