As for the question of when to launch an attack on Iwo Jima, Ron believes that the sooner the better. High-speed updates //

"Fuel-air bombs don't work that well at all times. According to the experience of Europe, the effectiveness of a fortification can be greatly reduced as long as it is modified to a certain extent. Ron explained, "The lethality of this bomb to underground fortifications comes from two things, one is that the fuel gas can penetrate into the enemy's underground fortifications and explode, and the other is that the bomb can cause a large area of severe oxygen deprivation, which can cause the enemy to suffocate to death." The Germans adopted the airtight xìng of the perfect underground fortifications, and prepared the soldiers with oxygen cylinders that could support more than ten minutes of breathing, which greatly reduced the effectiveness of such bombs. ”

At this point, Ron raised his head, looked at General Smith, and continued: "The Germans and Rì himself are allies, and it is said that Rì himself should easily learn about these experiences of the Germans from the Germans. But in the Philippines, we find no signs of similar measures being taken by the rì himself, as if they never received the relevant pre-jǐng. From this, we can conclude that Rì himself did not receive the relevant information, or did not pay attention to it after receiving it. However, it is hard to imagine that after the First World War in the Philippines, the Rì Army would still be able to ignore the changes brought about by this weapon. Whether they studied it themselves or asked the Germans, they should be able to quickly understand the mechanism of such a bomb and come up with corresponding measures. However, the implementation of these measures will take time. The faster we attack, the less time is left for the enemy to modify, and the more beneficial it will be for us. ”

Both General Smith and General Spruance agreed with Ron's judgment, but such a big battle could not be launched. However, the fleet completed its mission in the Philippines a month ahead of schedule, which gave the fleet the opportunity to prepare for the attack on Iwo Jima ahead of schedule. As for Smith's Marine Corps, according to Smith, the Marine Corps was always able to complete operational readiness in the shortest possible time.

"We Marines can go to war at any time." General Smith put it this way.

……

America's superior industrial capabilities were evident in the preparations for this campaign. In just over a week, with the exception of some seriously damaged warships that had to return to the United States for overhaul, the other warships quickly repaired the damage they had suffered in the Philippines and replenished fuel and ammunition. At the same time, many more newly built warships were added to the fleet. Spruance estimated that in a day or two at most, the fleet would be able to strike again.

At the same time, a convoy of transport ships for carrying marines and various combat materials was also prepared. Various war materiel has already begun to be loaded onto ships. At the same time, more than a dozen U.S. submarines have also begun to move towards the route from Iwo Jima to the mainland, and they will monitor this route, attack the Rì Ben transport ships passing through here, and cut off the supply of the Rì army.

The Pacific War is a war of aircraft carriers, but also a war of submarines, in this war, those small guys with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons played a role not much less than aircraft carriers, in the war, they not only sank a large number of transports, so that the shipping of the army was almost paralyzed, but also sank a large number of warships, including such targets as fleet aircraft carriers and heavy cruisers. In terms of the total tonnage of the enemy ships sunk, their results were no less than those aircraft carriers. Now, under the condition that the combined fleet has been largely destroyed, such a submarine fleet is enough to cut off the sea transportation line from Rìben to Iwo Jima.

……

Just as Ron had predicted, the Rì forces of Iwo Jima were undergoing a massive overhaul of their fortifications. In the past, on the issue of how to prevent the landing of US troops, it was very normal for the Navy and the Army to have a dispute. The Navy believes that the enemy should be held back from the beachhead. Because, once the U.S. troops landed on Iwo Jima, then the Rì Army would never be able to drive the U.S. troops into the sea. In this way, the reinforcements of the American army came in a steady stream, and the loss of the island became inevitable. Therefore, if you want to hold Iwo Jima, you can't let even one of the big scalp boots of an American GI set foot on the beach of Iwo Jima.

However, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, who was stationed on Iwo Jima, disagreed with the Navy's view, believing that in the face of overwhelming American firepower, sending troops to the beach to stop the Americans was simply sending them to death. The geology on the beach makes it impossible to build strong enough fortifications there, and Iwo Jima's beaches are made up of soft volcanic ash. There, not to mention the construction of fortifications capable of withstanding the 406-mm guns of battleships weighing up to a ton of shells, even the construction of fortifications capable of withstanding the 500-pound bombs of the US Navy bombers was almost impossible, the construction of fortifications capable of withstanding heavy cruisers with 203-mm guns, or the 152-mm guns of light cruisers was extremely difficult, and even lowering the requirements for anti-artillery to the 127-mm guns of anti-destroyers was quite difficult. To stop the enemy there would mean exposing oneself directly to the fire of the powerful American fleet. Although Kuribayashi Tadamichi did not know the size of the fleet that would appear near Iwo Jima in the future, he was sure that the firepower of such a fleet would be extremely formidable.

