Chapter 80 show it again

In a fierce battle on July 28, Gao Pinbiao, the supreme commander of Guam, was killed. He came to Guam for inspection, and Lieutenant General Hideyoshi Obata, commander of the 31st Army who was stranded on the island due to the start of the battle, took over the command.He left two brigades to cover, and personally led the remaining main force to retreat to Santa Rosa Hill. Obata presents Geiger with a problem.Because of the lack of accurate information, he didn't know where the remaining main force of the Japanese army was, and because of limited troops and equipment, it was impossible for the US military to attack across the board.

Finally, through the analysis of the existing intelligence data and the characteristics of the Japanese army's operations, Geiger made a decision: to encircle the north. On July 31, the U.S. military set off again after a short rest.According to Geiger's unified deployment, the 3rd Marine Division was on the left, and the 77th Infantry Division was on the right, advancing side by side to the north. Going north, gradually from the highlands into dense jungle, the march was "as difficult as plowing", but the heavy naval guns could clear the way for infantry, which limited enemy resistance to "light to moderate".At 11 o'clock in the morning, the third marine division occupied Agra, the capital of Guam. When it was dark, all divisions entered the predetermined location.

From mountain warfare to jungle warfare, the differences in jungle warfare tactics of the U.S. Navy and Army began to be exposed.The Third Marine Division has experienced the Battle of Bougainville Island and knows how to fight with the enemy in the jungle. When encountering a solid Japanese stronghold, the support column that had been prepared for a long time immediately stepped forward to clear it. The 77th Infantry Division used the battalion as a single team and advanced along the existing roads and trails. There were large unsearched gaps between the battalions, which made it possible for a large number of Japanese troops to infiltrate, thus threatening the US military's strength. rear.

The situation looks serious, but in fact it's not big stocks that seep in, but some stragglers.This is because the communication system of the Japanese army along the way has long been destroyed, and many small combat units have completely lost contact with the high-level units. For this reason, various rumors are spreading in the jungle, saying that there is a new concentration point somewhere , causing these Japanese soldiers to walk from side to side, up and down, tossing hard. The result was of course nothing.So the Japanese soldiers had no choice but to wander aimlessly in the jungle either alone or together. When they saw the U.S. troops appearing, they sometimes fired a few shots or threw a few grenades. The same was strangled to death.

This kind of infiltration obviously cannot pose much threat to the U.S. military for the time being. The 77th Division saved many search steps, and the speed was accelerated. Instead, the 3rd Marine Division fell behind.In order to be able to keep pace with the 77th Division, the Third Marine Division also adopted the Army's approach, no longer conducting dragnet searches, and set up combat patrols instead. The U.S. military made rapid progress and continued to advance deep into the north.The combat plan for the Battle of Guam was based on amphibious operations. In terms of the distribution of transport vehicles, the principle was to go 4 to 5 miles inland. However, the two divisions had actually penetrated more than 15 miles, and the amphibious landing operations became purely continental. This caused difficulties in transportation, and therefore food and ammunition could not be transported to the front line in a timely and sufficient manner.

The biggest difficulty encountered by the US military is no longer the enemy's resistance, but terrain and supplies.Fortunately, the advancing troops were not too far from the coast, and the Navy helped with the supply problem. On August 6, the U.S. Army advanced to the foot of Santa Rosa Mountain.At this critical juncture, Xiaobata sent the tank out again. The Japanese army always thought that their tanks could stop the attack of the US army, but in fact these broken tanks were not able to defeat the "Sherman", and they were also very easy to be shot through by rockets. Sometimes they would ignore the face and safety of their "owners". Get nervous.

A company of the Third Marine Division was resting on the side of the road when they heard the sound of a tank, and then saw a Japanese tank slowly approaching.The turret cover of the tank was open, and a Japanese officer stood there like a cowboy, firing his pistol indiscriminately into the air. The marines really couldn't figure out what the officer was thinking: what's so cool about being a live target? The thinking mode of the Japanese has always been quite puzzling, and everyone didn't bother to think about it. They hurriedly looked for cover and prepared to give the "Western Cowboy" and his car a taste.At this time, the Japanese tank accidentally took off its tracks and crashed into a tree.

This super funny ending made the Japanese officers and tank soldiers who were still in high spirits just panicked. They jumped out of the turret in a hurry and fled to the jungle one after another. The so-called remaining main force of the Japanese army did not have much fighting ability. After the defeat of the tanks, Xiaobata had to be beaten. On August 8, all the Japanese positions around Mount Santa Rosa were breached, and the U.S. Army took control of the entire mountain. On August 10, Obata, who had retreated to the northernmost tip of Guam, sent a farewell telegram to Tokyo: "It is hopeless to hold Guam. Tomorrow I will fight the enemy for the last time."

On August 12, the U.S. army captured Obata's command post, and the Japanese commanders, including Obata, were either killed or committed suicide.Geiger announced that organized Japanese resistance on Guam had been wiped out. In the First World War in Guam, 18,560 Japanese soldiers were killed and 1,250 captured, while 1,919 U.S. troops were killed, 7,122 were injured, and 70 were missing.The same terrain, more enemies, but the total number of casualties of the US military was almost half that of the Battle of Saipan. This is considered to be the result of delaying the landing time, thus increasing the offensive force and firepower preparation.

As with Saipan and Tinian, the fighting on Guam was not over.Because of too much emphasis on the speed of advancement, many stragglers were left in the jungle, and about 9,000 Japanese troops were scattered and hidden. Most of these Japanese troops died of freezing and starvation in the jungle and caves because their supplies were cut off.Until the end of the war, a group of more than a hundred Japanese soldiers came out to surrender. The last Japanese soldier was discovered by hunters in 1972. At this time, this soldier had lived alone in the cave for 27 years. Guam is the homeland that the U.S. military is recovering from.The Americans also set up colonies. Guam was actually snatched from the Spaniards, but they also set up colonies.Although the United States did not take Guam seriously before the Pacific War, the residents on the island still maintained a high degree of loyalty to their motherland. In addition, during the Japanese occupation, all locals were willing to fight for the U.S. military. Act as a guide, or help them in battle.This is where Guam is very different from Saipan and Tinian.

The victory of the Battle of Guam ended, marking the perfect end of Nimitz's "surprise attack".Prior to this, Roosevelt had asked Nimitz why after attacking Truk, he bypassed Truk and directly attacked the Mariana Islands. Nimitz told a story. The protagonist of the story was an obese patient who asked to have his appendix removed, but when he woke up after the operation, he felt that his throat was sore and asked the doctor why. The doctor replied: "Let me tell you, your condition is very special, so many of my colleagues came to see me for the operation, and when the operation was completed, they applauded me. In order to perform again, I will take your almond The gland was cut off!" Nimitz said to Roosevelt: "Mr. President, the reason we want to fight Saipan and Tinian Island is to perform like that doctor again." Nimitz's witty comparison made Roosevelt laugh out loud. Now the Pacific Fleet's second "surgery performance" was really successful again. Japan's "Pacific Breakwater" was smashed to pieces by the surging US warships, marines, and army. Saipan, Tinian Island, and Guam successively became the Allies In Guam alone, the U.S. Naval Engineering Battalion has built five large airports, all of which indicate that the Pacific War has entered a new fast lane.