Chapter 23 04. Take down "The Breakwater of the Pacific Ocean"

After the US military captured the Gilbert Islands, the initiative in the Pacific battlefield was further consolidated.Nimitz continued his offensive in the Central Pacific, while MacArthur launched island-hopping operations from Australia to Indonesia and the Philippines. Both fronts were advancing rapidly and were unstoppable. In the first half of 1944, after Nimitz's Pacific Fleet jumped over the Truk Atoll, the largest base of the Japanese army in the Central Pacific Ocean, it occupied the Palau Islands. The flanked Japanese army strengthened its defense in the Mariana Islands to contain the Allied forces offensive.

The Mariana Islands is a volcanic archipelago extending 425 nautical miles from north to south. It consists of nearly a hundred islands of different sizes. There are 16 larger volcanic islands, mainly including Guam, Saipan, Tinian and Rota. The strategic location of the Mariana Islands is very important. It is located east of the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan Island and the Philippine Islands, south of the Iwo Islands, and north of the Caroline Islands. The sea traffic hub is also the only way for the US military to attack the Japanese mainland and the Far East. At that time, the B-29 long-range bombers of the Allied Forces could only use the airfields in mainland China to attack Japan's Kyushu Island.If the Mariana Islands are occupied by the U.S. military, the sea lifeline between the Japanese mainland and Southeast Asia will be cut off. What's more serious is that the U.S. B-29 bombers flying from the Marianas can bring the Japanese mainland into the combat radius, especially where Tokyo is located. This is bound to deal a heavy blow to Japanese industry and the morale of the military and civilians.

Because the Mariana Islands are so important, they were called "the breakwater of the Pacific Ocean" by the Japanese army, and the Mariana landing campaign implemented by the US military was also called the "Battle of Breaking the Embankment"!The U.S. military decided to bypass the Caroline Islands and go straight to the Mariana Islands, conquer Saipan, and retake Guam. After the Japanese army became aware of the U.S. attempt to seize the Mariana Islands, the "Hun" operation originally launched to resist MacArthur's attack was forced to suspend, and instead launched the "A" operation that was painstakingly planned by the Japanese base camp - using shore-based aircraft and aircraft carriers. The mobile fleet provoked a decisive battle at sea and defeated the main fleet of the Allied forces in one go, thereby reversing the disadvantage.

When the Fifth Fleet of the U.S. Spruance and Turner's Joint Expeditionary Force entered the Mariana Sea, they effectively suppressed the Japanese air force. On June 15, the US military successfully landed on Saipan.Unexpectedly, at 18:35, the American submarine "Flying Fish" spotted a Japanese fleet in the San Bernardino Strait; Another Japanese fleet was discovered near Chang'e; on the night of the 17th, another American submarine reported the enemy's situation. Based on this intelligence, the U.S. military saw the Japanese attempt to support the Mariana Islands.Due to the possible contact between the two fleets on the 18th, Spruance recalled the 1st and 4th Detachments, and drew 8 cruisers and 21 destroyers from Turner's Joint Expeditionary Force fleet to strengthen the force.

At noon on the 18th, Spruance put 15 aircraft carriers into formation. Among them, the Seventh Detachment, consisting mainly of 7 battleships, was placed between the Japanese fleet and 4 aircraft carrier task groups to prevent the Japanese surface fleet from approaching the United States. aircraft carrier. At 6:00 pm on the 15th, what was discovered by the US submarine "Flying Fish" was the main force of the Japanese fleet, the First Mobile Fleet commanded by Lieutenant General Ozawa Jisaburo, with 9 aircraft carriers.Ozawa intends to take advantage of Japan's air bases in Guam and Rota Island to deploy the fleet outside the strike radius of the US carrier-based aircraft, and use Japanese carrier-based aircraft to take off to attack the US fleet. After passing through the US fleet, it flies to Landed on Rota Island, Guam and other places, refueled and loaded bombs before launching the next wave of attacks.In this way, the strike range of Japanese carrier-based aircraft can be greatly expanded, while the US fleet cannot attack the Japanese fleet.

