Chapter 889 Heavy Casualties
In this nearby land, the most likely place to hide people is this seemingly dense forest.
The forest stretches to a hill not far away, with dense weeds and bushes, and lush leaves, which is obviously the best place to hide people.
It is precisely because of this that this forest, together with the nearby hills, has become the focus of the Australasian Air Force's bombing.
Since it is a focus of attention, the bombing must not be casual.
Hundreds of bombs were dropped on the small forest at the foot of the hill alone, plus dozens of missiles, which directly razed the forest to the ground.
After the bombing, not to mention finding a tree, even complete branches are almost impossible to find. The air is filled with gunpowder and blood. The ground under the forest has been plowed several times by bombs, exposing the charred moist soil with white smoke.
Division Commander Murai Noo and Infantry Brigade Commander Tanaka Taro happened to be hiding in the forest, and it was the most intense place for the air force to bomb.
Almost at the beginning of the bombing, Murai Nofu and Tanaka Taro were unfortunately hit.
The good news is that the bomb fell on the rocks next to them. The bad news is that the bomb caused the rocks to fall off and pressed them down.
Such injuries were not fatal, but they did make Murai Nofu and Tanaka Taro panic. You know, the bombing of the Australasians was still going on. They were pressed down by the rocks and could not move, and they lost the opportunity to take the initiative to avoid it.
The good news is that Murai Nofu and Tanaka Taro did not need to panic too much. Soon after being pressed down, another bomb found them accurately and exploded within two meters of them.
Being in the center of the explosion range, Murai Nofu and Tanaka Taro quickly disappeared from this world smoothly, ending their sins.
Unfortunately, there was only half a minute between being pressed down by the rocks and ending their lives with the second bomb, which obviously did not cause them too much pain.
Not only Murai Nofu and Tanaka Taro, but also the commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, also disappeared in this bombing.
To put it in a broader context, most of the headquarters of the Type A Division were also destroyed in this bombing.
This caused the command system of the Type A Division to be almost paralyzed, and the bombing caused the entire division to be extremely chaotic.
Although this bombing wasted a lot of bombs and missiles, the results achieved were quite good. The Type A Division dispatched about 13,000 troops, and just one carpet bombing caused the Type A Division of more than 10,000 people to lose at least half of its troops.
More importantly, because of the extensiveness of the carpet bombing, almost every organization of the Type A Division lost troops, and some organizations even lost commanders, which greatly affected the execution of the entire Type A Division.
After the bombing, the Air Force did not leave, and did not use the heavy machine guns on the planes to carry out another round of strafing on the areas that were not severely bombed.
In addition to attacking the island nation's army and causing casualties to the island nation's army, the air force's mission is to delay the march of the island nation's army.
Of course, according to the current miserable situation of the island nation's army, even if they successfully arrive in Naha, they will not pose much threat to the Australasian garrison in the Naha area.
In addition to this Type A division, the Type B division in the north of the main island is also worth noting. Although on the main island, the Type B division only has one infantry regiment stationed, which is about 5,000 troops.
But the combat effectiveness of the Type B division is far superior to that of the Type C division. If these 5,000 people are not prepared, it will inevitably bring unnecessary casualties to Australasian.
The heavy machine gun fired again for a while, and after all the heavy machine gun bullets carried by the plane were used up, it left the bombing area reluctantly.
At present, the air force's mission has been completed, and it has also bought enough time for the garrison in the Naha area. The next task of eliminating these Type A division soldiers will be handed over to the army.
After waiting for more than ten minutes and making sure that the Australasian Air Force had completely gone away, Nakamura Daiki, the commander of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Brigade of the Type A Division, climbed up timidly, patted the dirt on his body with both hands, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and ordered the messenger next to him: "All units quickly count the number of casualties, I will go to see the division commander."
The casualties were quickly counted. There were about 4,400 soldiers in the 2nd Infantry Regiment, nearly 1,600 of whom were directly killed by the bombing, more than 500 were slightly injured, and more than 1,200 were seriously injured.
This also means that after this bombing, there were only 1,100 uninjured soldiers in the infantry regiment of more than 4,400 people, and only about 1,600 soldiers who still had certain combat effectiveness and could be put into battle.
Nakamura Daiki looked nervously with the casualty data of his infantry regiment, looking for the way to the division headquarters.
Because of the severe bombing everywhere, except for being able to vaguely identify the direction, the road was completely lost.
The good news is that the bombing almost flattened the nearby hills, creating a plain that made it easier for Nakamura Daiki to get to the division headquarters.
But looking at the terrain that had been almost flattened, Nakamura Daiki was a little worried. He was not sure whether the division headquarters was safe.
You know, the division headquarters not only had the division commander Murai Nofu, but also the two infantry brigade commanders of the division and other senior commanders.
If something happens to the division headquarters, it will not only mean that the entire division will lose its command system, but also that their army will have no hope of victory.
The 2nd Infantry Regiment was not far from the division headquarters. After walking for about a few minutes, they were already close to the division headquarters.
But the closer they got to the division headquarters, the more nervous Nakamura Daiki became. Because the bombing in this area was even more severe, it also meant that the hope of survival of the division headquarters would be even lower.
"Your Excellency the Division Commander? Your Excellency the Brigade Commander?" Nakamura Daiki tried to call.
But no one responded at all. This area, which should have gathered the core strength of the division, seemed to be a no-man's land, and there was no sound.
Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Nakamura Daiki raised his voice and continued to shout unwillingly.
"Nakamura-kun, this way." Suddenly, a voice interrupted Nakamura Daiki's shout.
"Inada-kun, I'll be there soon!" Nakamura Daiki quickly identified who was calling him and responded happily.
