Bai Shujie immersed himself in developing himself and preparing for the last moment, and in a blink of an eye, on January 15, 1945, the Iwo Jima side was already loaded and the knife was unsheathed.

Although Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi was an aggressor, it is undeniable that he was an outstanding professional soldier. He served as the commander of the Emperor's Guard and had a strong sense of tactics.

Lieutenant General Kuribayashi Tadamichi realized that it would be difficult to achieve a beachhead operation in the face of the absolute naval and air superiority of the US forces, and advocated relying on the favorable terrain of the mountains of Oriba and Motosan to carry out defense in depth and relying on strong fortifications.

However, the naval garrison still insisted on annihilating the enemy at the beachhead, and in the end, Vice Admiral Tadamichi Awabayashi made a compromise plan, focusing on defense in depth and supplemented by defense on the beachhead. The naval garrison has built permanent launch points and strong support points along the beach for forward defense; The main force of the army was concentrated in the area of Oribasan and Wonsan, and the defense in depth was carried out.

Kuribayashi Tadamichi was determined to build Iwo Jima into a strong fortress, with Mt. Oriba as the core position and two airfields as the main defensive areas. On the east and west beaches, which are suitable for landing, they are defensive positions with permanent launch points and solid support points as the backbone.

Most of the Japanese fortifications were mainly underground tunnel positions, and concrete fortifications were organically combined with natural caverns, and there were communication trenches connected to each other.

Most of the artillery positions were also built semi-underground, which, despite the sacrifice of the firing range, greatly improved the ability to survive heavy bombardment.

The artillery and communication networks were well protected, and the mountain was almost hollowed out, with as many as nine layers of tunnels built!

In view of the operational characteristics of the US military, Kuribayashi planted a large number of mines deep on the beach, and machine guns, mortars, and anti-tank guns formed a dense network of firepower.

All weapons are configured and fired at precisely calculated targets to conceal oneself and maximize the damage to enemy forces.

The only drawback is that the tunnel fortifications that were originally planned to be built in the Wonsan area are 28 kilometers long, but due to lack of time, only 70% of the tunnels to be built in the Wonsan area were completed, about 18 kilometers, when the US military launched an attack, and there was no tunnel connection between Oribasan and Wonsan.

It changed the desperate tactics of the Japanese army in the early stage of the war, stipulating tactics such as close-range shooting, mobile defense by dividing troops, and ambushing, and strictly prohibiting suicide charges, calling on every soldier to kill at least ten American soldiers.

These painstaking efforts of Lieutenant General Tadamichi Awabayashi naturally created a huge trap for the US military, making the Battle of Iwo Jima the most brutal and arduous landing battle in the Pacific.

From December 10, 1944, the U.S. Air Forces stationed on Saipan began to carry out air raids on the Ogasawara Islands, carrying out a total of 48 bombing bombs and dropping about 4,000 tons of bombs, but with little success.

During this period, the Japanese troops on Iwo Jima dispatched two planes to attack the US B-29 Air Base on Saipan, destroying four B-29 bombers and damaging 12 planes.

By 2 January 1945, the Japanese had destroyed a total of 17 B-29 bombers, threatening the safety of the U.S. B-29 Saipan Air Base.

In order to suppress the arrogance of Japanese planes on Iwo Jima, the US military organized a coordinated naval and air assault on January 13, 1945, and flew 192 sorties.

Among them, 62 sorties were carried out by B-29 heavy bombers, 102 sorties by B-24 medium bombers, 3 heavy cruisers, and 7 destroyers, dropping a total of 814 tons of bombs and firing 1,500 rounds of 203mm shells and 5,334 rounds of 127mm shells.

Such a fierce bombardment, but did not completely destroy the Iwo Jima airfield, only played a short role in suppressing Zuò, making all Americans, including Nimitz, feel helpless.

By the beginning of February 1945, the US military had dispatched 1,269 sorties of carrier-based aircraft, 1,479 sorties of shore-based aviation, and 64 warships, dropping a total of more than 6,800 tons of bombs and firing more than 20,000 rounds of large-caliber naval artillery shells, including 203 rounds of 406mm shells, 6,472 rounds of 203mm shells, and 15,251 rounds of 127mm shells.

Because the Japanese fortifications were extremely strong, the bombing effect of such a fierce and intensive fire bombardment by the US troops was very limited, and the efforts were still in vain.

The two airfields on the island were not completely destroyed, and the Japanese army was always able to repair them quickly after the air raids, and the Japanese troops initially appreciated the firepower of the US troops, and devoted all their efforts to building fortifications with tunnels as the backbone, which created even greater trouble for the US troops in the later landing operations.

On January 28, 1945, when Major General Curtis Lemay, commander of the 21st Air Force of the Army Air Force, which was responsible for organizing the strategic bombing of the Japanese mainland, came to consult with the air force on how to support the Iwo Jima landing operation, Spruance asked him how much value Iwo Jima was to the war.

Li Mei immediately affirmed that without Iwo Jima, it would be impossible to effectively carry out strategic bombing of the Japanese mainland. Spruance was relieved and determined to capture Iwo Jima at any cost, thus setting the tone for the battle.

On February 7, 1945, Spruance led an aircraft carrier formation consisting of 12 aircraft carriers, 8 battleships, 15 cruisers, and 77 destroyers from Ulisi, passing east of the Mariana Islands and Ogasawara Islands, passing east of the Mariana Islands and Ogasawara Islands, and heading straight for the Japanese mainland.

He was particularly worried about the threat of Japanese kamikazes, so there were only 30 bombers and torpedo planes on each carrier, and the rest were all fighters.

