战略态势与俾斯麦海海战随着1943年2月日军弃守瓜达卡纳尔岛,一场为期六个月的残酷战斗宣告结束,美国在太平洋战争中第一次取得了进攻战的胜利。然而,这只是盟军在所罗门群岛展开的地面、海上和空中战斗的序幕。在所罗门群岛的西北部的新不列颠岛,日军凭借着一座设施完善的海军基地继续坚守阵地——拉包尔(Rabaul)。早在太平洋战争爆发之前,山本五十六曾颇有远见地对他的同僚们断言:“如果我们受命与美国作战的话 Strategic Situation and Bismarck Sea Battle With the abandonment of Guadalcanal Island by the Japanese troops in February 1943, a cruel six-month campaign was over and the United States won the first offensive battle in the Pacific War. However, this is only the prelude to the ground, sea and air operations carried out by the Allied forces in the Solomon Islands. On the island of New Britain in the northwestern part of the Solomon Islands, the Japanese continued its position as Rabaul with a well-equipped naval base. Long before the outbreak of the Pacific War, Yamamoto had foresight in asserting to his colleagues that ”if we were ordered to fight the United States