mtl008 Chapter 782: End of the Battle of Okinawa
Chapter 782: End of the Battle of Okinawa
The United States army also concentrated intensive firepower from the sea, land and air to launch the most violent bombardment on an area of several square kilometers in the southern part of Okinawa Island where the Japanese 32nd Army's defense forces were stationed. Although the Japanese 32nd Army now has only more than 30,000 officers and soldiers left, more than half of its artillery has been lost, and there is very little ammunition left, but the defense forces of the Japanese 32nd Army still fought to the death in the face of the attacks of the United States' offensive forces.
On June 3, 1945, the U.S. Navy was eager to escape from the waters of Okinawa Island, where it was being attacked passively. So on the one hand, the U.S. Navy set up radar stations on various islands in the Okinawa Islands to form an early warning radar network. On the other hand, it transferred some Marine Corps Aviation fighter units from the Philippines to the U.S. military airport on Okinawa Island. Then, it ordered the U.S. 38th Task Force to begin moving northward to attack the Japanese air base in Kyushu, Japan.
On June 4, 1945, two regiments of officers and soldiers from the United States' 6th Marine Division landed on the Oroku Peninsula southwest of Naha and began to attack the flanks of the Japanese 32nd Army's defensive forces in a roundabout way.
On June 5, 1945, a typhoon began to sweep across the waters of Kyushu, Japan, causing serious losses to the United States Navy's Third Fleet. Thirty-two ships were damaged and 142 aircraft were destroyed in the typhoon.
On June 8, 1945, after the typhoon dissipated, the 38th Task Force of the United States Navy headed north again and began to attack the Japanese air base in Kyushu again. Then the 38th Task Force of the United States Navy returned to Leyte Gulf.
When the 38th Task Force of the United States Navy arrived at Leyte Gulf on June 13, 1945, the fleet had been fighting in the Pacific for a full 92 days. The 38th Task Force of the United States Navy planned to take a short rest in Leyte Gulf to make adequate preparations for the final attack on the Japanese mainland in July.
On June 17, 1945, in order to strengthen its combat power on Okinawa Island, the United States deployed the reserve 2nd Marine Division. Among them, a regiment of officers and soldiers of the 2nd Marine Division landed near Cape Kiyabu at the southern end of Okinawa Island, and coordinated with the United States offensive forces that were attacking from the front and flanks to encircle and annihilate the Japanese 32nd Army.
At this time, the situation of the remaining defensive forces of the Japanese 32nd Army was already very passive. It was only a matter of time before they were completely wiped out by the American offensive forces. In order to avoid unnecessary casualties among the officers and soldiers of the American offensive forces, Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the United States Tenth Army, used plain text telegrams and radio to persuade the remaining defensive forces of the Japanese 32nd Army to surrender.
However, Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima, commander of the 32nd Japanese Army, was not moved at all by the coded telegrams and radio broadcasts urging the commander of the 10th American Army, Lieutenant General Buckner, and ordered the remaining defensive forces of the 32nd Japanese Army to fire with guns as the final response of Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the 10th American Army.
On June 18, 1945, Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the United States Tenth Army, went to the front line to supervise the battle. However, when Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the United States Tenth Army, was observing the attack operations of his troops on a hill near the headquarters of the 8th Marine Regiment, a shell from the Japanese 32nd Army's defensive force hit the hill near the headquarters of the 8th Marine Regiment.
As a result, the shrapnel and sharp pieces of gravel that flew in all directions after the explosion of the shell hit the head of Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the Tenth Army of the United States, and caused Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the Tenth Army of the United States, to die on the spot.
You know, the artillery fire of the remaining defensive forces of the 32nd Japanese Army was already extremely weak. Before Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the 10th Army of the United States, arrived at the front line where the 8th Marine Regiment was located that day, there had been no artillery fire from the 32nd Japanese Army for several hours.
What is even more incredible is that the first artillery shell fired by the remaining defensive forces of the Japanese 32nd Army actually killed the Lieutenant General Army Commander. This also made Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the United States Tenth Army, the highest-ranking and highest-ranking general killed in the entire Pacific War.
Due to the accidental death of Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the United States Tenth Army, the commander of the United States Tenth Army had to be replaced by Major General Geiger, commander of the United States Marine Corps Third Army.
On June 19, 1945, Lieutenant General Ushijima Mitsuru, commander of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army, sent his final farewell telegram to Tokyo, Japan from the cave tunnel numbered 89 on Okinawa Island. Then, Lieutenant General Ushijima Mitsuru, commander of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army, instructed his subordinates to launch a final desperate attack on the attacking forces of the United States.
On June 22, 1945, the United States offensive force broke through the last line of defense of the Japanese 32nd Army on Okinawa Island, attacked Arasaki at the southernmost tip of Okinawa Island, and divided the remaining troops of the Japanese 32nd Army into three parts.
The remaining officers and soldiers of the 32nd Japanese Army knew that their final moment was coming. In the tunnel, the medical soldiers of the 32nd Japanese Army injected large doses of morphine to the wounded, allowing them to die peacefully. Geiger optimistically announced that the organized resistance of the Japanese army on the island had been eliminated.
At four o'clock in the morning on June 23, 1945, Lieutenant General Ushijima Mitsuru, commander of the 32nd Japanese Army, knew that the attacking forces of the United States were about to occupy the Mabunjin Tunnel where he was. So, Lieutenant General Ushijima Mitsuru took off his military uniform, put on a kimono, and toasted with the staff officers around him one by one. After drinking the last farewell wine, Lieutenant General Ushijima Mitsuru committed suicide by disembowelment.
Subsequently, Lieutenant General Naga Isamu, Chief of Staff of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army, followed the commander of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Ushijima Mitsuru, in committing suicide by taking poison. Some officers in the headquarters of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army also committed suicide collectively. At this point, the organized resistance of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army on Okinawa Island was quelled.
However, the resistance of the remaining officers and soldiers of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army on Okinawa Island continued, and the work of clearing out the remaining Japanese troops continued until the end of June 1945.
Coincidentally, Lieutenant General Ushijima Mitsuru, commander of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army, and Lieutenant General Naga Isamu, chief of staff of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army, both participated in the "Nanjing Massacre" in China. Major General Ushijima Mitsuru, who was then the commander of the 36th Brigade of the 6th Division of the Japanese Army, and Lieutenant Colonel Naga Isamu, the chief of the intelligence section of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army Headquarters of the Japanese Army, were responsible for drafting the written order and issuing it to the subordinate divisions under the instructions of Prince Asaka Naruhiko, commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army and temporary commander-in-chief of the Nanjing siege, "Kill all the prisoners!"
On July 2, Admiral Nimitz, commander of the Allied Pacific Theater, officially announced the victory of the Battle of Okinawa.