In preparation for the operation against Leyte, the Americans took control of several islands close to the Philippines. Mac Arthur's forces landed on Morotaï on September 15th and took the island without much opposition. Peleliu in the Palaus was a harder nut to crack. Landing on the island the same day as in Morotaï, the Americans will need more than two months before the Island is secured (end of the fighting's on November 25th). The combat were so fierce and so bloody that the island will be compared to Tarawa but on a larger scale.

Besides that disputed and strategic island (because of its airfield), Angaur (landing on September 17th) will resist only a couple of days. The prize will be the atoll of Ulithi, occupied without opposition on September 21st. It will remain the main advanced base of the US Navy in the Western Pacific until the end of the war.

Yap, Halmahera, Bablethuap, ... will be neutralized and left to the Japanese until the capitulation.