After its stunning victories in the first half of 1942, the Japanese Army began to spread out. Millions more troops now occupied a greatly enlarged amount of territory. Japanese units fanned out over Asia and the Pacific archipelagos: China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Burma, Malaya, the Dutch East Indies. The Eighth Area Army concentrated around the stronghold of Rabaul, on the island of New Britain. Each unit remained tied to its home base in Japan and was obliged to send back reports on things like casualties and the need for reinforcements. As the Japanese Army got farther from
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