Japan’s 100 million jade pieces are really no joke. The Allied forces encountered stubborn resistance from the Japanese army before they even landed on the main island of Japan.
There are many islands between the Ryukyu Islands and Kyushu. Before landing on Kyushu, these islands must all be cleared to prepare for the next Olympic operation.
Due to MacArthur's hard work, the U.S. military was responsible for this work.
In MacArthur's view, since the Allies basically controlled the air and sea, these islands had lost contact with the Japanese mainland, and it should be very easy to occupy these islands, which could be determined within ten days.
In fact, it was not as easy as MacArthur imagined.
Amami Island is the main island of the Amami Islands, covering an area of 712 square kilometers. It is the seventh largest island in Japan. There are ports and airports built by the Japanese Navy on the island. A month ago, the 4th Division of the US Marine Corps was ordered to launch an attack on Amami Island.
The terrain of Amami Island is complex, with mountains and forests. The people on the island live scattered in the fringe areas. The administrative center of Naze Town is located on the south side of the island. It was occupied on the first day of the attack.
The 4th Division's good fortune ended here.
Just like before the outbreak of the Ryukyu Islands War, the Japanese government had conducted wartime drills on Amami Island early. As soon as the war broke out, the people on the island fled to the central forests and mountains in an attempt to use the terrain to deal with the Allied forces.
MacArthur was also very happy about his success. After the capture of Naze Town, he announced that the battle on Amami Island was over, which caused hardship to the exhausted officers and soldiers of the 4th Division.
There are about 10,000 residents of Amami Island. The Japanese government did not evacuate the residents of Amami Island before the war broke out. It strictly prohibited anyone from leaving Amami Island. There was also a Japanese army of about 1,500 people on the island, and the 4th Division was ordered to attack.
Three battalions participated in the battle, with a total strength of approximately 2,700 men.
After a month of fierce fighting, the 4th Division has taken control of all three villages on Amami Island, and has established a material supply point in the north and south of Amami Island. The U.S. military has continuously sent small teams to the interior of the island to encroach, trying to compress the Japanese forces on the island.
activity space.
Soon U.S. military commanders discovered that more than 2,000 people were a drop in the bucket for an island of more than 700 square kilometers. After many applications, MacArthur finally increased the number of troops on the island to 7 battalions and about 6,000 people.
"Seven battalions are not enough. If we want to clear out the Japanese troops on the island, we need at least three divisions." Ian Morrison, commander of the Fourth Division, complained. The three battalions that landed on the island early suffered heavy casualties due to the crazy Japanese attack.
, some companies had less than half of their remaining strength, and Ian Morrison hoped that MacArthur would allow the Fourth Division to withdraw to the rear to rest, and the work here would be handed over to the Southern African Expeditionary Force.
Although the Allies did not know the specific plan of the Japanese homeland defense, but considering the craziness of the Ryukyu Islands Battle, everyone knew that this battle would not be easy.
According to Le Mei's vision, as long as the Japanese government does not surrender, the Allied forces will continue to bomb the Japanese mainland continuously until the Japanese mainland is bombed back to the Stone Age, and the war will naturally be unable to continue.
Both Angel and MacArthur insisted on landing in Japan.
Angel is out for revenge.
MacArthur wanted to wash away the shame.
"Since the Southern Africans want to kill the Japanese so much with their own hands, then let the Southern Africans deal with the Japanese here -" Ian Morrison was very depressed. He would rather go to Kyushu to face the test of the plague than go to Kyushu to face the test of the plague.
Willing to hide and seek with the Japanese in the forest.
"Don't complain, if you don't want to fight, you can apply for retirement." Major General Robin Hansa was unhappy. He was the war supervisor sent by MacArthur. MacArthur requested that the battle on Amami Island be ended before Operation Olympic was officially launched.
The fourth division can participate in the attack on Kyushu in time.
"We don't have enough manpower, and our weapons and equipment are not good enough. Can you believe it? We still have soldiers using Springfield rifles. Those rifles are older than our soldiers' fathers!" Ian Morrison had a reason.
, Springfield was finalized in 1903.
Here I want to talk about the American military conscription system.
The United States does not have a military recruitment system, but a conscription system. All Americans must sign up to join the military after reaching the age of 18 and be selected by the U.S. Department of War.
