Dozens of "Sherman" tanks drove up the coral reef belt of Kwajalein Island to the sound of rumbling motors...... Due to the low tide, large swaths of the reef were exposed to the sun, and there were many barriers made of palm wood by the Japanese army between the reefs. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

But these obstacles are clearly long outdated...... These Japanese obstacles, like those off the coast of Tarawa, were used to block the possible appearance of wooden landing craft by the American army.

It stands to reason that after the Battle of Tarawa, the Japanese should have known about the situation of the American landing craft and strengthened their obstacles...... Because the U.S. troops at this time, even the landing craft were steel Higgins ships, and the amphibious landing vehicles also appeared in the Battle of Tarawa, and it turned out that these obstacles of the Japanese army were useless against the landing vehicles.

However, the Japanese did not improve or strengthen these obstacles.

The reason for this is that the Japanese army has never paid attention to defense, and the Japanese army has always emphasized that the best defense is to attack, so the construction of such a strong fortification on Bito Island in the Tarawa Atoll like Keiji Shibasaki can only be regarded as an exception among the Japanese army.

Secondly and more importantly, Koga Mineichi did not focus on the fortifications of the islands. As the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet and as the admiral of the Japanese Navy, Koga Mineichi's strategic thinking was still different from that of the Army. So he never emphasized the fortifications of the islands in his operations in the Marshall Islands, because he knew ...... No matter how strong the fortifications are, they will be breached one day, and if you want to win in battle, you must defend actively rather than passively.

Therefore, Koga would adopt Michiyuki Yamada's suggestion in the Marshall Islands and use fighter planes to launch Plan "Z" on the Marshall Islands.

Objectively speaking, Koga Fengichi's strategy is still correct, and Koga Fengichi's "Z" plan is indeed to cause heavy losses to the US military and once fall into a predicament. But there is a saying that there are gains and losses, and it is precisely because Koga Feng has set his eyes on the "Z" plan to actively expand and build more airports that the fortifications of Kwajalein Island have not been strengthened.

As a result, landing vehicles and tanks easily crushed these obstacles under the tracks.

At this time, Wu Yong couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, because he knew that the battle had been fought so far, and the outcome had basically been decided.

On the other hand, Captain Fukuoka, who had already walked out of the tunnel and was holding a pair of binoculars in the trenches to observe, had to admit the reality that the enemy had driven the "Reaper" tanks to the island, because they had already appeared in the aperture of his telescope, and some of them had even adjusted their muzzles to fire in the direction of the Japanese troops.

Captain Fukuoka sighed, put down the telescope in his hand, and said to himself, "Now, I can only watch Asano-kun!" ”

But having said that, Captain Fukuoka did not have much hope in his heart, because he estimated that the enemy had at least dozens of tanks, and such a number of tanks was not something they could resist.

Asano Shaosa, who was on the front line, also thought the same way, especially after Asano Shaosa found out that the unit in front of him was not an American but a Chinese......

In the Pacific theater, it is no secret to the Japanese army that the Chinese are more capable of fighting.

Because these Chinese are from Burma, they have defeated the ace troops of the Japanese army again and again when they were in Burma, and needless to say in the Pacific theater, the Japanese army has the shadow of the Chinese in almost every defeat.

So when he saw that the opponent was Chinese, Asano knew that there was no hope for this battle.

But he still shouted to the soldiers behind him who were holding bags of explosives wrapped in waterproof paper: "Everyone, the last hour has come!" Our Goals...... It's those tanks, and only by blowing up those tanks will we be able to hold Kwajalein! For the sake of His Majesty the Emperor and for the sake of the Empire of Japan, you will bravely sacrifice your lives! ”

With that, Asano took the lead and rushed towards the tank group with the explosives bag.

What is surprising is that Asano's tactical movements are still very skillful, he led a group of subordinates to use the cover of reefs and low-lying ground to advance, sometimes crawling forward and sometimes trotting all the way, in the sound of gunfire and artillery all the way to the tank group, although all the way to the subordinates fell in the rain of bullets, but Asano staff officers have been approaching until only 20 meters away from the tank group.

Then he signaled his subordinates to disperse and hide and prepare, now they only need to wait for the enemy's tanks to come up, although Asano knows that he can't stop the footsteps of the Chinese army's tank group, but at least he can inflict a little loss on them, if the morale of the troops is beaten out because of this, one after another like them rush up to blow up the tanks, then this battle may still have a chance.

But Asano still underestimated the Chinese army...... You must know that the Chinese army has encountered this kind of "human bomb" in Myanmar more than once, so they know what to do.

Just as Asano and the others were about to pull the explosives bag and rush out, a bunch of grenades rained from the sky, and then with a "boom" sound, Asano and the others disappeared into the smoke and tracks.

In fact, it is still possible for Asano to blow up the landing vehicle, and it can only rely on luck to blow up the "Sherman", because each "Sherman" is protected by two or three landing vehicles, and the twin 12.7mm machine guns on the landing vehicle are also carrying 25 fighters behind them, and more than half of these 25 fighters have jumped off the landing vehicle at this time and covered each other with tanks and landing vehicles.

The weakness of the landing vehicle is that it lacks both firepower and defense...... The firepower was mainly twin machine guns, and the defense was more than a dozen millimeters if additional armor was added, otherwise it was only six millimeters.

This kind of defense simply could not stop the Japanese artillery or even heavy machine guns.

(Note: The armor of the Japanese Type 95 light tank is also 6 to 12 mm, which means that the armor of the landing vehicle is similar to that of the Japanese light tank, or even weaker, because the defense vehicle is open, and the infantry is easily killed by shrapnel afterwards)

Therefore, although the landing vehicle shone in the Battle of Tarawa, the "shine" mentioned here only refers to its ability to normally deliver supplies and troops to the target island when the Higgins ship is blocked, regardless of the grounding problem, and even provide some cover and firepower for the landing force.

However, this did not mean that the landing vehicle was sufficient on the battlefield, and it ultimately failed in the Battle of Tarawa because the firepower and defense were not enough to withstand the enemy's attack.

Later, it was said that if amphibious tanks had been used in the Battle of Tarawa, then the US military would not have suffered such heavy casualties at all.

(To be continued.) )