The British Empire, Fourth French Republic, and the United States of America were all watching keenly on what was transpiring in the east.
It had been two weeks since the Imperial Japanese Navy opened fire on a German Destroyer, patrolling through the Bismarck Sea, and in doing so had provoked an outright war after sinking it.
The Germans had opted for a largely defensive war. Holding the line with Colonial Forces, while forcing the Imperial Japanese military into a meat grinder to bleed them dry.
Making use of their naval aerial assets in the region to rapidly resupply or reinforce any island or territory that might come under assault.
All the while, straits were lined with mines, and German U-Boats prowled beneath the ocean's surface in Wolfpack formations, hunting Japanese vessels, whether military or civilian like a pack of great white sharks who had just caught the smell of blood.
