Just as Xu Rui led the three regiments to attack Banban and wipe out the last remaining Japanese forces in the Philippines, Zhang Lingfu and Liao Yaoxiang were leading the Seventy-Fourth Army and the New Sixth Army in a bloody battle on Iwo Jima.
The 74th Army underwent some changes in early 1945. The original division commander Zhang Lingfu was promoted to the commander of the 74th Army, while the original division commander Wang Yaowu returned to China and was promoted to the commander of the Fourth Front Army. Zhang Lingfu and Liao Yaoxiang worked side by side and coordinated The 3rd, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions of the U.S. Marine Corps launched an attack on Iwo Jima.
The army troops on Iwo Jima were reorganized into the 109th Division, headed by Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, and equipped with a large number of artillery on the island. In addition, the Japanese continued to send artillery, tanks, and soldiers to reinforce Iwo Jima. Many of these supplies were sunk by U.S. warships, but many were still transported ashore. Among them, there were 22 tanks and 30 aircraft. The number of soldiers reached more than 23,000.
Kuribayashi Tadamichi was an outstanding professional soldier and had served as the commander of the Japanese Emperor's guard force. He realized that beachhead operations would be difficult to achieve in the face of the U.S. military's absolute sea and air superiority. He advocated relying on the favorable terrain of Mount Suribachi and solid fortifications. Implement defense in depth.
Fortunately for Kuribayashi, the mixture of volcanic ash and cement on Iwo Jima can become very good concrete. Kuribayashi's troops used this to build many very strong underground fortifications. In order to prevent people from being trapped, each fortification has many exits.
Most of the Japanese artillery positions were built semi-underground. The entire Mount Suribachi was almost hollowed out, and there were as many as nine layers of tunnel fortifications! Ribayashi laid a large number of mines on the beach front, and machine guns, mortars, and anti-tank guns formed a dense firepower network. The configuration and shooting targets of all weapons were accurately calculated, so that they could not only conceal themselves, but also maximize the damage to the US military.
Kuribayashi Tadamichi was a pragmatic commander. He learned from the lesson of Saipan, where the Japanese army sacrificed 30,000 people in three days due to continuous charges. He advocated not attacking when the U.S. troops landed until the U.S. troops were close to five Fight again within a hundred meters.
Kuribayashi Tadamichi said to commanders at all levels: "The life of every imperial soldier is precious and cannot be sacrificed in vain. Therefore, we must adopt another method to attack the Allies. Suicide charges are strictly prohibited. Every soldier must kill at least ten Chinese and American Allied Soldiers.”
After listening to Kuribayashi Tadamichi's words, Japanese officers and soldiers were inspired and determined to defend Iwo Jima, the last gateway to the Japanese Empire, with their lives.
On the first day of landing, the cabin of the landing ship was opened. Wang Xiaolong, a soldier of the 74th Army, felt a pungent smell of sulfur. He got off the ship with his comrades. Wang Xiaolong walked on foot to the long coastline of Iwo Jima. From a distance, mountains stand tall in the middle of Iwo Jima, and plumes of thick smoke continue to rise upward.
After passing the coastline, the road was smooth, but we saw wounded US soldiers being carried to the coast, preparing to board ships for treatment.
The beaches on the coast were full of wounded American soldiers. Looking at their miserable condition and pain, everyone was terrified. It seemed that the battle on Iwo Jima was really not that simple.
Wang Xiaolong continued to move forward with the large army. At this moment, an order came from his superiors that the Japanese-controlled area was in front of him. Everyone stopped and waited for the US military to bomb before attacking.
After a while, dozens of U.S. military fighter planes roared past the sky, and countless bombs fell on the Japanese positions, erupting into dazzling flames. In an instant, thick smoke billowed like the sky falling apart.
After a while, several huge planes flew over Iwo Jima.
"Oh my god, what kind of plane is this? Why is it so big? The wheels alone are taller than an adult." Soldier Ma Tianle said.
"This should be the B-29 long-range strategic bomber newly developed by the Americans." Squad leader Yuan Liang said.
"Good guy, it's so big and so high, the bombs dropped can collapse the Japanese fortifications just by hitting them." Ma Tianle said.
Yuan Liang was not as optimistic as Ma Tianle. He said: "According to the intelligence currently obtained, the Americans have dropped tens of thousands of tons of explosives on Iwo Jima, but with little effect."
"Ah? Are the Japanese fortifications so resistant?" Wang Xiaolong asked.
"Well, the Japanese fortifications are all made of concrete, and all the fortifications are semi-underground, including artillery positions."
"If the artillery position is semi-underground, it will affect the shooting angle." Ma Tianle, a veteran, said immediately.
Yuan Liang said: "Although the shooting angle will affect it, American bombs and artillery shells have nothing to do against these Japanese cannons. These cannons are a huge threat to us."
After a while, dozens of US bombers, including those B-29 aircraft, returned. Next, rows of US warships' naval guns landed on Iwo Jima, constantly bombarding the Japanese fortifications on Iwo Jima.
The bombardment by the American warships lasted for half an hour. The entire Suribachi Mountain was filled with smoke, and everything finally became quiet.
