mtl008 Chapter 772 Smooth Landing Operation
Chapter 772 Smooth Landing Operation
After the United States' army captured the Kerama Islands, the next target was undoubtedly Okinawa Island. The United States' army had already begun artillery preparations for Okinawa Island on March 26, 1945.
At four o'clock in the morning on March 26, 1945, the warships of the 1st Squadron of the 51st Task Force of the Allied Pacific Theater began to bombard Okinawa Island. After dawn, the carrier-based aircraft of the 58th Task Force of the Allied Pacific Theater and the escort carrier-based aircraft of the 1st Squadron of the 52nd Task Force of the Allied Pacific Theater, as well as the Army Air Force that took off from bases in the Marianas, the Philippines and even the Chinese mainland, also began a continuous and fierce bombing of the Japanese troops on Okinawa Island.
Because the United States Army had a large number of aircraft participating in the bombing, the combat missions of each aircraft formation were different. Some aircraft were responsible for suppressive bombing of Japanese airfields, some were responsible for bombing Japanese fortifications, some were responsible for calibrating the navy's naval gun fire, some were responsible for air alert missions, and some were responsible for anti-submarine patrols.
In order to effectively organize and coordinate so many combat aircraft, the U.S. military also set up a special air support control team led by Colonel Parker, which is responsible for the unified command and coordination of all participating aircraft.
On March 29, 1945, because the minesweepers of the United States Navy had cleared the mines laid by the Japanese army in the waterways of Okinawa Island, the battleships and cruisers of the United States Navy were able to sail to a very close distance from Okinawa Island and carry out precise bombardment on Japanese fortifications on Okinawa Island.
By March 30, 1945, the United States Navy's firepower preparation had been carried out for five full days. However, the reaction of the Japanese troops on Okinawa Island was extremely surprising, because the Japanese troops on Okinawa Island did not launch any counterattack against the United States army.
The American army knew very well that there were a large number of Japanese troops on Okinawa Island, but now the Japanese troops on Okinawa Island seemed to be non-existent, which made the American army feel very strange.
The Japanese garrison forces responsible for defending Okinawa Island consisted of two divisions and a mixed brigade under the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army, with a total of more than 50,000 troops, commanded by Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima, commander of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army.
In the combat plan formulated by Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima, commander of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army, the defense focus of the 32nd Army of the Japanese Army was placed in the southern part of Okinawa Island. With Shuri as the core, two lines of defense were built, namely Makigang and Shuri. A third line of defense was built in the Yaedake and Yozadake areas at the northwest end.
Each line of defense of the Japanese 32nd Army on Okinawa Island was built on the hilly areas of Okinawa Island, thus forming a multi-level solid defensive position.
In addition, the Second Fleet of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet, led by Vice Admiral Seiichi Ito, commander of the Second Fleet, consisting of a battleship, a cruiser, eight destroyers, as well as submarine forces and air force units stationed in Kyushu, Japan and Taiwan, China, were responsible for supporting and covering the landing operations against the American army.
At the same time, the Japanese Navy also deployed a torpedo boat squadron and more than 600 kamikaze suicide attack boats on Okinawa Island and its neighboring islands, preparing to launch an attack on the American Navy ships covering the landing operation.
The United States was also well aware of the importance of the Okinawa landing operation, and appointed Admiral RA Spruance, commander of the Allied Fifth Fleet in the Pacific Theater, as the commander-in-chief, and concentrated more than 1,500 naval ships and 2,500 aircraft to carry out sea and air combat missions.
Lieutenant General SB Buckner Jr., commander of the 10th Army of the United States Army, served as the commander of the landing combat force. The 10th Army of the United States Army was composed of the 3rd Army of the United States Army and the 24th Army of the United States Army, with eight divisions and 240,000 people under its jurisdiction.
In addition, the aircraft carrier mobile force composed of the United States and England, as well as the 20th and 21st strategic bombing forces of the United States, were responsible for covering and supporting the landing operations of the United States Tenth Army.
On March 18, 1945, the United States Navy began air strikes on Kyushu, Shikoku and Taiwan in Japan. At the same time, the assault echelon of the United States Army's Tenth Army also began sea voyages.
On April 1, 1945, the weather over Okinawa Island was clear, and the landing operation of the United States army on Okinawa Island finally began. The United States landing fleet from San Francisco, Seattle, Hawaii, New Caledonia, Espiritu Santo, Guadalcanal, Saipan and Leyte arrived in the waters of Okinawa Island at dawn and began to transfer.
As the guns on the warships of the United States Navy support formation began to bombard, the landing troops of the United States Tenth Army also began the beach landing operation.
The 2nd Marine Division of the United States' 10th Army first landed on the southeast coast of Okinawa Island and began to implement feints. The combat mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to attract the attention of the Japanese defensive forces on Okinawa Island, disperse the forces of the Japanese defensive forces, and create favorable conditions for the actual landing.
At 8 o'clock on April 1, 1945, the main landing attack force of the United States Tenth Army began to descend from the landing ship along the rope net on the side to the landing craft. The landing craft then formed five attack waves and rushed towards the shore of Okinawa Island in a neat formation.
The 1st Marine Division, the 6th Marine Division, the 7th Army Division and the 96th Army Division of the United States' Tenth Army began to land on the west coast of Okinawa Island, about nine kilometers from north to south. At 8:28, the United States' planes ended their last bombing and strafing, and the navy's naval guns also stopped firing. At this time, the first wave of landing craft of the United States' Tenth Army was only seventy meters away from the beach. The coordination between sea and air was perfect.
At 8:32, the first wave of landing troops of the United States Tenth Army successfully rushed onto the beach of Okinawa Island. By nine o'clock, the sunlight in the sky dispelled the light morning mist, and from the air it could be clearly seen that on the sea outside Okinawa Island, the tracked landing vehicles and landing craft of the United States Tenth Army's landing troops were lined up in neat formations, wave after wave, advancing towards the coast of Okinawa Island.
The entire landing operation process of the United States' Tenth Army's landing troops was unusually smooth. The Japanese 32nd Army, which was responsible for defending Okinawa Island, did not put up any resistance to the United States' army's landing operations at all. This made the United States' landing attack troops somewhat puzzled and at a loss.