Just as the Battle of Luzon came to an end, Nimitz, the highest commander of the Central Pacific battlefield, launched an unprecedentedly tragic battle: the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Although Iwo Jima is a small island, it is located in a strategic focus. It is about 1,200 kilometers away from the two places, just between Tokyo and the newly occupied Saipan Island, which is about 1,200 kilometers away from each other.

After the US military occupied Saipan, it began to attack Tokyo with Saipan as a base, but due to the alarm of Iwo Jima, the US military's air strike on Tokyo has always been ineffective.

Not only that, Japanese fighter jets stationed in Iwo Jima also took off from time to time to intercept and disperse the US fleet.

Under such circumstances, the US military will inevitably seize Iwo Jima to clear obstacles.

On the other hand, for Tokyo's security, the Japanese army naturally had to defend Iwo Jima.

As a result, this volcanic island, which was originally deserted, became a must-fight place for Japan and the United States.

The Battle of Iwo Jima began on February 16, 1945. The US military dispatched 38 aircraft carriers, 15 battleships, 25 cruisers, hundreds of destroyers, frigates and other auxiliary ships, and thousands of aircraft were used to shell and bombard the three Japanese airports and beachheads of Iwo Jima.

Three days later, the 4th and 5th Division of the US Marine Warfare, under the cover of more than 600 aircraft and artillery fire, formed five landing waves with more than 250 landing crafts, more than 500 amphibious tanks and armored vehicles, and landed in southeastern Iwo Jima.

Although the US military is determined to win, Iwo Jima is very important to Japan and is a strategic location that must be defended.

For this reason, the Japanese army had been stationed on Iwo Jima for many years, and food and fresh water alone were sufficiently prepared.

Especially before the Battle of Iwo Jima, Japan not only sent a large amount of materials and combat personnel to the island, but also enhanced the fortifications on the island, with the purpose of enhancing Iwo Jima's defense capabilities.

Iwo Jima itself is a volcanic island. Not only does the island have undulating terrain and ravines, but also various molten caves, cliffs and towering cliffs near the sea, it is very typical that it is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

In order to fight against the US military, Japan already had a defensive terrain advantage, and built a large number of fireworks on the island, as well as more than 20 kilometers of tunnels, connecting Iwo Jima into a permanent military fortress through natural caves, tunnels and artificial bunkers.

Therefore, even if the US military bombing is sufficient firepower, the Japanese army hides in the fortifications that have been dug long ago, which greatly reduces the actual damage of the US fire attack.

According to post-war statistics, the repeated carpet bombings of Iwo Jima by the US military accumulated more than one million tons of ammunition, which was equivalent to an average of more than 1,200 tons per square kilometer, but it was still unable to effectively destroy the set targets.

Once the US military stopped shelling, the Japanese army soon emerged from the tunnel and continued to block the US military, and engaged in a long tug-of-war and guerrilla war with the US military.

Since Iwo Jima is also very important to Japan, the Japanese army on the isolated island has no other way except to resist to the death.

The 23,000 Japanese troops fought desperately with the US military. The tenacity was beyond the imagination of the US military. The Japanese troops fought to resist and counterattack like a group of madmen.

Tadido Rilin changed the tactic of fighting hard in the early stages of the war, strictly prohibited suicide charges, adopted strategies to deepen strategic depth, and made up his mind to fight guerrilla warfare with the US military on the island.

Tadao Rilindao mainly uses tunnel defense fortifications, uses the complex volcanic island terrain to hide artillery in semi-underground fortifications, calculates and designs in advance, and exchanges the artillery's survival ability at the expense of shooting.

With beachhead defense as a supplement, mines are buried on the beach, side-fired firepower is arranged, and machine guns, mortars and anti-tank guns are used to form a firepower net. While protecting itself, it can kill and injure the US military in large quantities.

In this case, the US military can only bombard all the Japanese firepower points hiding in bunkers everywhere.

With the full output of naval guns and carrier-based aircraft groups, the US military successfully suppressed the Japanese artillery positions and consumed 40,000 shells per day, setting a record for firepower support in the history of war.

Later, under the bombing of millions of tons of shells, the ground on Iwo Jima turned into thick volcanic ash, so that the tanks fell into floating soil and could not move forward.

The US military had to rely on explosive packs and flamethrowers to move forward step by step, and each step had to pay a heavy price.

The battle has become a fierce battle and has become an absolute war of attrition, with both sides suffering tragic casualties.

The crisscrossing tunnels and firepower points have become a nightmare for the US military. The US military is unable to move forward. At the most difficult times, it even pushed forward 4 meters all day.

Every step forward, they crawled against the bodies of their comrades. The heavy casualties even made the frontline commanders dare not let the soldiers enter the battle.

The helpless US military could only lengthen the front line and attack the island bit by bit, so naturally it lost a large amount of troops in the process.

Especially when attacking the second commanding height 382, ​​which was named "meat grinder" on the island, the 4th Marine Division of the US Army was repeatedly trapped in the Japanese crossfire network, with extremely heavy casualties.

It was not until March 2, 1945 that the 24th Regiment attacked the high ground, but the casualties paid were huge. Several companies of officers and soldiers were either killed or injured, and almost all of them were wiped out.

After two weeks of fierce fighting, the remaining more than 3,000 Japanese troops retreated into the cave to defend the enemy. At this time, the Japanese troops' defense was already very fragile and they were in a situation of being completely passively beaten.

But even so, the remnants of the Japanese army still hid in the fortifications and carried out fierce resistance, although this resistance was already a meaningless sacrifice.

Faced with this situation, Major General Kaz, commander of the 4th Marine Division of the US Army, sent a letter of persuasion to Lieutenant General Tada Suribayashi and Colonel Ikeda Masao, the captain of the 145th Regiment, who was the most fiercely rebelled among the Japanese troops in Iwo Jima.

In the letter, Major General Kez first expressed his admiration for their fearless spirit and heroic combat, and then explained that the Japanese army could no longer win and asked them to stop resisting. The US military would treat the surrendered Japanese army in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Convention.

But it is obvious that this is of no use. The Japanese side has never responded. They have long chosen the dead end to resist to the end, and it is impossible to be persuaded and educated.

The Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the most intense battles in the Pacific War. The US military suffered a total of 28,686 casualties and 6,821 sacrificed.

Among the 22,786 Japanese soldiers, except for 1,083, were captured, all the rest of the people, including Lieutenant General Su Lin, were killed.

In terms of combat military strength, the United States has an overwhelming advantage. However, in terms of the final number of casualties, the casualties of the US military were very heavy, and it was the only battle that surpassed the Japanese army!

The Japanese army used only 20,000 people to fight against the US 100,000 people. It was a helpless move. Of course, it was a natural failure, but the Japanese army's resistance spirit impressed the world.

Although the Japanese army eventually failed in this battle, from a strategic perspective, they achieved their expected combat goals: to make the US military pay a heavy price and delay the progress of the US military.

"Reporting to the General Office, the Allied Central Pacific Theater Command sent an emergency telegram!"

On the morning of March 8, when Yang Fan was handling military affairs in the office of the Hu Ben Army General Command, Huang Hong hurriedly knocked on the office door.
Chapter completed!