After the two fleets discovered each other, the largest aircraft carrier confrontation and carrier-based aircraft air battle in history will begin soon. At 4:20 a.m. on the 19th, Ozawa sent out a reconnaissance plane again, and clearly grasped the movement of the US fleet.At this time, Spruance did not know the location of Ozawa's fleet, so he first attacked the known Japanese air force in Mariana, intending to eliminate the enemy in this area before the decisive battle with Ozawa.In the morning, the Fifth Fleet had crushed the Japanese air force at Marianas. On the morning of the 19th, while the Fifth Fleet was constantly searching for the Ozawa Fleet, Ozawa dispatched a total of 69 aircraft from the Vanguard Fleet led by Lieutenant Admiral Kurita Takeo at 8:30 to launch the first attack; A total of 128 aircraft were dispatched as the second wave of attack; at 10 o'clock, another 47 aircraft were dispatched as the third wave of attack; at 11 o'clock, another 82 aircraft were dispatched as the fourth wave of attack.There are a total of 326 fighters in four groups, trying to defeat the carrier-based aircraft of the US fleet in one fell swoop with a large number of fighters.

At 9:50 on the 19th, the first dialing plane was spotted by the radar of the US warship, and the US military dispatched 240 aircraft to intercept it within 10 minutes.When the fighter planes of the two sides encountered each other, the U.S. aircraft could not climb to the height of the Japanese plane, but the Japanese plane wasted precious 10 minutes and readjusted the fleet, which gave the U.S. aircraft time to climb.Then, the U.S. fighter jets, mainly "Hellcat" fighter jets, intercepted the Japanese Zero fighter jets.In the early days of the Pacific War, the Zero fighter was invincible, but now the Zero fighter is no longer the opponent of the American "Hellcat" fighter.The quantity, quality and pilot quality of the Japanese aircraft were at a disadvantage. Therefore, the Japanese aircraft were completely unable to cope with the attack of the US aircraft, and could only attack the US battleships ahead.

However, the new anti-aircraft shells of the U.S. warships are equipped with proximity fuzes. This kind of shells can be detonated when the aircraft enters its explosion killing range. The reason for using this shell.This made it more difficult for Japanese planes to attack American ships. Under the interception of American fighter planes and the powerful anti-aircraft artillery of American ships, Japan lost 42 of its first attack aircraft group. At 11:39, the second attack wave of the largest Japanese aircraft arrived.The "Hellcat" fighter jets of the U.S. military chased down the Japanese planes with poor technology and outdated performance, and it turned into a massacre in the air. At least 70 Japanese planes were shot down, and 20 Japanese planes broke through the interception. Fourteen were also shot down by anti-aircraft fire from US warships.In the second day, there were 128 planes in total, 97 of which were lost, but the U.S. military suffered almost no losses.

The air battle went so smoothly, a U.S. pilot exclaimed excitedly: "This is so much like an ancient battlefield for hunting turkeys!" Therefore, this air massacre-style air battle was dubbed by the U.S. military as "Mariana's turkey fight." Contest". Although the U.S. carrier-based aircraft fought very well, they still failed to discover the Ozawa fleet.Instead, the U.S. submarine force played the role of underwater killer. At 8 a.m. on the 19th, before the US and Japanese carrier-based aircraft encountered each other, the submarine "Mackerel" spotted the Ozawa fleet and set its sights on the largest aircraft carrier "Taiho" in the Japanese army.At 9:00 in the morning, when the "Big Mackerel" was launching torpedoes at the "Taifeng", it was spotted by a Japanese surface ship and attacked. In addition, the submarine's sight was malfunctioning, so it could only blindly shoot 6 torpedoes and dive to escape.Although a Japanese pilot risked his life to block a torpedo with his plane, a torpedo still hit the Taiho.Fortunately, the "Taifeng" had thick armor and did not cause much impact.But the Japanese army really got their backs this time. The oil and gas from the injured "Taiho" leaked from the pipeline and filled the entire hull. A fire ignited inside, detonating the ammunition depot, and the "Taifeng" exploded one after another. Ozawa had to abandon his flagship and leave sadly.At 18:28 on the same day, the "Taifeng" sank in the Philippine Sea.

