Japanese attrition doctrine and the cost of holding islands

Japan's big-ship, big-gun deterrent is distinguished here from the attrition campaign intended to prepare a decisive battle. Temporary forward bases would support seaplane reconnaissance and additional strikes while the navy withdrew towards Japan. Those operations were supposed to reduce the approaching enemy to a force the battle fleet could defeat. Holding a distant island perimeter demanded a different force structure, including torpedo boats, submarines, destroyers, aircraft, construction machinery, and garrisons across many bases. Each defended island added requirements that the earlier withdrawal plan did not impose in the same way. Army doctrine created a further mismatch because concentrated advances and mass attacks did not fit the restricted space of many island battlefields.