In order to minimize the possibility of being discovered by the Japanese troops, a number of submarines were dispatched to conduct reconnaissance and search in front of the formation channel, while the shore-based air force on Saipan used B-24 and B-29 to patrol and guard the sea area through which the formation passed.

As a result of the above-mentioned strict precautions and the cover of bad weather, the US aircraft carrier group reached the sea area 125 nautical miles southeast of Tokyo at dawn on the 16th, which was only 60 nautical miles from the nearest coast of the Japanese mainland, and was still not discovered by the Japanese army.

On February 13, 1945, the U.S. aircraft carrier squadron flew more than 1,000 sorties of carrier-based aircraft, divided into several attack waves, and attacked various airfields in Tokyo Bay.

However, God often makes mistakes, and he does not discriminate against them.

The bad weather provided cover for Spruance and brought his fleet closer to the Japanese mainland, which can be said to be a huge benefit.

Also because of the bad weather, the sky is overcast, thunder and lightning, and it has become the best defense circle for Japanese devils.

As a result, the carrier-based aircraft took off, but they couldn't see the land at all, and naturally they didn't know where their bombs were dropped.

Practical experience has shown that before taking Iwo Jima, it is simply not feasible to try to take a shortcut and directly attack the Japanese mainland to solve the problem.

There is no doubt that the undead will not solve the problem.

Spruance could only turn around and attack the hedgehog-like Iwo Jima.

In the early morning of February 16, 1945, Brandy's fire support group arrived in the waters off Iwo Jima and began to implement advance fire preparations. All battleships, cruisers were divided into lots, and the identified targets were destroyed one by one.

To ensure the accuracy of the shelling, several battleships even conducted direct aimed fire at the target at a distance of only 3000 meters from the shore.

However, due to the bad weather and the smoke of gunfire on the island, only 17 of the 750 targets scheduled were destroyed, and the shelling effect was very unsatisfactory.

However, Lieutenant General Ashin Tadamichi is not a fool, and the only thing the American devils can rely on is the fierce artillery fire and the wealth of the devils.

He ordered the sporadic isolated firing points that had been prepared long ago to counterattack with only some small and medium-caliber artillery, luring the American devils to rain the shells over.

Even with the use of only a dozen small-caliber guns under 100mm, the Japanese devils also damaged 1 battleship and sank 1 cruiser.

As for the large-caliber artillery, Lieutenant General Ayabayashi Tadamichi strictly ordered it to be concealed and not allowed to expose the slightest trace. Because of this, in the course of the artillery bombardment of the American devils for a day and a night, not a single shell was fired from the large-caliber artillery, so that all the shells of the American devils were thrown into the open field.

On February 17, 1945, Nimitz and others believed that the enemy's fire point on Iwo Jima had been destroyed, so they sent an underwater demolition team to probe the channel of the beach reef under the cover of 12 landing gunboats, and clear the underwater mines and obstacles to open the landing channel.

Lieutenant General Awabayashi Tadamichi made a huge mistake.

He thought that the landing of American troops was imminent, so he ordered the large-caliber artillery to open fire, sinking all 12 landing gunboats, thus exposing his last hole card.

However, this shocked the US military greatly, and the Japanese troops on the island still had such fierce firepower, and the original landing time could only be further postponed, and these newly exposed targets were immediately bombed.

During the three days from 16 to 18 July, in addition to naval artillery firepower, the carrier-based aircraft escorting the aircraft carrier also made all-out sorties.

During these three days, Iwo Jima was almost completely overwhelmed by the smoke of American fire, and the Japanese had to retreat to the tunnels and could not move.

According to statistics, the US military consumed more than 24,000 tons of artillery shells and bombs before landing, and an average of 1,200 tons of bombs per square kilometer on Iwo Jima were withheld.

Spruance thought, "Damn the Japanese monkeys, this time it's definitely over." ”

As everyone knows, the tunnel fortifications designed by Lieutenant General Su Lin Zhongdao are divided into nine layers. The Americans blew up the first layer of camouflage on the ground and barely received the slightest effect.

At 6 a.m. on February 19, 1945, the landing group led by Turner arrived in the waters off Iwo Jima, and the aircraft carrier group commanded by Spruance and Mitchell also arrived in the northwest waters of Iwo Jima.

At 6:40 a.m., 7 US battleships, 4 heavy cruisers, and 13 destroyers began direct fire preparations.

Because the weather was clear and the target was clearly visible, it seemed to be working well.

The 5th Marine Division, which had just been replenished with new recruits, landed at three beachheads at the southern end, with the objective of crossing the narrowest part of the island and isolating or capturing Mount Oriba in the south of the island.

The 4th Marine Division, which had just been replenished with new troops, landed on four beachheads to the north, with the goal of capturing the Japanese airfield No. 1.

At 8:30 a.m., the first wave of 68 tracked landing vehicles left the starting point and stormed the beachhead.

At 8:59 a.m., the ship's artillery fire began to extend its firing.

At nine o'clock, the troops began to land on time, and the resistance of the Japanese was very weak, only sporadic fire from mortars and small arms, and it seemed that everything was very smooth.

At least in the eyes of Nimitz and Spruance and others, the damned Japanese monkeys were finally blown up, and when the time came for American warriors to decide on a World War I, a great, decisive victory was in sight.

It's a pity that people who like to dream in everything, no matter how unwilling they are, have a time to wake up from their dreams. Then he was beaten by the cruel reality fat, and he could only find his teeth all over the ground.

Nimitz and Spruance and the others, the time has actually come to be beaten, but they don't know it like idiots.

After all, what happens next, let's see how it will be broken down next time.