mtl008 Chapter 779 Forced to Change
Chapter 779 Forced to Change
The artillery bombardment and aerial bombardment by the American army had almost no significant effect on the defensive forces of the Japanese 32nd Army.
The attacking force of the 24th Army of the United States Army faced fierce resistance from the defensive forces of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army in the fortifications. After five days of fierce attack, the attacking force of the 24th Army of the United States Army had only made progress of ten meters in total. Now, for the officers and soldiers of the United States, everything on Okinawa Island was like a replay of the previous battle of Iwo Jima, except that this time the Japanese army had deployed more troops to defend and the United States army had to fight for more area.
There are two units in the United States Army responsible for landing on Okinawa Island. One is the 24th Army of the United States Army, and the other is the 3rd Army of the United States Marine Corps.
Because the tactics of the 24th Army's offensive force were too rigid and the attack speed was too slow, the commander of the U.S. Marine Corps, Lieutenant General Turner, publicly accused the commander of the U.S. Tenth Army, Lieutenant General Buckner, of having problems with his command. This caused a dispute between the U.S. Army and Navy.
On April 6, 1945, Admiral Vandegrift, Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, arrived in Guam and prepared to inspect the United States Marines fighting on Okinawa Island.
However, Admiral Nimitz, commander of the Allied Pacific Theater, believed that the progress of the U.S. Army's offensive forces on Okinawa Island was too slow. In order to avoid unnecessary conflicts between the U.S. Army and Navy, he told Admiral Vandegrift, commander of the U.S. Marine Corps, that it was not appropriate to go to Okinawa Island for the time being.
Therefore, Admiral Nimitz, commander of the Allied Pacific Theater, suggested that Admiral Vandegrift, commander of the U.S. Marine Corps, first inspect the U.S. troops in Guam and Iwo Jima.
After Admiral Vandegrift, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, finished his inspection on Iwo Jima, Admiral Nimitz, Commander of the Pacific Theater of the Allied Forces, suddenly invited Admiral Vandegrift, Commander of the U.S. Marine Corps, to inspect the U.S. troops on Okinawa Island together.
Because the offensive forces of the 24th Army of the United States Army on the southern front have made no progress in the past few days, and the combat situation in southern Okinawa Island is not optimistic. Therefore, Admiral Nimitz, commander of the Allied Pacific Theater, feels it is necessary to intervene in the combat forces in southern Okinawa Island.
On April 47, , Admiral Nimitz, commander of the Allied Pacific Theater, and Admiral Vandegrift, commander of the U.S. Marine Corps, flew to Okinawa Island on a C- transport plane escorted by twelve fighter planes.
On April 23, Admiral Nimitz, commander of the Allied Pacific Theater, convened a combat meeting to coordinate combat issues between the U.S. Army and Navy.
At the meeting, Admiral Nimitz, commander of the Allied Pacific Theater, believed that the conservative tactics of the offensive forces of the 24th Army of the United States Army had serious problems, and demanded that the 24th Army of the United States Army must change its tactics, speed up the advancement, and reduce the time that naval ships supporting the army's landing operations spend at sea to avoid being hit or sunk by more Japanese kamikaze suicide planes.
However, Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the United States Tenth Army, stated that this was a ground combat, implying that the battle on Okinawa Island was the Army's business and the Navy did not need to intervene.
Admiral Nimitz, the commander of the Allied Pacific Theater, immediately responded coldly: "Yes, this is a ground battle, but the United States Navy is now losing one and a half warships every day, so if the 24th Army of the Army cannot break through the defensive position of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army within five days, I will transfer other troops."
In order to speed up the progress of the Battle of Okinawa, Admiral Vandegrift, commander of the U.S. Marine Corps, suggested that the 1st Marine Division and the 6th Marine Division launch a landing on the relatively weak flank of the Japanese 32nd Army. In this way, they could attack the Japanese 32nd Army on two fronts together with the offensive forces of the U.S. Army's 24th Army attacking from the front.
However, Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the 10th U.S. Army, was unwilling to implement the operational proposal put forward by Admiral Vandegrift, commander of the U.S. Marine Corps. Finally, at the strong request of Admiral Nimitz, commander of the Allied Pacific Theater, Commander Buckner of the 10th U.S. Army was forced to agree to transfer the 1st and 6th Marine Divisions of the U.S. Marine Corps to the southern front.
However, Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the U.S. Tenth Army, did not adopt the combat plan of Admiral Vandegrift, commander of the U.S. Marine Corps, to land behind the flank of the Japanese 32nd Army's defense line. Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the U.S. Tenth Army, transferred the 1st Marine Division and the 6th Marine Division to the southern line to launch a counterattack against the Japanese 32nd Army and intensify the frontal offensive.
At this time, the offensive force of the 24th Army of the United States Army also attacked the main defense line of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army at a distance of about 4.5 kilometers. Here, the two sides were also in a stalemate, which also gave the commander of the Tenth Army of the United States, Lieutenant General Buckner, the opportunity to adjust the deployment.
Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the United States Tenth Army, transferred the 1st Marine Division and the 6th Marine Division in the north of Okinawa Island to the southern battlefield, and transferred the 27th Army Division on the southern front to the northern peninsula of Okinawa Island to take over the defense of these two Marine divisions.
At the same time, Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the United States Tenth Army, also ordered the 77th Army Division that captured Ie Island to replace the 96th Army Division and participate in the southern line operations on Okinawa Island. The 96th Army Division would rest for ten days and then replace the 7th Army Division for rest.
After completing the troop adjustment, Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the United States Tenth Army, launched an attack on the defensive positions of the Japanese 32nd Army with the strength of four divisions. This time, the United States' offensive force adopted a two-wing flanking tactic to carry out a roundabout attack on the main defense line of the Japanese 32nd Army's defensive forces, speeding up the United States army's combat progress on Okinawa Island.
On April 24, 1945, the offensive forces of the United States Army finally made progress. After overcoming the stubborn resistance of the defensive forces of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army, the offensive forces of the United States Army broke through the defense line of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army in Makgang.
On May 4, 1945, Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima, commander of the 32nd Japanese Army, saw that the American army was gradually encroaching on his enemy. In order to gain the initiative on the battlefield, Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima, commander of the 32nd Japanese Army, changed his long-standing defensive policy and launched a desperate general counterattack.