"It's our turn, get ready to fight!" Yuan Liang said.
Yuan Liang led Wang Xiaolong, Ma Tianle and other soldiers to speed up their advance. After a while, he heard the sound of fierce fighting in front. Then, he saw many American soldiers in the distance fleeing backwards. Behind them, one after another, Artillery shells continued to explode, and American soldiers were blown away by the artillery shells from time to time.
Yuan Liang immediately asked everyone to stop. Not long after, American soldiers from a distance ran over. A U.S. second lieutenant took one look at Yuan Liang, immediately jumped into the trench where Yuan Liang was, and then asked: "You guys Are you Chinese?"
Yuan Liang said: "Yes, how is the situation ahead?"
"Do you have any cigarettes?" the second lieutenant asked.
Yuan Liang handed a cigarette to the second lieutenant. The second lieutenant lit the cigarette, took a puff, exhaled the smoke, and then said: "We have attacked three times. My platoon has a total of thirty-six people. Now even I After counting, there are only 7 people left."
"Is the war so tense?"
"Well, the Japanese have built the artillery fortifications into a semi-underground style, and the outside is covered with concrete. Our bombs and artillery fire cannot destroy the Japanese fortifications at all. If the soldiers go up like this, they will risk their lives."
"Brothers from China, we can't fight anymore, so I'll leave this place to you." The second lieutenant took a deep puff of his cigarette, and then he and several soldiers beside him helped the wounded and walked toward the rear.
Yuan Liang's face darkened. Sure enough, Iwo Jima was not so easy to capture. Otherwise, the Americans would not have sent the Chinese Expeditionary Force to Iwo Jima.
At this moment, Yuan Liang received an order from his superiors, asking them, the vanguard, to immediately find out the deployment of the Japanese fortifications in front. Yuan Liang immediately took out his telescope and looked forward. However, Yuan Liang was very disappointed. They are all built semi-underground, and it is difficult to see their fortifications and bunkers from the surface. It seems that only by filling in with human lives can we find out the location of the Japanese fortifications.
"Wang Xiaolong, Ma Tianle!"
"arrive!"
The two people came to Yuan Liang.
"You two go over and conduct reconnaissance to see what's going on ahead and mark all the Japanese fortifications." Yuan Liang said.
"yes!"
Wang Xiaolong and Ma Tianle rushed out of the trench and kept crawling forward. After crawling for about a few minutes, they stopped.
"Xiaolong, look, there is a Japanese fortification here. Damn, it's only so low to the ground. If you don't look carefully, you can't see clearly."
"Xiao Ma, look at that cave, it's also a Japanese fortification."
"And there!"
"There!"
The two people kept making marks on the paper. However, what Wang Xiaolong and Ma Tianle did not expect was that they had been discovered by the Japanese at this time.
"Whoosh!"
There was a piercing scream in the sky, and there was an explosion next to the two of them. Wang Xiaolong was blown up, and then fell heavily to the ground. His clothes and mouth were filled with mud that smelled of gunpowder smoke.
Wang Xiaolong reluctantly climbed up, only to feel his ears ringing. Wang Xiaolong opened his mouth wide. He was surprised to find that Ma Tianle fell not far from him. However, his area below the waist was hit by the explosion. He touched his upper body.
"Pony!" Wang Xiaolong climbed over to Ma Tianle.
Ma Tianle slowly opened his eyes and murmured: "Xiaolong, I miss home..."
Tilting his head, Ma Tianle closed his eyes.
"boom!"
"Boom!"
Shells exploded next to him. Wang Xiaolong knew that he could not stay here any longer, otherwise he would be killed by the Japanese shells.
"Pony, you have a good rest. When you win, I will definitely take you home!"
Wang Xiaolong turned around and ran towards the direction he came from with all his energy.
"boom!"
"boom!"
Cannonballs exploded next to Wang Xiaolong. However, Wang Xiaolong's life was so tough that he passed through the gaps in the shells and successfully escaped back to the starting position.
"Buzz..."
In the sky, there was a roar of aircraft motors, and several aircraft flew past the sky.
Wang Xiaolong looked up to the sky and couldn't help but cursed: "You little devil, the cannon couldn't hit grandpa, so he sent a plane to blow it up! It's not that easy to kill your grandpa!"
The plane in the sky did not pursue Wang Xiaolong, but flew straight into the distance. A closer look at the direction revealed that the direction the Japanese plane was flying to was the U.S. Air Force base on Saipan. A few hours later, the U.S. military stationed on Saipan The airport was attacked by Japanese planes, six B-29 Flying Fortress bombers were destroyed, and the US military suffered heavy losses...
"boom!"
"Boom!"
The Japanese artillery roared again. The 74th Army, which was advancing, was suddenly hit by the Japanese artillery. It suffered heavy losses and had to withdraw to the beach position for reorganization.
Subsequently, a new round of US air strikes and naval artillery bombardments began, and the Japanese artillery fire fell into silence again. However, everyone knew that the Japanese artillery fire had not been destroyed, and they would inevitably come back in the next attack...