Matsuo Inada is a staff officer of the Type A Division Command. Because he is often close to the division commander Murai Nofu, he is very familiar with the senior officers of the division, including the currently anxious Daiki Nakamura.
After walking a few steps forward, Daiki Nakamura realized that something was wrong. The place where Matsuo Inada was was not a division headquarters at all, and even the senior officers of the headquarters were not seen.
"Mr. Inada, what's the situation?" Daiki Nakamura had a bad premonition and asked hurriedly.
"Mr. Nakamura, the division commander and the brigade commander have been killed in the enemy's bombing." Matsuo Inada looked sad and said something that shocked Daiki Nakamura.
"How is this possible?" Daiki Nakamura was shocked, with a hint of gray in his face and despair in his eyes.
"Alas, Nakamura-kun, we have lost contact with the Type B Division. We have completely failed in this Okinawa Islands battle." Inada Matsunami's face was full of despair and pale, and he had completely lost his previous confidence.
Nakamura Daiki also looked desperate. He couldn't believe that the damage to the division was higher than that of his infantry regiment. Even the senior officers of the division had been killed or injured.
"How many soldiers do we have now?" Nakamura Daiki asked hurriedly.
If they could keep enough combat soldiers, they might still have hope of survival. But Nakamura Daiki and Inada Matsunami knew that under such a crazy bombing by the Australasians, the number of combat soldiers left in the entire division would probably not be too many.
"The 1st Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Brigade only has about 1,400 combat troops left. The division's direct regiments only have a little over 1,000 combat troops left. What about you? How many casualties did your 2nd Infantry Regiment have?" Inada Matsuo looked a little heavy, and reported a number that made Nakamura Daiki even more desperate.
"The 2nd Infantry Regiment only has about 1,600 combat-capable soldiers left." Nakamura Daiki looked gloomy, and his words made the people around him give up hope immediately.
The entire division only has 4,000 combat troops. With such a force, it is difficult to guarantee their own safety, let alone counterattack Naha.
What's more terrible is that if the Australasians launch another large-scale bombing in a short period of time, these 4,000 people are likely to be wiped out in the bombing.
After calming down a little, Nakamura Daiki firmed his eyes, then looked at the few remaining officers in the division headquarters and asked: "Gentlemen, do you want to die on the battlefield like this?"
Want to die on the battlefield like this?
If this question was asked before participating in this war, these officers would definitely have only one unified answer, that is, they can die on the battlefield in any way.
But the problem is that after the baptism of the real battlefield, they also understand the cruelty of war. If the same question is answered now, they obviously have different answers.
"Nakamura-kun, do you have any good plans?" The remaining senior officers of the division, including Inada Matsuo, all looked at Nakamura Daiki, with a glimmer of hope in their eyes.
"If you want to survive, there are two ways." Nakamura Daiki glanced at everyone, and then said word by word.
"What way?" An officer was obviously impatient and asked impatiently.
"The first solution is to break out to the north and join the Type B Division's garrison. The Type B Division has a garrison of nearly 5,000 people. Together with our army, we can barely gather an army of nearly 10,000 people, and we can resist the Australasians a little bit." Nakamura Daiki said slowly.
Everyone pondered for a moment, and Inada Matsuo took the lead to ask: "What about the second plan? Nakamura-kun."
"The second plan is to surrender to the Australasians and strive for international prisoner treatment." Nakamura Daiki paused and made a proposal that everyone was terrified of.
"Baga! This is absolutely impossible!" A staff officer of the command center immediately interrupted Nakamura Daiki's speech, looked at Nakamura Daiki with sharp eyes, and said angrily: "This is a betrayal of the Empire and His Majesty the Emperor. I will never surrender to those Australasians."
Although the officers around did not speak, it can be seen from their facial expressions that they still cannot accept surrendering to Australasians for a while.
Daiki Nakamura was not surprised by their reaction, and said very calmly: "Since all the kings do not agree to surrender, we can only do our best to break out to the north. But the ugly words are ahead. Since we have decided to go all out to break out, I hope you all can lead your troops and fight to the death.
This is not only related to whether you can successfully break through to the northern Type B Division station, but also related to whether you can survive successfully.
I don’t want anyone to be a drag on us. If we really decide to break through, we must execute it firmly. "
"That's natural." Inada Matsuo nodded first and said: "The division's direct wing will fully cooperate with the actions of the 2nd Infantry Wing, and the military police will also supervise each unit to ensure the smooth execution of our plan."
After seeing several people nodding, Nakamura Daiki felt relieved. A trace of firmness flashed in his eyes and he said to everyone: "Then, please follow me, for the sake of our remaining survival." Hope, give it a try.”
"Hi!"
Under the mobilization of Nakamura Daiki, the remaining few thousand troops of the family division quickly took action.
Because it was related to their own life and death, all the officers tacitly chose to abandon those seriously injured soldiers.
Of course, before leaving, they also left a bullet for the seriously injured soldiers. If they really couldn't stand the torture, they could choose to deal with it themselves.
This is almost a tacit understanding on the battlefield. If they really encounter a situation where serious injuries are almost irreparable, soldiers will generally choose to help their comrades escape.
After all, in this situation, continuing to live is just a kind of torture. Current medical technology can hardly save the seriously injured. For these seriously injured, ending their lives is a kind of relief.
Of course, most of the lightly wounded people who could continue to move naturally joined the breakout queue.
After a short period of repairs, the army of about 4,000 men was back in action.
Because of that bombing, the army lost a lot of weapons and equipment. In order to collect weapons and equipment for each soldier, it took nearly half an hour to clean the battlefield.
"Gentlemen, for the last glimmer of hope for our survival, and for our wives and children at home, please make one last effort with me. For survival!" Along with the instigative mobilization, more than 4,000 soldiers came out in force heading north of the main island.