Because there were more people who met the certification standards, the U.S. War Department recruited by lottery, which provided a lot of material for later American directors.
At the beginning of each episode of "Band of Brothers", there are interviews with American veterans. Some veterans said: At that time, in every town in the United States, people committed suicide because they could not join the army.
Suicide is real, but it can't be in every town.
In "Saving Private Ryan", all four brothers of the protagonist's family joined the army and all served in the front-line troops. This is simply impossible in southern Africa.
The military conscription in Southern Africa is a recruitment system. It is not compulsory to join the army voluntarily. Generally, if there are four brothers in a family, even if they apply to join the army at the same time, only one or two will be approved.
These two people will not be assigned to the same unit. If one is in the front-line unit, the other must be in the logistics unit. They may not leave southern Africa, so in southern Africa, there will definitely not be a tragedy like Ryan's.
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As for why American directors have the nerve to put Ryan on the screen and use this to promote the United States' emphasis on human nature, it is unclear.
The U.S. Marine Corps is considered a "fourth class" in the U.S. military's order of battle. It has backward equipment, insufficient training, and poor supplies. Even though European U.S. troops have generally switched to the M1 Garand, the Marine Corps is still
With Springfield, this is equally unthinkable in southern Africa.
The equipment level of the Southern African Marine Corps has always been the best in the Southern African combat order.
"Don't complain, at least the Springfield is more advanced than the Japanese rifles." Robin Hansa said seriously, the Japanese would definitely disagree with what he said.
The Springfield was finalized in 1903, and the Type 38 rifle was finalized in 1907. From a time perspective, the Type 38 rifle really appeared later than the Springfield.
"Well, I won't complain. Now that you have come to this damn island and seen the real situation on the island, I hope you can make our commander change his mind." Ian Morrison presented the facts.
The situation is really bad.
The port built by the Japanese was in Naze Town in the south of the island, but the Marine Corps was unable to use the port. They could only place the supply point about 5 kilometers away from the port and build a temporary port.
Naze Town is no longer visible.
Before the fighting broke out, the Japanese troops on the island completely destroyed the port.
After the U.S. troops landed, they fought a bloody battle with the Japanese troops in Naze Town. In the end, more than 100 U.S. troops were killed in exchange for a completely destroyed town, and about 300 Japanese troops were killed.
I don’t know how many of them are civilians, but the proportion of women and children is relatively high.
Americans have always been careless, which is clearly reflected in this temporary supply point.
It's temporary, and there aren't many strict requirements. Considering that there has been a lot of rain recently, the ammunition is still covered with tarpaulin.
But that's all. A semicircular camp was built along the beach. Ammunition supplies were stacked in the center of the camp. If a shell flew over, the more than 500 American troops in the entire camp would have to take rockets.
Among the more than 500 American troops, there were also more than 100 wounded who had not had time to be evacuated.
Also because there were wounded, there was a large area of tents housing the wounded in the corner of the camp near the beach.
The Americans were quite able to make do. There were a lot of bandages to replace for the wounded. The American soldiers tied one end of the rope to a tree trunk and tied the other end to a car to dry the bandages. Some of the bandages still had blood stains on them. They did look a bit embarrassed.
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The uninjured American soldiers were in poor condition.
It was rest time, and American soldiers in twos and threes gathered together to chat, smoke and play cards. There were ammunition boxes under their butts, and Robin Hansa was very dissatisfied.
"Can't you see how people in southern Africa set up supply camps?" Robin Hansa visited military camps in southern Africa. Among other things, the sanitary conditions were much better than those in US military camps.
"If it weren't for the endless harassment from the Japanese, I could also show you a perfect camp -" Before Ian Morrison could finish his words, a burst of gunfire suddenly sounded in the distance.
It is not the latest M2 installed by the US military, but the Maxim from the last century.
It's really Maxim. Don't look at the various advanced weapons of the US military in movies. The US Marine Corps during this period was just making do.
This U.S. policy of putting Europe before Asia also has a lot to do with it.
The center of gravity of the United States is in Europe, so if there is any good stuff, it must first focus on European tank division equipment.
As for the Marine Corps here in Asia, in the words of the American Marines, they are all stepmothers.
This is also true.
During this period, the U.S. Army was still very powerful. The Marine Corps was under the command of the Army. Even the official name of the U.S. Air Force was "Army Aviation." It was only 1947 when it was formally established.
