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The first phase of the battle was the tough part. Getting my troops in good organization and supply was hard. Capturing the first airfield and Mt. Suribachi was a tough fight. Part two is different.
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I’m using two landing zones but they are close together.
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The second phase on Palau combines a very narrow road to the north of the island and the remaining victory hexes. The high hills cannot be entered by armor. The road over the hills cannot be used by either heavy artillery or armor.
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The Palau campaign was one of the most controversial in the Pacific. The US Marines took heavy casualties. The strategic need for capturing Palau has been questioned. The Japanese changed their tactics on Palau and did not use wild Banzai charges. Palau also has a very high set of hills which allowed observation of US troops on the island. The Japanese also have quite a bit of armor although they lack air support.
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Taking the rest of Guam was slow work. East Guam is covered with jungle. It is easy to hide snipers, bunkers and entire infantry platoons in the jungle. Only infantry can dig the Japanese out of the jungle. On the East Coast and in Central Guam the Japanese concentrated their armor, anti-aircraft and better infantry units. More and better defenders slowed the advance there. But overall it is easier for the Marines to crush larger forces in the open than it is to root out smaller forces in dense jungle terrain.
