Chapter 39 widow tree

After the landing vehicle reversed, it continued to rush forward, and a mountain vehicle used to level trees also came to help.During the impact, the landing vehicle crashed at least three Japanese military fortifications, and the mountain vehicle crashed two. The first two tanks to land were called.After all, it was an iron guy specially used for field battles. As soon as the chariot arrived, the situation immediately took a turn for the worse, and the Japanese stronghold soon turned into ruins. In the middle of the afternoon, heavy rain came suddenly. This was the first monsoon rain encountered by the 1st Marine Division.The monsoon rain is very special. Those who stay on the beach can see the rain clouds like a solid pond, pass through the strait, and quickly fly over the jungle. The swift action is no less than the landing of the US military.

Marines traveling through the jungle hear the sound of heavy rain first—the patter of rain on thick vegetation—before they experience the sensation of rain on their bodies. When the heavy rain hit, no one had nowhere to escape.When the 1st Marine Division came out to fight, they would not bring a lot of belongings with them, but only the lightest equipment. Even the division commander, Rupertas, did not bring a tent. The only thing that could protect him from the rain was his coat.So, after a few seconds, everyone became drowned. The heavy rain also brought unexpected disasters to the First Marine Division.Many trees in the tropical rainforest seem to be strong, but in fact they have already been hollowed out inside. Marines call them "widow trees".These "widow trees" were subjected to intense bombing and shelling before they landed, and they couldn't hold up under such heavy rain.

The fallen "widow tree" killed and injured many people, and psychologically caused the marines to feel a sense of fear. When they marched, they had to slow down while observing whether there was a Japanese stronghold or squatting in front of them. A sniper in the bushes has to beware of the trees around him that may fall at any time. However, in general, the progress of the First Marine Division has not been greatly affected.Aside from that damned road-blocking stronghold, they've only been sniped sporadically along the way.By nightfall all the troops of the first echelon had been ashore, along with most of the tanks and artillery.

During the first day, the roller coaster has been clearing trees in the jungle to create jungle trails.But the next day, the mountain car stopped working because there was a road built by the Japanese ahead. It seemed to touch the sensitive nerves of the Japanese. From the afternoon of that day, Matsuda finally showed his strength and commanded the Japanese army to launch six counterattacks against the perimeter defense line stationed by the Seventh Marine Regiment, four of which were of considerable scale. When the Japanese soldiers appeared about 200 yards in front of the line of defense, the Marines' machine guns and mortars rang out.Not far behind them, the U.S. artillery was put into battle, with cannons ranging in caliber from 75 mm to 105 mm. The shells roared and flew over the heads of the marines, as if a series of elevated trams were flying in mid-air.

In addition to the Japanese attack, the island was also hit by a storm.According to the description of an officer in the division headquarters, the wind speed was comparable to a typhoon, the thunder was louder than any naval gun he had ever heard, and lightning flashed around them.The storm was matched by torrential downpours that seemed like the sky was falling, and the first day's downpours paled in comparison. In the lightning and wind and rain, the surrounding big trees fell one after another, some of which were as high as 40 meters.The Marines peeked out, feeling like Guadalcanal was in a living hell again.

None of the Japanese counterattacks were successful.Compared with Guadalcanal, their tactics have not improved. They still focus on attacking a narrow front, and they look fierce. However, for the "Guadalcanal Butcher", they only actively provide some opportunities to be "slaughtered" That's all.After dawn, the patrol team found more than 200 corpses of Japanese soldiers on the border of the defense line. Matsuda couldn't break through the U.S. perimeter defenses, so he tried his best to defend the airport.In order to remove the blocking fortifications along the road, the First Marine Regiment invested more tanks and chariots.The United States is not equipped with heavy tanks like the Soviet Union. The main backbone of its tanks is the M4 "Sherman" medium tank. The "Sherman" tank is known as the most reliable tank in World War II. It needs the most basic maintenance to meet the needs of field operations, and the attendance rate is beyond the reach of German tanks.It can be said that it is perfect to put the "Sherman" tank in the tropical rainforest with extremely harsh natural conditions.

The main weapon of the "Sherman" tank is a 75mm gun, and it has no scruples to bombard with artillery while rampaging.Against the giant field tanks, the Japanese soldiers were completely helpless.Although the Japanese army also had a few cannons, they were not anti-tank guns, and at least half of them were outdated old-fashioned cannons. One of them fired a few shots indiscriminately without a sense of direction. When the "Sherman" tank approached, the gunners He ran away in a panic.There are also those who dare to compete with the "Sherman", but the "Sherman" tank is only scratched a little, and the end of the Japanese gunner is directly crushed into meatloaf by the 33-ton tank.

With the support of the "Sherman" tank, other non-field vehicles also became bolder.The U.S. Army has a kind of amphibious truck, commonly known as "duck". Unlike the crawler landing vehicle, the "duck" has wheels instead of tracks, and propellers are used to propel it in water.In addition, its carrying capacity is larger than that of the landing vehicle, and it can travel faster on the shore, and it will not damage the road like the landing vehicle, so it is more and more popular with the Marine Corps. The "Duck" itself is not equipped with weapons, but the drivers have a way. They are equipped with rocket launchers on the truck, and use rockets to shoot at Japanese strongholds and fortifications.When the rocket was launched, it would make a hissing sound, which the marines had never seen before, and they all watched curiously.

There is no better way to fight than to just watch, and in one afternoon of combat the 1st Marine Regiment didn't even lose a single man. On December 29, the Fifth Marine Regiment, which was the division's reserve, came up for reinforcements, and the First Marine Division was approaching the edge of Gloucester Point Airport.That same night, news came from the No. 1 Regiment and No. 2 Battalion that they had a fierce battle called "Coffin Point" with the Japanese army in the dark.