At noon, the famous U.S. submarine "Spinefin" sneaked into Ozawa's fleet.The U.S. military discovered that the Japanese aircraft carrier "Xianghe" was recovering its carrier-based aircraft and was unable to maneuver to avoid torpedo attacks. The U.S. military immediately decided to open fire on this big guy! At least 3 of the 6 torpedoes launched by the "Acanthus" hit, and the "Xianghe" immediately lost its combat effectiveness and sank a few hours later. When the Japanese aircraft carrier "Xianghe" was attacked, the 47 planes of the Japanese third fleet failed to find the target and returned without success, and 7 planes were shot down on the way back.The failure to find the attack target was actually the luck of the pilots of the third wave of the Japanese army. They became the wave with the least losses among the four waves of Japanese offensives that day.

The fourth group of attack planes arrived at the scheduled sea surface at 2:00 p.m., but did not find any U.S. warships, so they divided into three groups and continued to search, but all of them were intercepted and killed by U.S. fighter jets.In the fourth round, there were a total of 82 fighters, most of which were either dead or disabled. In the end, only 9 fighters were able to take off and fight again. On the 19th, when the battle ended, the outcome was decided. The Ozawa fleet was sunk by American submarines and two large aircraft carriers were sunk. Of the 326 carrier-based aircraft dispatched, only 130 returned to the Japanese aircraft carrier. "The aircraft that sank together, Japan lost a total of 315 aircraft.The U.S. military won an overwhelming victory in the largest carrier-based aircraft air battle in the history of war. Only 23 aircraft were lost in the air battle, 6 aircraft were damaged in operational accidents, and only 2 aircraft carriers and 2 warships were slightly injured. On the morning of the 20th, Ozawa changed to the aircraft carrier "Zuihe".At 1 p.m., Ozawa finally learned of the results of the previous day's air battle, and there were only a hundred or so planes left to attack.But the Japanese never shed tears when they saw the coffin, and Ozawa still planned to launch another attack on the US military.At this moment, Ozawa got the news that the US fleet was approaching his side, and the distance was less than 300 nautical miles. At 3:40 p.m. on the 20th, a reconnaissance plane of the US aircraft carrier "Enterprise" spotted the Ozawa fleet. The US military searched hard and finally found the Japanese fleet.After some thought, the U.S. military sent 216 planes to attack the Ozawa fleet. Ozawa ordered the fleet to escape at high speed to the northwest and abandon the supply fleet.At 6:40 p.m., the U.S. plane flew over the Japanese supply fleet and severely damaged two oil tankers, both of which were later forced to sink.Afterwards, the U.S. fleet flew over the Japanese fleet and rushed to attack before sunset.The Japanese medium-sized aircraft carrier "Flying Eagle" was hit by a torpedo, causing a fire and sinking two hours later; The cruiser "Maya" was damaged, and Ozawa's flagship "Zuihe" was seriously injured. At 8:45 p.m., a large number of U.S. planes that were about to run out of fuel returned to the sky above the fleet in the dark, causing chaos during an emergency landing and losing 80 planes. This was also the biggest loss of the U.S. military in this battle. In the Mariana naval battle, the 58th Task Force of the U.S. Fifth Fleet severely damaged the Japanese Navy's main force, the First Mobile Fleet, and won the sea dominance of the Western Pacific in one fell swoop.The U.S. military only paid a very small price for the death of 76 people, the loss of 123 aircraft, and minor injuries to 4 warships, and destroyed 3 Japanese aircraft carriers, 2 oil tankers, and 600 aircraft. This was a sea battle of decisive significance. After that, the Japanese aircraft carrier force was no longer able to compete with the U.S. military. The control of the sea and air in the Mariana Islands was completely controlled by the U.S. military. At the same time as the Battle of the Marianas, the Saipan landing battle was also going on. Saipan is not only the central island of the Japanese army in the Mariana Islands, but also the defense core of the Japanese army's Central Pacific region. The Japanese Army's 31st Army and the Navy's Central Pacific Fleet Command are located on the island. The