On a map of the Pacific, a 3,000-mile-long arc of island groups reached from Japan through the Bonins, the Marianas, the Carolines, and the Palaus, terminating in the southern Philippines. Having taken the Marianas, American forces would now extend control southward down that long arc. Task Force 38 would cover the impending Operation STALEMATE amphibious landings on islands in the Caroline and Palau archipelagoes. By November, if all went as planned, they would occupy or otherwise neutralize every important island in the chain from the Marianas in the north to Mindanao in the south. The
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