The Japanese conquest of the Pacific comprised of a complex series of widely scattered operations intended to neutralize American, Commonwealth, and Dutch forces, seize regions rich in economic resources, and secure an outer defense line for the "Greater Southeast Asia Co-prosperity Sphere." Albeit victorious, the forces deployed from Japan and China were not always ideally trained and equipped for the challenging conditions they encountered. This book, the first of several covering the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, examines the forces in existence at the beginning of the war, and task organization for the conquest of the Philippines, New Guinea, the South Seas area, and the Dutch East Indies, from December 1941 to the Battle of Midway in June 1942.

Consultant editor: Duncan Anderson