Rabaul is located on the Gazelle Peninsula in northeastern New Britain, surrounded by Blanche Bay and facing Simpson Bay to the south.

When talking about Rabaul, what people think of most is not that this city is the largest city on New Britain Island, but the cruel war history that this city has experienced.

After the Australian Style docked at the pier in Rabaul, Yang Jing and his group got off the ship, and the captain, William Howard, took the initiative to take on the task of tour guide.

Just like the brutal battles that this city has experienced, even though the city was once destroyed by a volcano, you can still see the military fortresses built by the Japanese and the traces left over from the US-Japan War in this city.

William Howard was very familiar with Rabaul, and when they docked at the pier, the sun was still hanging in the west, so Yang Jing decided to tour the city before eating and checking in. William Howard naturally acted as a tour guide.

"In 1910, the Germans first built a town on the mangrove swamps of New Britain Island and named it Rabaul, which means "Kuanua's mangroves" in the local language. After World War I, the ownership of Rabaul was transferred from Germany to Britain, and then it became the capital of the New Guinea Territory of the British and Australian Colonial Administration. Before World War II, Rabaul was built into a local base."

After walking out of the dock, William Howard began to introduce the origin of this city to Yang Jing and his group.

"Have you seen these half-buried military fortresses? These military fortresses were left by the Japanese. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, expanding the original war of aggression against China into the Pacific War, and Rabaul became the target of the Japanese army. So the British and Australian colonial authorities evacuated all the women and children in the town in December 1941. In January 1942, Rabaul was subjected to large-scale bombing by the Japanese army. On January 23 of the same year, the Battle of Rabaul began. Tens of thousands of Japanese marines landed in Rabaul, the Australian army was defeated, and the Japanese completely occupied the surrounding large islands based in Rabaul."

"Captain Howard, why are you so familiar with this place?" Guo Xiang asked curiously.

The captain smiled and said, "It's not bad if I'm not familiar with it. I grew up here. My grandfather was an officer stationed here after the Japanese surrendered. My father was born here, and I was also born and raised here."

After a pause, Captain Howard continued, "It's a pity that a volcanic eruption more than 20 years ago almost destroyed the city. Otherwise, we could still see more military facilities left over from World War II here."

After a slight sigh, the captain continued to introduce: "After the Battle of Rabaul, the Japanese Eighth Army, led by General Imamura Hitoshi, built Rabaul into a more solid military base. Naval ships, naval aviation, army aviation and other forces attacked the surrounding Allied forces and transportation lines with Rabaul as the center. The Japanese army dug nearly 100 kilometers of criss-crossing tunnels in the Rabaul area as air-raid shelters to avoid Allied aerial bombing. By the end of 1942, there were about 110,000 Japanese troops stationed in Rabaul, and more than 40,000 Japanese troops were stationed on the surrounding islands."

"So many people? It seems that the Japanese are very worried that this place will be taken back by the Allied forces." Liu Zhaoming said on the side.

"Yes, although Rabaul is not a big place, its strategic location is very important. Unfortunately, the Japanese value Rabaul very much, but for the Americans, Rabaul is not so important. Do you know what the Americans thought about the Pacific War back then?"

Yang Jing and the others all shook their heads.

Howard smiled and said, "In the minds of Americans, the so-called Pacific War was just a 'journey to Tokyo', except that MacArthur led the army from Australia, and Nimitz led the navy from Hawaii. The U.S. Army and Navy also had a quarrel along the way, and it was a big quarrel. The content of the quarrel was just about which route to take and who would lead the way. There was no quarrel about the goal of the entire operation - occupying Tokyo."

"But no matter which way the U.S. military takes, no matter who leads the way, they have to get rid of the thorn of Rabaul. MacArthur asked Nimitz to borrow an aircraft carrier to attack Rabaul himself before the battle of Guadalcanal began. Nimitz certainly would not let MacArthur get away with it. So, the Battle of the Solomon Islands broke out here."

Yang Jing asked: "At the beginning, the US military must have suffered a great loss in Rabaul, right?"

Howard nodded and said, "Yes, as the most important military base of the US military in the southwest Pacific, Rabaul is an important base that MacArthur must take from the beginning. However, the US military can be said to be invincible when fighting within 50 to 100 kilometers of the coastline, but once it leaves the coastline and enters the mountainous area, the US military's advantages in firepower and mobility suddenly disappear. The US military did not realize this at the time, so it suffered a lot when it attacked Rabaul at the beginning. During the entire Solomon Islands Campaign, a total of nearly 10,000 US troops died, and no less than 3,000 bodies were left in Rabaul alone. However, the Japanese did not suffer no losses. The loss of ordinary Japanese soldiers was fine, but even Yamamoto Isoroku, who planned the Pacific War, was shot down by the Americans on Bougainville Island after taking off from Rabaul Airport on April 18, 1943."

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