Chapter 90 incredible mountains

On the morning of September 17, the US military expanded to the edge of the airport in an attempt to control the entire airport.At this time, Zhongchuan made a tactical arrangement that was very different from the past. The Japanese army abandoned some strongholds under the mountain and retreated to Mount Umburogo in an orderly manner. Or counterattack at the right time. After the large forces withdrew, it was mainly scattered snipers who caused trouble for the US military.While Company K was resting under a bush, a rifle bullet flew over Sledge's head. An officer immediately shouted: "He's very close, get down!"

Howard, a veteran of the Battle of Gloucester, volunteered: "I'll kill him!" The officer nodded in agreement: "Okay, go ahead, but be careful yourself." To become a qualified Marine, you must be a sharpshooter at the same time, otherwise you will be eliminated in the boot camp.Sledge himself has the sharpshooter medal, but there is still a difference between the real battlefield and the shooting range. In this regard, veterans are superior in terms of experience and courage. Howard grabbed his semi-automatic rifle and slid into the bushes like a seasoned hunter.After a while, everyone heard two gunshots. It was the sound of an M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle.

The Japanese sniper was killed by Howard. War requires not only calm, but also a certain degree of ruthlessness.A supplementary recruit once asked the veteran whether he would feel unbearable when he hit a Japanese soldier. The veteran replied flatly: "No! Either they die or we die!" In the morning, the U.S. military completely controlled the airport, and the First Marine Regiment took the lead in launching continuous attacks on the ridge of Umburogo Mountain, which the U.S. military called "Blood Nose Ridge". According to Inoue's defense-in-depth plan, the Japanese army deployed only a small number of troops on the beach and the airport in order to delay the landing of the US military. Its main line of defense was located in the hinterland of the island, which is north of the airport. One section is "Blood Nose Ridge".

Umburogo Mountain is lush with vegetation, coupled with conscious camouflage, the fortification structure inside cannot be seen from the outside, so that before the war, the U.S. military intelligence department mistakenly believed that "Blood Nose Ridge" was an area that was not easy to defend.In fact, there are more than 500 natural or artificial caves in this area. There are many kinds of caves. The smallest cave can only accommodate one person, and the largest cave is more than 150 meters deep.In addition to artificially excavated caves, the Japanese have also improved natural caves, some of which are relatively simple, while others are very complicated, which can almost be described as supernatural workmanship: telephones, radios, lighting, and ventilation equipment are all available. A cave has as many as 9 floors, and it is even unclear how many exits there are, throwing away the concept of the three caves of the cunning rabbit; Flamethrowers are useless.

Compared with Peleliu, the defenses of Saipan and Guam are nothing more than pale in comparison.The fact that no expense was spared in the transformation was actually due to the wrong strategic judgment of the Japanese army base camp.Before the Battle of Mariana, they had always regarded the waters of New Guinea as the decisive battle location. Therefore, in terms of supplies, the Palau Islands were listed as a priority, and all personnel, weapons, and construction materials were shipped to Peleliu Island. The Japanese soldiers drilled in the cave maintained good shooting discipline and were able to use all the weapons in their hands flexibly. They would only shoot when they expected that they would cause the US military to suffer the greatest casualties. Once the opportunity passed, they would stop shooting immediately. so as not to expose the target.

Even if the U.S. military finds out where these firepower points are, because Coral Ridge is relatively hard, it will be difficult to completely destroy them unless naval guns or aircraft bombs hit directly.When marines approach the fire point and want to use flamethrowers and explosives, they are often blocked by other fire points—the whole mountain is connected, attack a cave, and a dozen caves will open fire on you! You can't get close, and you can't get close.It is almost impossible to dig a temporary protective single-man trench on the coral rock, which means that you either don't go to "Blood-Nose Ridge", and after you do, your life is out of your control.Any small advance made by the Marine Regiment on the ridge almost always had to pay a high price in casualties.

On September 18, starting from the airport, the Fifth Marine Regiment also began to attack the Umburogo Mountains. On their left was the First Marine Regiment, which launched an attack on "Blood Nose Ridge". The shelling from "Blood Nose Ridge" slowed down the advance of the Fifth Regiment, "the guns fired from there are like hell." At noon, the Fifth Regiment had to stop attacking, and then was ordered to go under the cover of dense bushes, Move on to other targets. The firepower felt by the flanks is so fierce, the difficulty of attacking "Blood Nose Ridge" can be imagined.When Company K left, the news from the 1st Marine Regiment made everyone horrified and indignant: the commander of the 1st Marine Regiment could not even see the shadow of the enemy, and actually asked the soldiers to mount bayonets and carry out a frontal charge .

Isn't this imitating the Japanese "Long Live Assault"?A soldier commented: "It makes no sense and serves no purpose. This is massacre!" Another veteran added, "I guess some trooper who's trying to make a name for himself wants a medal and those poor kids die for it. The officer gets the medal and comes back to America and he's a hero. But God, A man who sends soldiers to slaughter should never be a hero." What would happen if five groups were to replace one group?No one knows, but it is everyone's common idea and desire to avoid this incredible mountain, or to be captured by a group first.

The terrain to the north of the airport is like a lobster claw, the Umburogo Mountain in the west is the big claw of "lobster claw", and the east is the small claw of "lobster claw", including two peninsulas. Attacking the "Little Shrimp Claws" should not be a big problem, but if the Japanese army from the "Little Shrimp Claws" jumped into the "Big Shrimp Claws" and joined the defense of "Blood Nose Ridge", the problem would be serious.The fifth regiment withdrew from Umburogo Mountain to clean up the Japanese troops on the "Little Shrimp Claws".

Compared with "Big Shrimp Claws", the situation of "Little Shrimp Claws" was relatively calm. After only a few days, Wu Tuan completed the task.At this time, they had to face up to the fact that they had been unwilling to face: not only did a regiment fail to capture "Blood-Nose Ridge", but it also collapsed.