Chapter 42 secret weapon

Before the landing troops go ashore, it is essential to use artillery to approach and shoot at close range to suppress the defenders on the shore. However, in the Battle of Betio Island, the marines were the first to go ashore, and the artillery entered the beachhead later. and failed to function adequately. Afterwards, I concluded that it was not a matter of going ashore sooner or later, but that it was useless if I went ashore at that time. The reason is that the beachheads of coral islands are generally very narrow, and artillery shops cannot be placed.As a result, the U.S. military has formed a new tactical concept, that is, when landing on an island, it must first occupy another island within range, and let the artillery line up on the island, which can greatly help the main attack.

Kwajalein Atoll has two main island areas, the north is Roy-Namur Island, and there are two small islands next to it, so the Fourth Marine Division, as the landing force on the north, took the lead in seizing these two small islands. That is, it is used as an artillery position. The next day, February 1, the Fourth Marine Division launched a landing attack on Roy Island. Accepting the lesson of "Operation Recovery", the crawler landing vehicle is indispensable in the coral island operations, and it is the only effective tool for transporting troops through the reef. With it, it is unnecessary to consider the fluctuation of the tide. Tracked landing vehicle.

In addition, the Fourth Marine Division is also specially equipped with a command ship for commanding landing operations. The ship is equipped with a radar mast. The task is to improve communication between the shore and the sea.Correspondingly, the radio transceivers carried by the troops on the shore are all newly developed products with good waterproof performance. Despite such thorough and thoughtful preparations, there are still endless unexpected situations on the battlefield.For example, the command ship had a communication failure, and some landing vehicles set off too early, and they ran out of fuel midway and could not move, so they had to circle in rough seas.Another example is that the Fourth Marine Division is a newly established marine corps with no combat experience at all. Only a few of them have seen coral islands in the past, let alone boarded coral islands to fight.

When encountering such a situation that goes against the plan, the Japanese will immediately become at a loss as if the electricity has been cut off, and they will not think about anything other than rushing forward.The response of the Americans is to adapt quickly and actively seek new remedies and ways. The process of the US military landing on Roy Island can be said to be overwhelming.All the fortifications built by the Japanese army on the coast have been destroyed by various firepower, and the marines basically encountered no resistance when they went ashore. The Japanese did not expect that the US military would suddenly insert itself into the center of the Marshall Islands.Of the 8,500 defenders defending Kwajalein Atoll, most of them are rear personnel, and only 2,200 have received combat training.At the same time, they also lack anti-tank facilities and devices, and they have nothing to do when encountering American tanks and chariots rushing ahead.

In desperation, the officers could only slash the tank turret with their sabers, while the soldiers climbed onto the tank holding grenades, trying to die with the tank—of course this is impossible, if the "Sherman" tank skin It's so thin, it can't be mixed outside. If they can't do it during the day, they will attack at night.However, as soon as they came out of the cover, they were shot dead, almost without exception.The Japanese army believed that the Americans must have developed some secret weapon that could detect metal in the dark, so the officer ordered that soldiers must take off their helmets and bayonets when they attacked at night, and "group fight" when they saw Yankees.

However, the fate of not bringing metal is still the same, and he is still shot to death.In fact, the so-called "secret weapon" is nothing but concentrated and accurate US artillery fire. Of course, fighting the Americans was rarely particularly easy.Since they couldn't get out of the fortifications, the Japanese soldiers didn't come out at all. They were automatically divided into hundreds of individuals or combat groups, and they stayed inside the fortifications to fight on their own.They are used to obeying the orders of their superiors, and they lack the ability and imagination to adapt to changing situations, but they know to implement the simplest tactic, which is to stand still until they are killed.

Don't be afraid of a strong opponent, but be afraid of a rogue opponent.Individually, Japanese soldiers are not only not stupid, but also very cunning.Some people will hide in hidden fortifications or trenches, let the vanguard of the US army jump over it, and then shoot from behind, or directly fire at the follow-up US troops. If they can kill a few more American soldiers, they will I think it's a great deal. There is only one way for these guys who are neither willing to retreat nor surrender - blow them to pieces with dynamite! Although the Fourth Marine Division is a new unit, its backbone is all veterans who have experienced battles, and the whole division has undergone standardized training.Even though I have never eaten pork, I have seen pigs running, so I quickly got the feeling of playing on the battlefield, and its advancing speed is very fast.

Roy-Namur is a double-headed island. On the same day, the Fourth Marine Division occupied Roy Island.The next day, Namur Island, a key fortification, was also conquered.In the entire Pacific War, the Battle of Roy-Namur was the shortest and smoothest landing battle. While the Battle of Roy-Namur was going on, the 7th Infantry Division of the Army, which was the attacking force in the south, launched an attack on Kwajalein Island, another main island of Kwajalein Atoll.The landing procedure is similar, and before attacking the main island, some neighboring small islands are pre-occupied as artillery positions.

The landing was also unexpectedly smooth. Within 12 minutes, 1,200 officers and soldiers had disembarked. An officer said: "This is like a drill!" The Seventh Infantry Division was the main force in the Aleutian campaign. It had fought in the polar battlefield with extremely harsh natural conditions, and it had already been tempered hundreds of times. It was considered a particularly strong unit in the US Army.Polar operations are naturally different from tropical operations, so they received tropical combat training in Hawaii before the war. The 7th Bu Division is an old unit, and the 4th Marine Division is a new unit. In terms of size alone, the old unit is definitely larger than the new unit, but in actual combat, the efficiency of the 7th Bu Division is not as high as that of the 4th Marine Division.

The Marine Corps adopts an eclectic style of play, and the Fourth Marine Division with veterans as its backbone is no exception.On the battlefield, when encountering relatively isolated stubborn strongholds or firepower nets, as long as conditions permit, they will bravely intersperse, or outflank and shoot from behind the enemy, or leave the strongholds for follow-up troops to clear them. The Army is different. Although it is not the first time that the 7th Infantry Division has fought on the island, and its level is much higher than that of the 27th Infantry Division in "Operation Recovery", they still retain some combat habits of the US Army, that is, offensive When encountering a blockade by Japanese firepower, they will stop immediately and wait for the artillery to suppress the Japanese army before moving on.

In addition, the beachhead position on Kwajalein Island is quite special in structure. The infantry must land from one end of the long and narrow island and attack to the other end, which also delays the advance of the troops to a certain extent.Therefore, the Seventh Step Division spent much more time occupying Kwajalein Island than Roy-Namur Island. It was not until the evening of February 4 that they captured the last section of Kwajalein Island. By February 7, the U.S. military had successively captured more than 30 islands in the Kwajalein Atoll, and the "Operation Fusiliers" won the final victory. Both "Operation Fusiliers" and "Operation Recovery" were successful campaigns, and U.S. losses are clearly no longer worrying: the Fourth Marine Division lost 195 people and wiped out 3,472 Japanese; 4398 Japanese troops. The U.S. military commanders thus reached a consensus: "Operation Fusilier" was the most beautifully fought amphibious offensive so far, and it should become a model for future offensive warfare.