Reinforcement convoys as ambush targets

Reinforcing the Philippines, Guam, and Wake would require predictable movements of troopships, stores ships, and escorts. Japanese night tactics and long-range torpedoes could attack those formations while leaving Washington with the choice of sending more convoys or abandoning garrisons. The exposed bases would resemble enlarged versions of Malta, but across longer and less defensible supply routes. Ambushes required less coordination than the American effort to protect a long supply route, even if both sides possessed useful signals intelligence.