Difference between revisions of "Leapfrogging (military strategy)"

Key Points:

• Leapfrogging was a military strategy that entailed bypassing and isolating heavily fortified Japanese positions while preparing to take over strategically important islands. It originated from island hopping. The strategy of not attacking strategically unimportant locations is an ancient strategy. The military strategist Sun Tzu wrote: "Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical."

• Island hopping entailed taking over an island and establishing a military base there. The base was in turn used as a launching point for the attack and takeover of another island.

• U.S. Admiral Chester Nimitz was appointed the title of “Supreme Allied Commander Pacific Ocean Areas,” and in the other major theater in the Pacific region, known as the South West Pacific theater, Allied forces were commanded by U.S. General Douglas MacArthur. Both Nimitz and MacArthur applied leapfrogging and island hopping as major strategies.

• Leapfrogging was based on both seaborne and air attacks to blockade and isolate Japanese bases, weakening their garrisons and reducing the Japanese ability to resupply and reinforce them.

• Leapfrogging would allow U.S. forces to reach Japan more quickly and not expend the time, manpower, and supplies to capture every Japanese-held island on the way. It would also give the Allies the advantage of surprise and keep the Japanese off balance.^[1]

In theory, island-hopping made sense as a solution to cracking an island-based defense-in-depth. This strategy can be understood in the following example.

U.S. amphibious and naval forces successfully subdue a Japanese island base, X. In the following month or two, fresh troops replace the exhausted assault forces and crush any stubborn Japanese resistance. Then this island is used as a staging point for assaulting the next enemy-held island, Y. Seabees and army engineers speedily repair or construct airfields and dredge harbors as Allied forces mass for the next leg of the campaign.

Island X serves as air base, safe anchorage, and supply depot for the men and materiel being ferried from Australia or Hawaii. Fresh marine and army divisions receive their last-minute training before their amphibious assault on island Y with support from naval forces and aircraft based on island X. This strategy was employed during the Solomons campaign and later at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Island-hopping proved to be a strategic necessity early in the Pacific war. As 1942 drew to a close and 1943 began, the Allies could muster only limited carrier strength because of losses around Guadalcanal. At one point in October 1942, USS Enterprise was the only operational aircraft carrier in the theater, and it desperately needed an overhaul. Until the new Essex-class carriers became operational, amphibious attacks could not be supported beyond the range of land-based aircraft. Consequently, hopping from island to island under cover of aircraft from nearby bases was the only practical option.^[2]