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The Japanese Army didn't care, but the Navy was pretty good.
After the Battle of Okinawa, the Japanese mainland was blockaded, and warships were dispatched less and less frequently due to lack of fuel. Therefore, the Japanese dismantled the naval guns and used them as field artillery to make the best use of them.
Under the same caliber, the power and range of naval guns are much greater than that of field artillery. The caliber of the Japanese Army's main field artillery 92 infantry gun is only 70 mm. The 152 mm caliber naval gun can only be installed on destroyers in the navy.
Even in the United States and southern Africa, the 152mm caliber is among the ranks of heavy artillery, and it can easily defeat the Sherman.
Perhaps because they had not fired artillery for a long time and the artillery skills of the Japanese army were unfamiliar, the impact point of the first correction shot was a bit off, far away from Sherman.
The quality of the Japanese artillery was still good, and the second shot landed near the Sherman tank.
Then came the intense rapid fire.
When the Japanese artillery was correcting the landing point, the tank crews of the Polar Bear Regiment were waiting for the engineers to open a channel for the tanks. Several tank commanders even lay on the turret to watch the excitement, without any precautions.
The Japanese salvo came quickly and urgently. A Sherman parked relatively close to the anti-tank trench, so it was thrown directly into the anti-tank trench by the shock wave. The commander was lucky enough to be thrown out of the car.
Unscathed, the other tank crewmen crawled out from the escape door at the bottom of the tank with the help of engineers. The scene was chaotic.
The engineers who were laying steel plates at the bottom of the anti-tank trench were also unlucky. A shell happened to land among the engineers. After the violent explosion, more than a dozen engineers disappeared directly, and the huge steel plates twisted into twists and flew out.
A few dozen meters away and hundreds of square meters of space were instantly cleared, leaving no one alive.
The density of firepower of the US military was not something that the Japanese army could compete with, nor could the quality of the US gunners. Soon after the Japanese army opened fire, the artillery unit of the 7th Division launched counterfire, and close ground support aircraft also flew past the Japanese positions.
Gallop away, this is the most effective weapon to destroy artillery.
Naval artillery is indeed powerful, but survivability is the biggest problem. Army artillery can at least move and maneuver when faced with counterfire. Naval artillery cannot move at all and can only stay in place and be passively beaten.
There were probably not many Japanese artillery shells left. After just two minutes, the Japanese naval guns completely misfired. The US engineers re-entered the anti-tank trenches to work, and the tank crews began to lie down on the turret and watch the excitement, as if nothing happened just now.
Same.
Relying on engineers to lay steel plates alone was still too inefficient, so Lang Man came to the Fifth East India Division and wanted to borrow some construction machinery from the Fifth Division to speed up the clearing of anti-tank trenches.
"You don't even have bulldozers?" Li Bohao, commander of the Fifth Division, couldn't believe it. This attack was too hasty.
War is not a child's play. The preparation time for a large-scale battle may last as long as half a year. From the time the troops receive the order to the time they set off, it will take at least a week to set off.
The Southern African Expeditionary Force is much faster. In an emergency, the troops can set off within 24 hours of receiving the order, but this requires abandoning all heavy weapons and supplies, otherwise it cannot be done.
"We only have 12 hours to prepare from the time we receive the order to launching the attack." Lang Man almost blurted out the curse word.
"That's stressful enough -" Li Bohao expressed sympathy, but this was really too much to do.
However, there was only sympathy. Li Bohao did not receive a combat order and could not send troops to cooperate with the 7th Division to launch an attack.
It is still possible to borrow a few bulldozers. If the 7th Division can really take Tokyo in one go, then Li Bohao will also be happy to see it happen.
Before Operation Olympic was launched, Allied officers and soldiers still had expectations of counterattacking the Japanese mainland, hoping to make a small fortune after invading the Japanese mainland.
Now this wish has come true. There are no souvenirs and trophies waiting for the Allies, only disease and death, and the psychological gap is serious.
It is said that since the Meiji Restoration, Japan has received a lot of war compensation through previous foreign wars. Japan was one of the victorious countries in the last world war and made huge profits. The Japanese people should be quite wealthy and not be left with nothing.
The main reason is the unprecedented large-scale bombing by the Allies. Nowadays, all cities of any size in Japan have been visited by the Allied air force more than once. They came here again and again, and no matter how much wealth they accumulated, they were burned in the raging fire.
