Why can't MacArthur, who is popular with the people, command the entire Pacific theater?

The first half of the year when the United States announced its participation in the war was the darkest period in World War II. It achieved almost nothing militarily, was beaten everywhere, and people's mood was very low. Americans who have always worshipped heroes and capable people are very eager to win, and the news that MacArthur escaped from the Philippines is undoubtedly a stimulant, which has inspired the people's determination to carry out the war to the end.

In the eyes of Americans, MacArthur is a symbol of courage and victory. In particular, the Philippine resistance became the most inspiring story at that time. MacArthur therefore won the highest honor-the Congressional Medal of Honor, and his vanity expanded again. He wants more, but reality always seems to be joking with him.

The situation in Australia gave him the impression that a clever woman can't cook without rice.

I'm afraid even MacArthur himself didn't think that his act of leaving the Philippines alone should have been a "deserter" on the battlefield, but it became a heroic move that was hotly debated by the people. For a time, all the streets and alleys in the United States praised his deeds, and even the name of the newborn was called "MacArthur", which made him very useful and proud.

What excites him even more is that according to opinion polls, 65% of the people are in favor of launching a counterattack against Japan as soon as possible, while the support rate of the US strategy of "Europe before Asia" is less than 25%. This means that under the pressure of society, the military will increase its support for the Asian battlefield, and MacArthur stationed in Australia will have the opportunity to counterattack the Philippines.

But the reality is far more bleak than he imagined. MacArthur, commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater, now has only more than 20,000 armed forces in Australia. Apart from logistics and engineers, the real combat force is only one infantry division, while the Air Force has only 250 old planes.

Let alone fight back against the Philippines, even self-protection has become a problem. However, the actions of the Japanese army have become increasingly fierce. Since occupying the Philippines, they have swept across the South Pacific. Borneo, Malaysia, Java and other places have successively fallen into the hands of Japan, and their strikers are separated from Australia by a narrow Torres Strait.

In other words, Australia where MacArthur is stationed may be attacked by the Japanese at any time, and the situation is critical. Subconsciously, fleeing the Philippines did great harm to his self-esteem. If Australia can't keep it, he will become a "fugitive" completely, which is more serious than killing him.

However, the upper echelons did not seem to care about these dangers and still sent a large number of weapons and soldiers to Britain. The war department even asked MacArthur to limit himself to "maintaining the status quo". He constantly explained to his superiors the importance of the counterattack against Japan. With the increasing domestic support for him, he was full of expectations for being able to command the entire Pacific theater.

However, what annoys MacArthur more is yet to come.

The Pacific Ocean, with an area of1.700 million square kilometers, ranks first among the "four oceans" and is the largest battlefield in World War II. MacArthur is convinced that a commander-in-chief must command the entire Pacific theater. He was ordered to risk his life to escape from the Philippines, which is the best candidate for this position, not to mention the support of most people.

Obviously, MacArthur's expectation is the expansion of vanity and a strong desire for power. Soon, Admiral Kim put forward different opinions. He believes that Japan is an island country, and the counterattack must be a decisive battle at sea. The battle in the Pacific theater depends largely on the navy and determines the course of the war.

Admiral Kim insisted that the navy refused to accept the orders of the army general. To put it bluntly, it is against MacArthur as the supreme commander of the Pacific theater. Of course, the reason behind this is that all the honors won in the war belong to MacArthur, which all naval generals will not promise.

The US Army and Navy have deep grievances and often have to be coordinated by the President because of some things. This is also the case now. In order to coordinate the contradictions between the two sides, the top military officials simply divided the Pacific battlefield into two independent war zones, with Nimitz in charge of the Pacific War Zone and MacArthur still in charge of the Southwest Pacific War Zone.

This result made MacArthur, who has always had a strong sense of self, very angry. What is even more insulting to him is that from the perspective of the divided regions, he is only responsible for Australia, Solomon Islands and the Philippines, and his strategic position is obviously lower than that of the Pacific theater. In other words, it was Nimitz who really mastered the Pacific battlefield, not him.

What makes him even more unacceptable is that Washington appointed him as the commander of the theater, and at the same time appointed the commanders of its subordinate units, and quite a few of them directly took orders from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. From the management point of view, MacArthur can't arrange his own people, but also ask Marshall for instructions everywhere, which is no different from "one-man army."

These unpleasant things made MacArthur suspect that China had a "clique" against him for a while, and deliberately restricted and embarrassed him everywhere, just to see his embarrassment and jokes. However, the tense situation cannot tolerate MacArthur's paranoia. The urgent task is how to stop the Japanese army from going south and keep Australia.

References: World War II, Memoirs of MacArthur, Veterans Never Die.

Welcome to search for "Talking about History under Poplar"//Learn history and spread positive energy of culture//Please don't reprint it without authorization!