What term describes the strategic policy employed by Allied naval and amphibious forces in the Pacific to bypass heavily fortified Japanese island bases, cutting off their supply lines and capturing key airfields?

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: D. Island-hopping (Leapfrogging)

  1. Step 1: Conceived by Admiral Chester Nimitz and General Douglas MacArthur, the strategy avoided direct frontal assaults on fortified bastions such as Rabaul and Truk Lagoon.
  2. Step 2: By seizing less-defended islands nearby, constructing airbases, and neutralizing surrounded Japanese garrisons via naval and air blockade, the Allies rapidly advanced thousands of miles toward the Japanese home islands.
Answer
Island-hopping (Leapfrogging)
Why not the others: 'Blitzkrieg' Blitzkrieg was the rapid German combined-arms doctrine of armored penetration and close air support used on land in Europe; 'Attrition warfare' Attrition warfare seeks to exhaust enemy manpower through direct static confrontation (such as in World War I); 'Gunboat diplomacy' Gunboat diplomacy refers to 19th-century imperial displays of naval power to coerce diplomatic concessions.

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