As the capital of Japan, Tokyo has always been a key bombing target of the Allied forces. Last year, there were three major bombings involving more than 500 bombers in a single batch.
After three major bombings, almost the entire city of Tokyo was razed to the ground. From the photos taken by Allied reconnaissance planes, there was almost no intact house in the entire city, and the bare, white land was so clean that it could be seen at a glance.
After other cities were burned by fire, the ground was full of charred trees and piles of black ruins.
Most of the buildings in Tokyo are wooden buildings, which turn white after burning. When it rains, they are washed into Tokyo Bay, leaving no trace at all.
Therefore, Li Bohao has no interest in attacking Tokyo. Since the Americans are so active, let's leave the task of attacking Tokyo to the Americans.
With the addition of bulldozers, the pace of clearing the trenches suddenly accelerated. Dozens of Shermans cautiously advanced along the safe passage opened by engineers. The Japanese artillery was too anxious just now. If a salvo fired now, the U.S. military would surely suffer heavy casualties.
Palermo, the leader of the Polar Bear Regiment, was so miserable that it took him four hours to break through the first anti-tank trench.
There are three such anti-tank trenches in front.
If you calculate it this way, you don't have to do anything today. If you can fill all four anti-tank trenches, it will be a victory.
“To break through the Japanese battlefield before dark, we must send out light infantry——” Andrew, the deputy commander of the Polar Bear Regiment, volunteered to lead the light infantry into battle.
The 7th Division is not an armored division. It is a field force composed mainly of light infantry. The soldiers are not skilled in infantry-tank coordination and are not very dependent on tanks.
Andrew is a veteran who participated in the First World War, and his ideas are too conservative. When the war is over, he will almost retire.
Now Andrew's biggest dream is to be promoted to general before retiring, but this is unlikely because Andrew is only a lieutenant colonel now, several levels behind general.
It's not entirely impossible.
If Andrew can shine in the following battles and make outstanding achievements repeatedly, then the U.S. Department of War will also consider promotion.
So Andrew volunteered.
"Without the protection of tanks, infantry casualties would be heavy." Palermo did not directly object, but did not support it either.
This meaning is obvious. Andrew can lead the light infantry attack if he wants, but all the consequences will be borne by Andrew himself.
"Of course, I'm ready." Andrew put on his helmet, picked up a Garand rifle and hurried away. He didn't want to be named by a Japanese sniper.
The equipment level of the Japanese Army is not high, and the shooting skills of the soldiers are still acceptable. The long barrel of the Type 38 rifle is more conducive to amplifying this advantage.
The U.S. military wins by quantity. The firepower of two Garand rifles is comparable to that of a light machine gun. It has a huge advantage against the 38-gun.
When the infantry was attacking, it was unwise to form a long line. Andrew led two companies of infantry and pressed against the Japanese position in the distance in a skirmish line.
Under normal circumstances, it would be pure wishful thinking for this person to want to break through the Japanese army's positions.
Now it was possible, because many times before, when the Japanese troops were attacked by the Allies, they dispersed with almost no resistance. This was the main reason why Andrew was willing to take the risk.
Whether it works or not, let’s try it first and then tell you.
If it succeeds, then a big credit will fall from the sky.
If it doesn't work, there will be tank troops behind to protect the enemy.
A skirmisher line of more than 200 people was nothing to mention on a front that stretched for several kilometers. Andrew was careful to blend in among the skirmishers and not show up. He always paid attention to the movement of the Japanese position opposite. If the Japanese army
Shoot and Andrew will give up the attack.
The second anti-tank trench was easily crossed without any accidents, and there was no shooting from the Japanese position. However, Andrew's mood could not be relaxed, but became more and more nervous.
The environment in the third anti-tank trench was even worse. A few days ago, several Japanese soldiers tried to surrender at night to the Allied positions, but were shot dead by the Japanese. In order to strengthen their morale, the Japanese stripped all the corpses naked and hung them upside down.
Next to the anti-tank trench, the scene was quite terrifying.
July is the height of summer. If the corpse is not taken care of, it will become severely decomposed in a few days. The surface is covered with a thick layer of flies. Andrew passed by a corpse. The strong body odor made Andrew feel strong discomfort.
As soon as Andrew raised his hand to cover his nose, the flies on the corpse scattered in all directions, like a hornet's nest.
