Chapter 588 Tiger of South Asia (7)
The Japanese army was also recuperating. Although it looked like they were badly beaten, the defenders retained 70% of their firepower and 75% of their troops. The engineer battalion and Korean workers were working like crazy at night to repair the fortifications. Some officers once proposed a night attack, but Shibasaki rejected it after careful consideration. Although the Japanese army's night fighting skills were not bad, he knew that the US military's automatic firepower was very fierce, and many fortifications were built on the spot during the day, so the losses in the forced attack were not small. Practice has proved that the Japanese army's 38-meter cover is ineffective when defending the island. The reason why they are now in a stalemate with the US military is the power of machine guns, artillery shells and precise iron fists. The use of iron fists at night will drop several levels. He doesn't want to do that for the time being. adventure.
In order not to dampen everyone's morale, he came up with a good idea: "Each ministry can select smart soldiers to go out and fire cold guns to harass the enemy. By the way, they can also pick up some US military equipment and supplies. We must persist in the long-term war of resistance and persist until the combined fleet arrives." Come. Even if we fight to the last man, we must hold back the US military and create opportunities for the combined fleet to destroy the enemy."
The other officers nodded. An arsenal was deducted today, and the ammunition consumption in the past two days was staggering. It was indeed necessary to consider the future. They think that the US military's M1 rifle is good. Except for the inability to fight hand-to-hand and the consumption of bullets, everything else is better than the rifle in their hands.
"Everyone must have confidence. The commander asked us to hold on for a month. It's only two days now. It's nothing special. We will continue to fight the US military and tell them with actions. Even if they occupy the beachhead, the depth, and the surface position It’s nothing special!”
The 2nd Battalion of the 7th Regiment landed at Hongsantan on the third day. By noon, more than half of the troops had been killed or injured. The communications troops finally called the destroyers and carrier-based aircraft to provide fire support and suppress the most threatening Japanese artillery fire on the east side of the beach. However, the Japanese army relied on the favorable terrain to launch a counterattack. Battalion commander Major Steven led the soldiers to engage in brutal hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese army, and finally repelled the Japanese counterattack, but the price paid was heavy enough - the injured Japanese soldiers were often dying He also had to fire the grenades hidden beside him and die together with the American troops. The position was littered with lumps of flesh and blood and mutilated corpses.
The biggest highlight of the day for the US military was to seize the airport. Although the airport runway had been destroyed by artillery fire, the surrounding defenses were not seriously damaged. Relying on the blasting operations of engineers and fire-breathing tanks, the US military was approaching the edge of the runway inch by inch. . One platoon of American troops attempted to attack the strong bunkers in front of them in a roundabout way, but they were all killed by the Japanese troops who emerged from the other side.
What made the Marine Corps' will collapse even more was that a Japanese 95 tank suddenly appeared during the fierce battle. The Marine Corps rushing in front panicked for a while, and more than 20 people died under the machine gun fire of the tank. Fortunately, the following troops used recoilless rifles to kill the tank. In the end, the two sides launched a fierce battle around the wreckage of the tank. The US military finally relied on intensive automatic firepower to repel the enemy and effectively blocked the east side of the beachhead. The Japanese counterattack route completely controlled the airport.
After the sun set, Colonel Connally ordered to shrink the position and prepare to spend the night. Based on the experience of seizing the island many times, he believed that the Japanese army would launch a fierce counterattack at night, and the US military might be driven into the sea if they were a little negligent. In the first two days, the U.S. military had not yet formed a confrontational situation with the Japanese army. It was normal that there was no counterattack at night. On the third day, the two sides were completely fighting together, so they had to guard against night attacks. In order to deal with the endless night attacks, the U.S. military has summarized many methods to deal with these "nasty Charlies". The most effective method is the "moment of fire"-everyone takes up arms at night and fires aimlessly at the same time, making the Japanese think they are exposed. Charge and then eliminate the opponent.
In the dusk, Betio showed a tragic scene: the once lush coconut groves were all bulldozed by artillery fire, and the scattered tree trunks were riddled with bullet marks. The ground is covered with all kinds of sand dunes, stones, wreckage and corpses, and Japanese firepower points are hidden in these dunes or under the ruins. Bodies lay everywhere without being buried. The hot weather caused them to rot and stink. The entire island was filled with stench that made people vomit. The American officers and soldiers did not dare to neglect the slightest. In order to resist the ubiquitous stench, they were forced to put on gas masks in such hot weather. Regardless of pain, thirst, hunger and exhaustion, they worked hard to dig fortifications and build defense lines until Deep underground - no one dares to risk their lives.
The night of Tarawa was frightening, as American warships fired a large number of flares, illuminating the entire Betio and reflecting the blood-soaked coral reefs. Many of the illumination bombs were of inferior quality, and their yellow light reflected the sandy ground in a dark yellow color. To ensure safety, half of the US military took a nap in a temporarily dug bunker, while the other half were on high alert with guns. Their nerves were stretched to the limit and they would shoot whenever the wind blew or the sand moved. On the other side, the landing craft crossed the reef and unloaded ammunition, food, fresh water, plasma and communication equipment to the trestle under our control. The long trestle made of coconut wood and the sandbank connecting the trestle were full of officers and soldiers who wasted no time in rushing to transport supplies.
