The second prong, under Admiral Chester Nimitz, island-hopped across the Central Pacific from the Gilberts to the Marshalls to the Marianas. Nimitz then supported MacArthur's invasion for the Philippines. For these thrusts, the Allies successfully employed a strategy of by-passing Japanese strong points, isolating them by establishing air superiority, and then letting them wither on the vine. Japanese bases, instead of being valuable defensive positions, became liabilities that had to be surreptitiously supplied using scarce IJN resources.