Battle in the Pacific -- Series of Legends of World War II

Author: Ma Jun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: There are four oceans in the world, the largest of which is the Pacific Ocean. Due to the limitations of ancient knowledge, people were only aware of the seas and not the oceans. Therefore, ancient China referred to the Pacific Ocean as the "East Sea" or simply called it the "Sea." On September 26, 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Nú?ez de Balboa saw this ocean from the coast of Panama and exclaimed with joy. To parallel it with the Atlantic Ocean, which was then called the "North Sea," he named it the "South Sea." The name Pacific Ocean we use today still has to do with Magellan. In the 16th century, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan was commissioned by the Spanish king to lead a fleet in search of a westward route to the East. After a difficult journey of four months, he reached Brazil. This navigator lingered there for a while, rested, and then set sail from Tierra del Fuego to complete his mission. When he entered a new ocean from the southern part of South America, the weather was clear, the climate mild, and the sea calm as a mirror. For dozens of days of such sailing, the crew naturally celebrated, calling this ocean "El Mar Pacifico," meaning "Peaceful Sea," which translates to the Pacific Ocean in Chinese. However, ever since the Pacific Ocean got this name, it bid farewell to its long-standing tranquility and natural state, becoming somewhat turbulent. At one point, it even became a graveyard of steel and flesh. This little book tells the story of this period—the Pacific War of 1941.