Lieutenant General Buckner's death was purely accidental. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Under pressure from Nimitz and the navy, he personally went to the front line to supervise the battle, and while observing the advance of the troops on a hill near the regimental headquarters of the front, a Japanese artillery shell flew in, and shrapnel and sharp stone fragments flew in all directions, hitting him in the head, killing him instantly.

You must know that under Ushijima's tactics, the Japanese artillery fire is extremely weak, especially during the day, and the Japanese army will fire a shell at any time, which will attract a wanton and indiscriminate bombardment by the US army. Before Buckner arrived on this hill that day, it had not been shelled for several hours, and it was incredible that this accidental shell actually killed the commander of the army group, and Buckner became the highest-ranking general killed in the entire Pacific War.

Buckner's sacrifice made the offensive worse, and the Japanese did not know where they got the news that Buckner had been killed, so they took the opportunity to make a big fuss and spread leaflets entitled "The American Tragedy," claiming that the special attack would sink all the American warships and orphan countless people.

Ushijima even took advantage of this to launch a counteroffensive, the Japanese first used the suicide attack method of the daredevils to blow up the American tanks, and then launched a charge against the American infantry who had lost the cover of the tanks, and the American troops were defeated and retreated under the impact of the Japanese army, with nearly 5,000 casualties, and the Japanese offensive was contained only by the heavy artillery and superior firepower of the follow-up troops in the sea and air.

However, although the Japanese offensive was stopped, the morale of the American soldiers was low, and many officers and men, including Navy Commander Turner, were considering whether they should withdraw their troops temporarily.

Turner's reasoning for considering withdrawal was: "Obviously, we have seriously underestimated the difficulty of this battle, and since Lady Luck is not on our side, I think we should be better prepared before launching an attack on Okinawa!" ”

Nimitz retorted: "What do you think...... What kind of preparation should we do to be adequate? When we are well prepared, isn't Japan even more prepared?! ”

This incident even shook Roosevelt in Washington, who looked at the telegram handed by Ernest and said with a frown: "Kim, we have finally lost the best opportunity to take Okinawa!" ”

At this time, Roosevelt already regretted a little, and he should have listened to the Chinese to take down such an important place as Okinawa.

"Mr. President!" Ernest replied, "I don't think it's just a matter of losing time!" ”

"Oh! So what else do you think? ”

"Tactics!" Ernest replied: "Judging by the intelligence collected by the various units involved in the battle, the Japanese have changed their tactics!" ”

As he spoke, Ernest took out a few documents from the folder and handed them to Roosevelt, and then continued: "In fact, although the timing of our attack on Okinawa is not the best, it is also appropriate, because the Japanese have only recently transferred the most elite Ninth Division and a large number of air forces from Okinawa to the battle of Leyte Gulf, and the forces used by the Japanese mainland to replenish Okinawa cannot be arrived on time because of the losses of the Japanese in the Battle of Leyte Gulf!" In other words, the Japanese forces in Okinawa were very weak when we launched the attack, which also proves that you made the right decision! ”

Ernest's last sentence was a quiet slap on Roosevelt's ass, and Roosevelt was obviously very useful...... Roosevelt was a lawyer, but he was president during the war, so his biggest concern was that his military decisions were not appropriate enough to affect his prestige or be attacked by his opponents.

"The reason why our progress has been so slow...... Ernest explained as he watched Roosevelt flip through the papers, "as you can see, this is intelligence from the commander of the 17th Regiment, Colonel Will, who met with stubborn resistance from the Japanese when they attacked Heights 391 the next day, Colonel Weir described...... The Japanese defended in a different way than they had encountered in any previous battle in the Pacific Theater, and after interrogating their captives, they learned that the Japanese used defensive tactics learned from the Chinese, which they called the 'anti-slope' tactic! ”

"'Anti-incline' tactics? What did the Chinese learn? You mean you learned it from the Chinese Expeditionary Force? ”

"No!" Ernest shook his head and said, "Not from the Chinese Expeditionary Force, but from the troops of the Chongqing government!" ”

Roosevelt's answer was a little surprising to Roosevelt, because in his mind, he only knew that the Chinese troops were simply vulnerable, and such a vulnerable force ...... What can the Japanese learn from them?

However, on the contrary, it is precisely because the Chinese troops have always been absolutely inferior in equipment compared to the Japanese that it is more necessary for the Japanese, who are also in absolute weakness in equipment relative to the Americans, to learn the tactics of the Chinese troops.

"In addition to this...... Ernest continued, "the Japanese tunneling tactics, and the guerrilla tactics on the island of Okinawa...... It is likely that they are all borrowed from the tactics of the Chinese. ”

Although Roosevelt did not understand military affairs, after reading the explanation in the document, he quickly understood the reason.

After thinking about it, Roosevelt propped his chin and said, "Kim, what do you mean by saying so much, are you telling me...... Do we need the Chinese to solve the Okinawa problem again? ”

Ernest nodded, "You know, Mr. President...... Lieutenant General Turner does not trust our newly formed 24th Army, he believes that most of the 24th Army is an army with little combat effectiveness, not a Marine Corps that is good at landing operations and island operations, which is also one of the reasons why our army and navy have a serious lack of trust and cannot coordinate! ”

Roosevelt nodded slightly, Ernest was right, the performance of the US Army in the Pacific Theater has always been unsatisfactory, as I said before, the Army is used to clearing obstacles before advancing, so that a few Japanese snipers can block its advance for a long time, and there are even many incidents of accidental injuries.

Because of such a performance before, Vice Admiral Turner took it for granted that the army had committed the same mistake on Okinawa this time, and coupled with the pressure of suicide attack planes on the navy, he complained about the army.

On the other hand, the U.S. Army did encounter practical difficulties on the island of Okinawa, and they were at a loss as to how to deal with the new tactics of the Japanese army.