JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<li><a href="/images/1.jpg"></a></li>
<li><a href="/images/2.jpg"></a></li>
<li><a href="/images/3.jpg"></a></li>

JavaScript

$.fn.preload = function() {
    this.each(function(){
        alert("preloading " + $(this).attr("href"));
        //$('<img/>')[0].src = $(this).attr("href");
    });
}
$('li a').preload();