The process of disembarking heavy equipment was relatively smooth...... This was mainly due to the fact that the Chinese army had occupied and controlled the Japanese fortifications along the coastline and effectively routed the Japanese defenses, which made it impossible for the Japanese to pose a threat to the landing of heavy equipment.

Of course, this is not to say that the landing of heavy equipment is completely free of danger.

In fact, it was very difficult to clear the coastline of the Japanese army at night, especially since these Japanese soldiers were still hiding in the bunkers under the ground, as some American GIs said, if the Japanese did not shoot, we would not be able to detect them even if they sat on top of their heads and smoked.

It should be said that this is an advantage of the Japanese, if these Japanese troops are smart enough...... In other words, if Fukatanakasa was not busy fleeing to the Nagasawa defense line to fight a defensive battle, this advantage could easily be used as a favorable condition for a counterattack.

For example, Fukada Nakasa could order these unexposed Japanese soldiers to hide until dawn the next day, or even when a counteroffensive was organized, and then suddenly rush out to play a role.

It is conceivable that if such a counteroffensive is launched, not to mention driving the Sino-US coalition forces into the sea, it can at least cause considerable casualties to the Sino-US coalition forces.

The Japanese may think that this style of play does not work during the day, but this is actually a mistake...... During the day, although the US military has the fire cover of warships and fighter planes, once the two armies are strangled together, then these firepower will be completely useless.

However, Fukada Nakasa did nothing, but left these Japanese soldiers to fend for themselves.

In the Japanese army, there is a general atmosphere of "bushido spirit", and the pressure of this atmosphere is accompanied by no orders from superiors, and if there is no forbearance in front of the enemy, it will be considered a cowardly act, so when the allied forces are close to their fortifications, the vast majority of Japanese troops will launch a resolute counterattack.

On the contrary, this brings great convenience to the countrymen's search for the remnants of the enemy...... It doesn't matter if the enemy can't find the hiding place of the Japanese army in the dark, just a fire reconnaissance, such as a mortar or Bazooka bazooka into the darkness, so the guns of the Japanese counterattack will soon be heard in the dark, and the soldiers only need to follow the guns and the flames coming out of the muzzle to find out the Japanese soldiers.

It can also be seen from this that although the quality of the Japanese Navy Special Marine Corps is good, the actual combat experience is not very good.

The feeling of their fellow villagers is that their cunning is much worse than that of the Japanese troops in Burma, who sometimes hide in the jungle for weeks or even months, which causes great trouble for the Chinese army, while the Japanese Navy Special Marine Corps does not even have the patience to hide all night.

But that's not surprising, as they haven't really been in a few decent battles...... Only a few Japanese marines fought a few small battles along the coast of China, such as the Battle of Songhu, which was originally stationed in Shanghai, and then also participated in some battles in coastal cities such as Hankou, Qingdao, and Xiamen, and basically never fought after that.

What's worse is that their combat experience is still based on facing the Chinese army with poor combat effectiveness and insufficient supplies, but now they are facing the US military or the Chinese army with American-style equipment that is not at all of the same level, so it is reasonable that they do not know how to fight and make mistakes repeatedly.

The only thing the Japanese did right was to lurk two squads of Japanese troops in a stranded transport ship off the coast.

This is a Japanese transport ship, called the "Saida Maru", which had been stranded more than 100 meters off the coastline before the start of the Battle of Tarawa, and it is believed that it had run aground while transporting supplies to Bito Island, and had been abandoned by the Japanese army.

When the U.S. forces bombed Bito Island, several shells hit the "Saida Maru", which made it look like a ruin, so that almost no one paid attention to it.

Unexpectedly, a Japanese captain named Takeji Shiraishi swam across the wrecked ship with two squads of Japanese soldiers and lurked...... In fact, at first, Takeji Shiraishi didn't have too many ideas, he only thought of the "Saida Maru" because he found that the Chinese army was attacking from behind the defense line, so he retreated in the direction of the sea in desperation.

Two dissatisfied squads, a total of eighty-nine people, initially hid on the ship just to escape, and many of them wanted to rush out and fight the enemy...... Anyway, there is no escape, there is an ocean everywhere, and sooner or later you will die.

But Takeji Shiraishi dissuaded them.

"Our troops will definitely counterattack!" Takeji Shiraishi ordered in a low voice: "We must calm down, and when our troops counterattack, we will rush out again, and then not only will we play a greater role, but also have hope of survival!" ”

Shiraishi's words were convincing, so the Japanese troops all quieted down and hid in the transport.

They even watched from the gap in the transport ship as the U.S. ships Higgins transported shiploads of supplies and even tanks to Beato Island...... By this time the water had risen high enough that the Higgins could easily carry heavy equipment up to Beato Island.

But the U.S. forces still had no way to bring in troops to replace the exhausted 2nd Marine Regiment on Beato Island, because Halsey's staff had calculated that the U.S. Navy did not have enough Higgins ships to do these things, and there were many uncertain dangers.

For example, when new troops are sent to take over the defense, will they be taken advantage of by the enemy? Another example is whether the space occupied by Bito Island is enough for two regiments to take over? whether it will cause chaos in the dark, etc.

So after much consideration, Halsey decided to let the 2nd Marine Regiment continue to fight on Beato Island, and Higgins shipped the equipment and supplies needed by the 2nd Marine Regiment, and then brought back the wounded and corpses.

Even so, there was a bit of trouble: because there were too many sick and wounded, and the Marines were lining the beach irregularly, and it was dark at this time, and they did not dare to turn on the lights for fear of Japanese artillery or cold guns, so the beach was blocked...... Higgins's equipment on the ship could not be unloaded, especially the tanks, because it was completely difficult to move an inch for fear of running over the wounded, and the wounded and sick could not get up.

In the end, it was Colonel Shoop who sent a battalion of troops to dispatch, and it was only before dawn that the task was completed before dawn, that is, before the tide receded.

What Colonel Shopu didn't know was that all of their work was carried out under the guns of the Japanese, and in the broken ship "Saida Maru" less than 200 meters away, nearly 100 Japanese soldiers were staring at them viciously, and the muzzles of the black holes would shoot bullets at any time to kill these unsuspecting American troops.

(To be continued.) )