Andrew couldn't stand it any longer and fell to his knees and vomited, completely unaware of the complicated looks in the eyes of the American soldiers around him.
As a senior officer who participated in the First World War, he could not even see such a scene. This is a very poor psychological endurance.
The Pacific War ranked among the top three bloodiest wars in which the U.S. military participated. The Battle of Okinawa alone lasted three months, and about 75,000 U.S. troops were killed.
During the battle, it was impossible to collect the corpses in time, and most of the time they were left exposed in the wilderness, waiting for centralized processing after the battle.
The Seventh Division participated in the Battle of Okinawa, and most of the officers and soldiers of the Polar Bear Regiment were used to more tragic scenes than this, so it was no surprise.
So what was Andrew doing during the Battle of Okinawa?
You can't stay in the headquarters every day and never leave the house.
Andrew was actually no stranger to this kind of scene, but he had just been away from the front line for too long and was pampered, so he lost his composure.
After vomiting, Andrew felt much better and waved his hand to order the troops to move forward.
As we got closer and closer to the Japanese position, the Japanese counterattack finally arrived.
The anti-tank trenches dug by the Japanese were as deep as six meters, equivalent to the height of two Sherman tanks. Infantrymen needed tools to climb up.
An American soldier climbed up the ladder. As soon as he showed his face, he was shot in the head by a Japanese sniper. His body fell from the ladder and fell in front of Andrew.
"Smoke bomb!" Andrew saw the trick, and the smoke bomb came in handy at this time.
Several smoke grenades were thrown up at the same time, and suddenly the smoke filled the air. Four ladders were set up twenty meters apart. American soldiers filed up, and the sound of gunfire suddenly became intensive.
Although the Japanese machine gunners couldn't see through the smoke, they were sure to shoot through the smoke.
There is no point in saving bullets at this time. American soldiers will not show mercy just because the Japanese machine gunners show mercy.
Although Japanese labor can create profits, the Allies have always shot and killed Japanese soldiers who stubbornly resisted to the end.
The U.S. military went even further. After several battles, there were no Japanese prisoners of war. In the end, MacArthur had to order the U.S. military to shoot Japanese troops at will on the battlefield, and the situation improved slightly.
Seeing that the American soldiers were almost up, Andrew was about to go up the ladder, but the American soldiers retreated like a tide. Many people panicked and jumped down from the top, so some people hugged their legs and wailed.
"What happened?" Andrew was very angry and failed.
"There are no bunkers above. The Japanese army's firepower is fierce and the troops have suffered heavy casualties. We must stop the attack and wait for reinforcements from the follow-up troops." The angry eyes of the lieutenant company commander who climbed up one step ahead of Andrew seemed to be spitting fire. This is not about winning glory at all, but
Let American soldiers die.
"We can't stop, continue the attack, prepare smoke bombs-" Andrew didn't want to give up and didn't notice the emotions of the American soldiers around him.
There were nearly two hundred American soldiers who had just participated in the attack. In just ten seconds, only a few dozen American soldiers were left in the anti-tank trenches, and all of them were injured.
The lieutenant is also a veteran and is used to death.
But it is not such a way to die. It must be worthy and meaningful.
"Sir, we have lost the ability to continue fighting. I am going to report to the field hospital next." The lieutenant sat down with his back against the ladder, and his hands trembled as he took out a cigarette from his pocket.
"Are you injured? I don't think so!" Andrew found no signs of injury on the lieutenant's body.
The lieutenant didn't answer. He put the cigarette in his mouth, shivered and took out a match. He struck several sticks before lighting the cigarette. Then he took a strong puff and stuffed it into the mouth of a soldier next to him who had an injured shoulder.
"Continue to attack, this is an order, don't let me repeat it a second time." Andrew was furious. The lieutenant's behavior was almost worthy of execution on the spot.
"I said, I have been injured and cannot continue the attack." The lieutenant is neither arrogant nor humble. Not only is being injured not considered disobedience, but he can also receive military medals.
"You didn't, I saw it clearly." Andrew was indifferent and decided to turn around and send the lieutenant to a military court.
The lieutenant touched his head and then his arms and legs. It seemed that they were not injured.
But this didn't bother the lieutenant. The lieutenant took out his gun, made a gesture on his leg, rubbed the side of his leg and fired.