Crumbling Pacific

The time is August 1943.

The Pacific War continues to be fought from Bruma to the Central Pacific and the Solomon Islands. The United States of America has just reclaimed Hawaii, opening a world of possibilities for the continuation of the war. Hopes are high that the Allies will eventually be able to bring the conflict to a successful conclusion.

The Japanese situation in the South Seas is disastrous. Everything the Imperial Navy has tried to stem the Allied tide has failed. General MacArthur's troops have won the Kokoda Track Campaign and are now poised to conquer the entire North Guinean seaboard. A plethora of Japanese bases are thus threatened. If they fall, this will give even more opportunities for the Allies to attack deeper into the Empire.

Guadalcanal is now firmly in American hands, and the Allies are planning their next operation toward Rabaul: an invasion of the Island of Bougainville. If this base also falls, Japan will not be able to hold things together in New Britain. With Rabaul gone, the entire Central Pacific Empire will be open to attack by the U.S. Navy.

The disaster in Burma for Japan continues to unfold as nothing can stop the hordes of Indians, Chinese, and British troops from flooding the beleaguered, out-of-supply, and worn-down Imperial Army forces in the area.

The writing is on the wall for Japan, but it has no intention to give up. From its point of view, it is far from defeated, and anyway, surrender or negotiations are not an option. Like a wounded beast pushed into a corner, it is ready to lash back. Grand Admiral Yamamoto sails again from Kure in Japan, headed for Johnston Island, his new base to replace Hawaii and continue to support the fight against the United States.

The base is a little over one thousand kilometers from Hawaii, and if the U.S. Navy wants to master the area, it will have to be reduced to rubble. Thus, another large naval battle looms over the horizon. The fight between carriers and battleships is not over.

The Americans, flush with their magnificent victory on Oahu, are now poised to finish the liberation of the Hawaiian Islands and are now thinking of a reconquest campaign across the Pacific Islands occupied by the Japanese. War will soon be back in Samoa, the Line Island, and the Marshalls.

This is the story of the Pacific War.