Japanese troops on Saipan consisted of 28,000 soldiers, 15,000 naval garrison and 15,000 marines, for a total of 43,000 troops.Lieutenant Admiral Nagumo Chuichi, the commander of the Central Pacific Fleet who was idled after the failure of the Midway Island naval battle, basically did not care about ground operations. In fact, Lieutenant General Saito Yoshiji, the commander of the 43rd Division, was in charge of the defense of the island. Beginning on June 11, the U.S. military began to implement aviation and naval artillery firepower preparations, destroying most of the ground fortifications on the island. On the 15th, the US 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions landed in the Chalangano area on the west coast of Saipan, and occupied the landing site in the evening of the same day. On the night of the 15th and 16th, the Japanese army used their trump card again-night raids.But after several fights, the U.S. military has long been familiar with the tactics of the Japanese army, and has made preparations in advance, just waiting for them to come.When the Japanese army rushed up, the American flare bombs were fired one after another, illuminating the night sky like daytime.Therefore, the night counterattack carried out by the Japanese army had no effect except for the loss of troops in vain. On the 17th, the U.S. military expanded its landing field and captured Chalan Kanoa Airport.After the U.S. military consolidated the landing field, the 27th Infantry Division landed for reinforcements, repaired the airport and deployed artillery. From June 19th to 20th, the U.S. military defeated the Japanese army in the Mariana naval battle, and had completely obtained the control of the sea and the air in the Mariana Islands. The Japanese army on the island was completely isolated.After 20 days of fierce fighting, the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties, with only more than 5,000 people left, who were compressed to the northeast corner of the island. On July 6, Saito Yoshiji and Nagumo Tadaichi sent a final farewell telegram to the Japanese base camp, and then gathered the remaining more than 5,000 officers and soldiers on the island to deploy the final desperate attack.Saito committed suicide by caesarean section that night, and Nagumo ended his life with a pistol.Nagumo, who was scolded by Yamamoto Fifty-Six as a "cowardly thief" during the attack on Pearl Harbor, even lost the courage to cut seppuku. In the early morning of July 7th, more than 5,000 Japanese troops suddenly launched a charge. The officers brandished samurai swords and took the lead in the charge. Regardless of the US military's shooting.The battle lasted for several hours, and the U.S. military finally smashed the irrational suicide charge of the Japanese army. The organized resistance of the Japanese army on Saipan ended here.The Japanese army in World War II was not famous for its strong combat effectiveness, but for its two hundred and five spirits that were not afraid of death.In fact, if more than 5,000 people infiltrate the U.S. military in groups, touch a sentry today, and kill a service tomorrow, the threat to the U.S. military is much greater than such a two-shot suicide charge.The Japanese devils called this kind of suicide charge "Long Live Assault". The U.S. military was lucky to encounter such a group of brain-dead bastards. Guam has been occupied by the United States since 1898, but it is only used as a midway supply station for the route from the mainland of the United States to the Philippines, and it is almost undefended. After the "Pearl Harbor Incident" in 1941, Guam was occupied by the Japanese army.In the next few years, the Japanese army built three airports in Guam, of which the third airport has not yet been completed. The U.S. artillery attack on Guam began as early as June 11 when it attacked Saipan. All Japanese aircraft on the island were destroyed and the airport was severely damaged. From June 21 to July 7, the U.S. military conducted several naval and aircraft bombardments on Guam.In view of the fact that the artillery fire preparations before the landing on Saipan were insufficient, the landing troops suffered huge casualties, so the artillery fire attack on Guam was greatly strengthened.From July 8th, 13 days of heavy shelling were carried out, almost destroying all the firepower points exposed by the Japanese army. In the early