In WWII, what was the military benefit of the American reconquest of the Philippines for the conquest of the Japanese home islands?

by Mamamayan

As things turned out, did it actually speed up or diffuse the American campaign to conquer Japan?

pnzsaurkrautwerfer

In terms of actual effects:

  1. The Philippines did serve as a fairly strong set of bases for Japanese air and naval unis forward. Attacking these bases firstly denied their use to the Japanese, and also destroyed many of the forces stationed within them.

  2. The Philippines were very important to Japanese war aims. Attacking them did draw in pretty much the remainder of the Japanese Navy. This arguably would have happened had the US also gone after Formosa (Taiwan), but again I am speaking in terms of historical outcomes.

Additionally, the Philippines offered some major advantages to the planned invasion of Japan. While the US developed some expeditionary naval repair facilities, ships requiring more than temporary or minor repairs still had to limp their way back to Hawaii, and often the West Coast. The Philippines offered actual functional naval yards and port that could allow for work to be completed without having to send ships halfway around the world. Additionally with a large, largely pro-American population, there was a population of laborers and workers that could support the war effort (or, for instance it was easier and cheaper to pay Filipino longshoremen and associated trades a good local wage than it was to have to set up, feed, and house US military cargo handling units). The Philippines also supported enough agriculture to cut down on the amount of food that needed to be shipped cross-pacific.

The only other real choices for similar purposes in the region were Formosa or China, both of which had major challenges to overcome (Formosa would have likely required the Philippines still be neutralized if not occupied, China was just a mess between the Chinese civil war, Japanese occupation/offensives etc).

So in a nutshell:

  1. The Philippines fighting denied a lot of bases and support facilities to the Japanese that otherwise could be used to attack the US forces attempting to invade Japan.

  2. The Philippines also drew in and consumed a lot of Japanese sea, air, and land power.

  3. For the invasion of Japan, the Philippines offered a logistics hub and rear area beyond any others in the region.