After more than an hour, the American troops finally withdrew under the cover of artillery fire. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Of the more than 1,000 U.S. troops in charge of the attack, only 700 were able to return, and most of them were wounded... According to the final statistics, the casualty rate of this battle was as high as 70 percent, which was higher than the 50 percent casualty rate of the Battle of Tarawa. What made the U.S. troops even more angry was that they had to leave behind some of the wounded when they retreated.

It goes without saying what the result was for these wounded, they were either killed by the Japanese or captured by the Japanese. The former was better, at least without much suffering, and if captured by the Japanese, they would be tortured before dying, as the Americans knew in previous wars, when they overcame the Japanese underground fortifications, they found that the Japanese had tortured them to the point of ignoring the human form, and even so, the Japanese ended their lives at the last moment.

"So ......," Zhang Chi asked.

Zhang Chi asked what he meant, whether he wanted to let the Chinese troops go, and the Chinese army was used to taking over this hot potato.

"Brigadier General Johnson thinks the 3rd Marine Division still has a chance!" Halsey replied, "He's going to attack again tomorrow morning!" ”

Since Halsey said so, Zhang Chi didn't answer. If the Yankees can solve it, Zhang Chi will also be happy to be idle, after all, fighting a war will kill people, so Zhang Chi is unwilling to be in the limelight.

What Halsey didn't tell Zhang Chi was that Johnson attributed the failure of the attack to a mistake in the plan, that is, as he said, not from the direction of the lagoon, but from the direction of the sea.

Halsey was a little dissatisfied: "I must warn you, Brigadier General! The Chinese troops and the 7th Infantry Division also attacked from the direction of the lagoon, and their attack went very smoothly! ”

"What you say is true, General!" Johnson replied: "But the situation in Kwajalein Atoll is different from the other two atolls, look at the topography of Kwajalein Atoll......"

As he spoke, Johnson pointed to the map and said, "This Kwajalein Island, its half-moon shape is concave in the direction of the lagoon, so that it naturally forms an encirclement in the direction of the lagoon. Moreover, Kwajalein is garrisoned by elite Japanese troops, and we cannot equate it with the other two atolls! ”

Although Halsey did not agree with Johnson's words, because he was already skeptical at this time...... The attack on Kwajalein Atoll was unfavorable, most likely because the Japanese were prepared for a missed attack.

But that's not verified, at least for now, so Halsey can't use it to blame Johnson.

Halsey was keen to leave the task of attacking Kwajalein to the Chinese army, but at the same time he knew it...... Even if political factors are put aside, we should not rely too much on the Chinese military militarily, because this may affect the morale of the US military. The U.S. soldiers would think that if there was a brave and invincible Chinese army in front of them to fight in the vanguard, it didn't matter whether the U.S. military could fight or not.

Therefore, Halsey believes that the US military should also be exercised.

So Halsey asked Johnson, "So Brigadier General, how do you think this battle should be fought?" ”

"Obviously!" "We should attack from the front, because the front is a half-moon protrusion, and attacking from the front means that we form a natural encirclement of the Japanese, but because the front is longer, we need more amphibious landing vehicles......"

With that, Johnson turned his gaze to Halsey.

Halsey nodded: "I can accommodate your request, in fact...... In order to ensure victory in the battle, we have done the work of requisitioning amphibious landing vehicles before this, and a hundred amphibious landing vehicles will arrive tonight! ”

"Great!" Johnson replied, "So...... We have almost two hundred landing vehicles, tank landing ships and infantry landing gunboats that will also come in handy, plus Higgins ships that can still be used before the tide goes out...... I am sure that we will easily destroy the defenses of the Japanese! ”

Johnson's offensive plan can be said to be nothing new, this is just the traditional tactic of the US military, using artillery shells and equipment to pile up.

If there is any merit of this plan, it is that, as Johnson said, attacking from the front can form an encirclement of the Japanese army, and it can give full play to the firepower advantage of the American army...... And the U.S. military also put in tank landing ships and infantry landing gunboats at this time.

In particular, the tank landing ship LST, which can load 20 "Sherman" tanks in one go, is equipped with a ballast water tank system inside to adjust the draft through injection and drainage to meet the different draft needs of long-distance voyage and landing. The draft at the front was 1.2 meters and the rear draft was 3 meters at the time of landfall...... The draft at the front is only 1.2 meters, and the draft of the Higgins boat is 0.91 meters.

Therefore, it is conceivable that these tank landing ships will be able to carry batches of "Sherman" tanks to land...... Of course, since the draught at the rear of the water needs to be about 3 meters, it is necessary to make landfall as much as possible before the tide is low.

But then again, even if the tide recedes and the tank landing ship runs aground...... You must know that the draft of its front is 1.2 meters, and the "Sherman" tank can wade in the water only by installing a drainage device.

So Halsey thought about it and thought that Johnson's plan might work.

After all, the "Sherman" tank can be regarded as a giant for the Japanese army, and at this time the 3rd Marine Division has three tank landing ships, and then the two assigned to the Chinese army and two of the 7th Infantry Division are transferred, so there are 7 tank landing ships in the Kwajalein direction.

This means that the U.S. military can transport more than 100 "Sherman" tanks to attack the Japanese at one time, so it is conceivable that no matter how strong the Japanese fortifications are, they will be ruthlessly crushed under the tracks by these tanks.

Halsey's idea is right, if this battle is like this, then the Japanese army will really not be able to resist the attack of the US army, after all, the "Sherman" tank is an invincible existence for the Japanese army, and the Japanese army has no effective equipment to destroy it, especially the 61st garrison of the Japanese army stationed in front of it is a rookie who has never fought a war, and they simply cannot rush to the tank to blow up the tank with explosives bags or magnetic anti-tank mines like those elite Japanese troops on the Burma battlefield.

But Halsey missed one point, that is, the Japanese air brigade had not been destroyed, and at this time they were preparing for attack in the Mili Atoll, and Kwajalein Atoll was an important base that the Japanese army must defend, so the Japanese would inevitably invest in the defense of Kwajalein Atoll.

(To be continued.) )