In such a night, the Japanese "night attack" was launched just as Connery expected. The nervous American officers and soldiers heard footsteps, saw figures running in the dark, and even some soldiers were swearing. I saw the gloomy and ferocious face of the Japanese army. Occasionally, there were a few 38 gunshots, and the sound of machine guns and rifles on the U.S. military position was heard. Marine officers and soldiers were everywhere shooting randomly, and the effect of this kind of shooting was almost zero. The harder they fought, the more aggressive the Japanese troops tasked with harassing them became - they were not here to attack at night, but to pick up supplies and lure the U.S. troops into wasting ammunition.
The other Japanese soldiers had just taken a breather from the day's hard struggle and were seizing the time to rest. The firepower and sound on the ground seemed to be completely different from theirs. Only soldiers who were bored would shoot a few shots through the shooting holes, and then most of them would be fired again. Ushered in dozens or even hundreds of times of counterattack.
The US destroyers shelled the eastern end of the island all night long to prevent the Japanese counterattack, but they did not realize that the enemy was just bluffing. Tropical nights are short, and when the sun rises over the Pacific Ocean again, the Marines can't believe it: the expected terrible night attack didn't happen! The hungry and thirsty US troops gained a firm foothold and gained confidence - when they were at their weakest, the Japanese army did not have the strength to drive them into the sea, so they were sure that they would capture all of Betio sooner or later, but they seemed to be happy a little earlier.
On the 3rd, 4th, and 5th days, the 3rd Marine Division advanced hard on the Tarawa beach. Every day, artillery shells were fired, bombs were thrown, and people died. However, the distance of movement could only be measured in yards. calculate. By the fifth day, the total casualties of the US military had exceeded 5,000, and the number of killed in action exceeded 2,800. The 3rd Marine Division, with 4 full regiments, had almost defeated the first 2 regiments and was forced to withdraw for rest. The 3rd regiment also lost nearly a quarter of its manpower. Now it is time for the 4th regiment to land. Then they fought with the Japanese army.
The casualty rate of officers was also shocking. The casualty rate of company and platoon-level officers participating in the battle exceeded 60%. The first five battalion commanders who landed were either dead or wounded, and two more of the seven battalion commanders dispatched later were killed. Especially on the fourth day, Colonel Connally, who had drawn up all the combat plans and took command from the front, was finally noticed by the Japanese that something was wrong because he was always accompanied by communications troops. A Japanese sergeant who had been hiding and looking for an opportunity to do something was Killed him with 2 iron fists... Even Brigadier General Devin, who couldn't help but get off the ship and command, was hit by the Japanese artillery fire. If the orderly hadn't thrown him to the ground quickly and quickly, the commander of the 3rd Marine Division would be almost as good as Betio. The sand is a lifelong companion.
The U.S. military immediately adjusted its chain of command, and Colonel McCourt took over the command of Colonel Connally. He restarted the offensive relying on tanks and newly landed field artillery. The Japanese resistance did not weaken at all, and they fought for every inch of coral sand and every bunker at the cost of blood. It was difficult for the US military to see living Japanese troops. They could only rely on the instinct of soldiers to crawl around, using coconut wood stumps, craters, sand dunes, and abandoned fortifications to get closer to the firepower point step by step. Finally, they stuffed explosive packs or grenades over them. When they were particularly lucky, Let the fire-breathing soldiers take a shot - that is the fastest solution.
Although the tanks exerted their power, the Japanese army's iron fist also found a large-scale use. Tanks were constantly destroyed. By the evening of the fifth day, the cumulative loss of tanks exceeded 100.
Nimitz and Halsey were so anxious that their mouths were bubbling, but there was nothing they could do - this was still the north bank, which in their opinion was weakly defended. If they had attacked the more tightly defended south bank, what should they do now?
After a long silence, Holland suggested: "Should we let other troops launch an attack on the south bank to divert the attention of the Japanese army?"
Nimitz thought for a moment: "No, now there is a shortage of naval gun shells, especially large-caliber shells, and the intensity of artillery fire has been weakened a lot. If we land on the south bank again, the already small firepower distribution will be even less, and there will not be enough I am afraid that you will suffer greater losses on the south bank, unless you think you can suppress the enemy by relying on destroyer firepower, and there are many such artillery supply ships!"
Holland was speechless for a while. Those 127mm thin tubes on the destroyer were definitely not good. They could only deal with the general infantry firepower of the Japanese army, and their ability to destroy permanent fortifications was very poor. After Devin went up, he inspected the Japanese bunker and found that it was unusually strong. It is difficult to destroy artillery with a caliber of less than 155mm with a direct hit. Many American soldiers hid in bunkers built by the Japanese army to rest at night - which did not make anyone feel lucky at all.
According to Holander's revised plan, he is going to capture the entire island on the fifth day. However, based on the current situation, he is not sure whether he can capture them all on the seventh day. He doesn't know how he should deal with Ni. Mitzi spoke.
Unknown to everyone, the main force of the Combined Fleet has arrived only 900 kilometers away from Perth, an important town on the west coast of Australia...