hours of July 21, the U.S. military provided direct fire support with 6 battleships, 3 escort aircraft carriers, 8 cruisers, and 32 destroyers. At 8:30, with the support of heavy artillery fire, the US military began to make a surprise landing.The initial landing was very smooth, with negligible resistance from the Japanese army, but the advance after the landing was very difficult, the Japanese army resisted tenaciously, and the fighting was very fierce throughout the day. After nightfall, the Japanese army unsurprisingly launched a night raid. The U.S. military had been prepared for a long time and fired flares continuously. As soon as they discovered the Japanese attack, they immediately called for naval gun fire.Although the Japanese army's two-pole offensive was fierce, it was no match for the artillery fire of the US army, leaving hundreds of corpses in vain without gaining anything.Like the Soviet army, the Japanese army also belonged to a family that believed in death and had dull and boring tactics. From July 22 to August 10, the U.S. military marched steadily to the northernmost tip of Guam.Lieutenant General Obata Hideyoshi, the commander of the Japanese army guarding the island, sent a final farewell telegram to the Japanese base camp, and then committed suicide.The U.S. military announced that it had crushed organized Japanese resistance on Guam. But the battle on the island was far from over. There were still about 9,000 Japanese soldiers hiding in the jungle and caves, coming out from time to time to attack the US troops.The battle to wipe out the remnants of the Japanese army on the island continued until the end of the war. In September 1945, the last batch of about 100 Japanese troops came out to surrender.Individual Japanese soldiers still persisted in resisting in the jungle. On December 8, 1945, three members of the US Marine Corps were ambushed and killed by the Japanese army. On January 24, 1972, Sergeant Yokoi Shoichi of the Japanese Army was discovered by hunters. He had lived alone in the cave for 27 years.He is the famous "Guam Savage", known as "The Last Devil". After the U.S. military captured Saipan and Guam, its combat capability for seizing the islands was greatly improved.In the following landing battle on Tinian Island, the U.S. military artillery preparations and support were more effective, well-planned, well-directed, and the landing site was chosen by surprise. Therefore, it took only 9 days to capture Tinian with minimal casualties. The island is a classic case of island landing warfare, known as: "the most successful amphibious landing warfare in the Pacific War". During the three-month battle in the Mariana Islands, the U.S. military defeated the Japanese combined fleet, successively captured Saipan, Guam and Tinian Island, and basically wiped out more than 70,000 garrison troops on the three islands. As a result, the strategic defense posture of the Japanese army in the Pacific Ocean seriously deteriorated.The "absolute defense circle" stipulated by the Japanese base camp is facing collapse due to the loss of the Mariana Islands, and the Japanese mainland will be directly attacked by US B-29 bombers flying from the Mariana Islands.Instead, the U.S. military gained forward bases for continued advances in the Central Pacific.Under the ebb and flow, the advantage of the Pacific War is already in the hands of the US military. The loss of the Mariana Islands shocked Japan greatly.The Japanese high-level panicked, and the contradictions suddenly intensified, pushing the responsibility for the defeat of the war to the cabinet of Hideki Tojo.Prior to this, some people in Japan were planning to overthrow Hideki Tojo and asked him to resign by forcing him to resign, but the result was unsuccessful. After the Japanese army's defeat and loss of Saipan in the Battle of the Marianas, the anti-Tojo movement rose again.Hideki Tojo attempted to tide over the difficulties by strengthening the command power and reorganizing the cabinet. However, due to the opposition of the important ministers, Hideki Tojo, who was described by Konoe Fumimaro as "the deer of Showa", had to resign on July 18, 1944. , The Tojo Cabinet, which lasted for two years and nine months, came to an end. After Hideki Tojo resigned, the former Japanese governor of Korea and army general Koiso Kuniaki, who was known as the "Tiger of Koryo", succeeded him as prime minister.