In the end, relying on the higher ranks and the fact that most of the people on the island were in the army, Kuribayashi's opinion naturally prevailed. So he decided to take Oriba Mountain as the core position, with the two airfields as the main defense zone, and on the east and west beaches suitable for landing, it was to set up a defensive position with the Yongbei hair point and the solid support point as the backbone. The artillery positions were also mostly built semi-underground, which, despite the sacrifice of the shè sector, greatly improved the ability to survive heavy bombardment. Both artillery and communication networks are well protected. He and his subordinates almost hollowed out the entire Folding Bowl Mountain, and in some places there were as many as nine layers of tunnels! In view of the operational characteristics of the US troops, Kuribayashi planted a large number of mines deep in the beach, and machine guns, mortars, and anti-tank guns formed a dense network of firepower. However, due to lack of time, in the original history, when the American army launched an attack, his fortification construction was only 70% completed, and there was no time to connect Oribasan and Wonsan with tunnels, which gave the American army the opportunity to cut off communication between them.

And in this time and space, because the U.S. military started earlier, Kuribayashi Tadamichi was able to complete even fewer fortifications. In addition, after the news of the First World War in the Philippines came, Kuribayashi Tadamichi immediately used all his strength on how to improve the fortifications to counter the fuel air bombs of the American army. Compared to history, in this time and space, Iwo Jima's fortification complex is about 60% complete. And Kuribayashi Tadamichi soon got the bad news that the convoy he was hoping for was in trouble.

……

The Taiwa Maru was originally an ordinary bulk carrier with a standard displacement of 4,300 tons, but after the outbreak of war, this ship, along with all the sailors on board, was requisitioned by the army, and this time, this ship and several other ships, escorted by two destroyers, set off for Iwo Jima.

The current sea conditions are not good, the wind and waves are very strong, and the waves are two and a half to three meters high on the ocean east of Rìmoto. If it were peacetime, the crew would have scolded the damn sea conditions and the owners who let them go to sea in such conditions. Now, however, all the crew members were happy about this, because such a wave would also affect the attack of the submarine, and it would affect the navigation of the torpedoes fired by the enemy submarine no less.

"If the wave reaches 4 meters, then we are less in danger of being attacked by submarines." In the captain's room, the first mate Matsushima said to the captain plank.

"It's good now." The plank chief replied, "I can still hold on to such sea conditions, and if the waves are a little stronger, an old fellow like me will be a little unbearable." Moreover, the goods we loaded were not safe enough, and it was really unsafe to shake badly. ”

"Yes!" Matsushima also nodded, he knew that the ship was loaded with a lot of hydrogen peroxide, and this thing was corrosive, and it wouldn't be fun if it shook a little too much and leaked. In addition, there is ammunition on board, if these things are mixed with hydrogen peroxide, this ...... It's always worrying.

"It's better to say that the smaller boats, even the Chinese boats, they don't have all these messy things on them, just a little cement or something. Although their boat is smaller and rocks harder, at least the things on it are worry-free. Matsushima said.

The Chinese ship Matsushima was referring to was a small wooden boat of less than 800 tons requisitioned from Hong Kong after the army occupied Hong Kong. Originally, such ships were used at most for coastal operations, but as more and more transport ships continue to be sunk, even such ships will be used for such quasi-ocean-going transport missions.

At this time, it was almost twilight, and a blood-red sun gradually sank behind the fleet, and the fleet was soon shrouded in darkness.

After dark, the wind and waves became much smaller. This further raises the possibility of the flotilla being attacked by US submarines. In order to guard against the possible presence of American submarines, all ships are strictly subject to light control. But the plank chief knew that it didn't really work—there was moonlight tonight, which made the sky appear bright. The position of the submarine is much lower than that of the transport ship. So from the perspective of the submarine, the bright sky becomes an excellent backdrop, which can set off the dark silhouette of those transport ships very clearly.

In order to prevent collisions, the transport ship still has a very dim red light that can only be seen at a very close distance. The carefully planked cāo steerer follows the fleet in a zigzag "Z" shape on the pitch-black sea. This makes it more difficult to attack possible enemy submarines. However, if this trick had really worked, Rì would not have been sunk by American submarines so many transport ships.

"Therefore, the safety of the transport fleet mainly depends on the escort warships." Woodboard sighed as he turned his vision to the right, knowing where a destroyer called Yukikaze was guarding their safety.