The gunfire was brief and soon stopped, and the shooter only fired one long burst.
It seemed that the American soldiers in the camp were used to this kind of situation. Within Robin Hansa's sight, not a single American soldier reacted to the gunfire, and the American soldiers playing cards did not even stand up.
Robin Hansa was curious and went to check it out with Ian Morrison.
About 200 meters outside the camp, several American soldiers were watching two corpses. The corpses were a woman and a child. An American soldier opened the woman's body with a bayonet and rolled out a grenade.
The onlookers of the American soldiers fled one after another. After a while, they finally came over. An American soldier picked up the grenade and kept the safety intact.
"The Japanese have mobilized all the people, regardless of men, women, old or young, and will attack us at any time, regardless of time or place. Therefore, anyone who approaches the camp will be killed without warning -" Ian Morrison showed no expression.
, I guess I suffered a lot during this period.
"With the current scale of troops, how long will it take to end the battle?" Robin Hansa's expression was gloomy. The situation on Amami Island was more serious than he imagined.
'Never possible!' Ian Morrison admits defeat.
The Japanese no longer regard themselves as human beings, and this war is impossible to fight.
Under normal circumstances, island operations involve siege, cutting off support, and fighting for several months. Even if they are exhausted, the defenders can still be exhausted to death.
Amami Island covers an area of more than 700 square kilometers, and the U.S. military only has such a small number of people. Let alone being surrounded and surrounded, it is impossible to occupy a strategic location. If it continues to be used up, it will be the U.S. military that will be consumed alive.
"What do you think can be the most effective way to kill the Japanese?" Robin Hansa had previously imagined that after the American soldiers landed, they could win the support of Japanese civilians by handing out candy and the like.
In the fifth year of the war, the situation in Japan was extremely bad. A material rationing system had been implemented at least three years ago. During the most difficult period for the Japanese troops on the front line, each person only had one rice ball per person per day.
Japan has always given priority to its military.
The situation in the military is already so bad, and the situation among the people will only get worse.
Therefore, Robin Hansa's fantasy situation is not impossible. The US military in Europe can win the support of the locals by handing out candy.
To put it bluntly, Americans still don’t understand the Japanese.
Don't understand Eastern culture.
"Send bombers and use incendiary bombs to burn down all the forests on this island!" Ian Morrison was ruthless——
It’s not too ruthless. The U.S. military can even carpet bomb Tokyo, and it has no psychological barriers to Amami Island.
The US military's habit in this regard is the same as that in southern Africa. If the battle can be solved with weapons, then it will never send ground troops.
Only truly industrial countries have this confidence.
Japan's industrial level is nothing compared to southern Africa and the United States.
It's like throwing dice. Countries like southern Africa can roll three sixes at any time, but Japan can only roll dice if it is extremely lucky.
"Our bombers are bombing the Japanese mainland -" Robin Hansaro had a headache. He had no power to mobilize the US Air Force.
"The Japanese mainland has been bombed so many times. Is there any target worth bombing?" Ian Morrison insisted that good steel should be used on the blade.
"I'll give it a try, you wait until I apply -" Robin Hansa had an idea quickly. He didn't want to waste his good time on Amami Island. If he had time, Robin Hansa also wanted to visit the Imperial Palace of Japan.
Woolen cloth.
However, the whole project of razing the entire forest of Amami Island to the ground with incendiary bombs is not small.
During the first Tokyo bombing, more than 100 Super Flying Fortresses were bombed, and only about 2.56 square kilometers were bombed.
This is more than 700. According to Tokyo's standards, 30,000 bombers must be dispatched to complete this mission.
The total planned number of bombers participating in Operation Olympic was only 30,000 sorties.
This involves a cost-effectiveness issue.
It is not worth using 30,000 bomber sorties to attack a small Amami Island, even if Amami Island is densely packed with Japanese troops.
News spread back to Changi Naval Base, and barbecue expert Li Mei had something to say.
"Forests are still different from cities. Once a fire is lit, it will continue to burn as long as no one puts out the fire. So what we have to do is to pour a bucket of oil when the fire is about to go out, and leave the rest to God.
——"Li Mei has a way.
That's right, when it comes to arson, this man is the real expert.
