US strategy of capturing strategic islands while bypassing and isolating heavily fortified Japanese positions is known as what?

• A. Island-hopping
• B. Strategic bombing
• C. Amphibious assault
• D. Guerrilla warfare

Answer: (A)

The idea is island hopping: choosing a chain of strategic islands to seize and use as bases, while bypassing and effectively isolating heavily fortified Japanese positions on other islands. This approach let the Allies build a network of airfields and naval bases closer to Japan, enabling long-range bombing and sustained projection of power. By skipping costly assaults on every stronghold and focusing on stepping-stones, it reduced casualties, conserved resources, and accelerated the path toward the Japanese home islands. Strategic bombing from those forward bases complemented this by pressing the campaign from the air, while a generic amphibious assault or guerrilla warfare doesn’t capture the selective, base-building, and isolation-focused nature of this strategy.