Chapter 94 two scorpions in a bottle

On October 7, the Third Battalion of the Fifth Regiment was ordered to launch an attack on a large river valley called "Horseshoe Valley".In this dry valley, the Japanese army deployed countless heavy artillery, which must be destroyed as much as possible. In this battle, infantry-vehicle coordination tactics were adopted, that is, six "Sherman" tanks cooperated with the third battalion. As soon as the "Sherman" advanced to the entrance of the cave, it fired fiercely with tank guns and machine guns. At the same time, the infantry also did everything possible to cover the tanks to prevent the Japanese death squads from rushing up with mines and breaking the tank tracks.

Although it failed to capture "Horseshoe Valley" in the end, the Marine Corps destroyed many caves with heavy artillery and killed many Japanese soldiers. It should be said that it was a relatively successful battle. It's a pity that there are too few examples of such battles. The overly rugged terrain around "Blood Nose Ridge" often makes tanks useless. Most of the time, infantry still have to use their own flesh and blood to pave the way. Letting soldiers learn to face reality has always been a feature of the US Marine Corps.Sledge knew this before he joined, when the enlisting sergeant asked him, "Do you have any scars or birthmarks or anything special?"

Sledge asked why he was asking such a question, and the sergeant told him, "It's so that we can recognize you on a beach in the Pacific Ocean when the Japanese blow up your badge!" Everyone who joined the Marine Corps was told to face the reality bravely, but they were completely unprepared for the extraordinary hardships on Peleliu Island, including those veterans who rushed from the battles of Guadalcanal and Gloucester. As the casualties continued to increase, a sense of despair began to permeate among the Marines. Everyone felt that the only way to get relief seemed to be to be killed or injured.

On October 12, K Company's sense of desperation was pushed to the extreme, and their company commander, Captain Haldane, nicknamed "Aircraft Gun", was killed in action.Like Colonel Hankins, Haldane was shot by the ubiquitous Japanese snipers. Haldane is the best Marine Corps commander that Sledge has ever known in his life. This captain and company commander has many excellent qualities in one, bravery, ability, integrity, majesty, frankness, and compassion. Because of this, he has been awarded He won the love of the officers and soldiers and was regarded as the spiritual pillar of the whole company.

Now, this pillar fell down with a "wow".After hearing the news, Sledge was extremely shocked. In an instant, he felt as if the world had completely collapsed. He sat on the helmet and sobbed softly. Everyone was cursing and rubbing their eyes, and this group of men who never shed tears received fatal blows in their hearts. At this time, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for revenge suddenly fell from the sky.The Japanese officers generally seldom go out of the cave, but unexpectedly gathered at the entrance of the cave on this day, and sat at the table under the tree to eat. The artillery spotters immediately reported the range to Sledge's mortar team.Five shells were fired quickly, and the first shell pierced through the canopy impartially. Unfortunately, it was a dud and did not explode. The Japanese officer took this opportunity to rush into the hole.

The next four shells also hit the target, and the canopy and the table were blown to pieces, but the Japanese officer had already hid in the hole. Golden opportunities just slipped through your fingers. Annoying and frustrating things like this happen every day-you want revenge, you want to end it as soon as possible, but the answer is impossible. On the same day, the U.S. military issued an official communiqué, stating that the offensive phase on Peleliu Island was completely over and that the entire campaign was drawing to a close.The marines who were still witnessing the death on the front lines could only sneer, and one said: "Commanders are crazy if they think the battle at Peleliu will end immediately."

Another muttered, "The division command post should come over here and tell these damn Japs that the offensive phase is over." Although the entire formation of the Fifth Marine Regiment is still on the front line, there are only three battalions left that can really be used for combat. On October 13, the third battalion of the fifth regiment was ordered to re-launch the offensive to strengthen the line of defense. Compared with the early days of the campaign, due to the lack of ammunition, the number of shots fired by the Japanese army has been greatly reduced, and only a few shells were fired each time, but the combat efficiency has not declined accordingly.As soon as they spotted the Marines moving to a particular location, they would fire concentrated fire from rifles, machine guns, mortars, and artillery so hard that it seemed like a storm was coming.

They are trapped beasts, and they no longer expect to get reinforcements from outside the island, or drive the US troops off the island. They just kill for the sake of killing, and there is no higher goal other than that. Sledge once saw the remains of three U.S. Marines on the side of the road. After they died in battle, they were too late to be transferred to the rear, and all of them were frantically tortured. and hysterical. These scenes made the living marines full of anger, and they all wished that these "squint-eyed beasts" (referring to Japanese soldiers) were punished immediately, but everyone was already unable to do what they wanted, and the offensive momentum of the entire third battalion looked more like a dilapidated steam engine Gasping for breath.Sledge later came to a conclusion: the key factor that caused the pressure of the battle was not how cruel and intense the battle process itself was, but the time of the battle. Obviously, the length of the Battle of Peleliu Island far exceeded that of land battles The limit of the team's endurance.

On the morning of October 14, the panting Third Battalion of the Fifth Regiment finally basically completed the task. It was like "drawing a small car up a steep step". They piled up sandbags on the expanded defensive position and pulled up concertina-style barbed wire . The entire Fifth Marine Regiment has so far suffered 1,378 casualties. Geiger decided to replace all the First Marine Division, including the Fifth Regiment, and replace it with the Army's "Wildcat Division." On October 15, the 2nd Battalion of the 321st Infantry Regiment entered the defense area of ​​the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Regiment in a single file, and exchanged defenses with them.When the defense was changed, Sledge's K company had 235 people, only 85 were not injured, and only 2 of the 7 officers remained, and the casualty rate reached 64%.

On Peleliu Island, the opponents were like two scorpions in a bottle, one was badly injured and the other was almost done. On November 24, after 70 days of confrontation, the Japanese army was finally exhausted, and even had no fresh water to drink.The Supreme Commander Nakagawa Prefecture sent a fatal telegram titled "Sakura" to the base camp: "Everything is over on Peleliu Island." Afterwards, he burned the military flag and confidential documents, and committed suicide by caesarean section. There are 60 wounded soldiers who cannot move in the cave. From the point of view of the Japanese, Nakagawa is definitely enough. During the process of guarding Peleliu Island, the base camp sent him 11 condolence certificates. Lieutenant General of the Army.

On November 25, 1944, the Japanese army finally stopped resisting. At least 10,900 Japanese soldiers died. In a large cave alone, the U.S. military found more than 1,000 dead bodies, and another 302 people were captured. The vast majority are laborers. In the history of American warfare, the Battle of Peleliu Island was an amphibious landing operation with the highest casualty rate.The most elite First Marine Division had a total of 6,526 casualties, and the 81st Infantry Division also suffered 3,278 casualties, for a total of 9,804 casualties, which is close to the number of Japanese casualties, which is rare in previous battles.The loss of materials and ammunition was even more astonishing. According to statistics, an average of 1,589 rounds of ammunition were needed to eliminate every Japanese army on the island. At the moment of leaving Peleliu Island, Sledge asked a veteran who had participated in World War I, what did he think of Peleliu Island? In the face of recruits' complaints, veterans usually dismiss them and say something like "If you think this is bad, you should try the old Marine Corps", but this veteran's answer is beyond Sledge's expectations : "Boy, it sucks! I've never seen a place like this. I'm ready to go back to America, I've had enough of this battle."