Chapter 118: The Battle of Berry Island (Part II)

In the afternoon, the U.S. naval artillery bombardment stopped, and the U.S. Marine Corps' 1st Division's attempt to break through to the surrounding heights also failed, and the Japanese built a large number of hidden firing points on the high ground that were difficult to observe, and built a large number of tunnels. The angry soldiers of the 1st Marine Division of the US Army had no choice but to set up guns in the trenches and shoot indiscriminately at the surrounding high ground, and the artillery of the 1st Marine Division of the US Army, which had already landed, also set up a non-target bombardment of the first shell. The Japanese saw that the powerful naval guns of the American army were extinguished, and they felt that the opportunity had come, so the infantry came out of the tunnel with a cruel smile, and the artillery also shook the cannon from the concealed and ingenious fortifications, as for the Japanese tanks, they had already been borrowed. Having already entered the sortie position, the Japanese army was gearing up and just waiting for the order. With the order of Nakamura Prefecture Male Zuo, the Japanese artillery fired at the same time, due to the crowded American position, the Japanese artillery bombardment gave the American army a great shock, the sound of the cannon sounded the Japanese army's 16 Type 95 light tanks from behind the high ground rushed up, and then the tiger rushed down from the high ground like a tiger, the Japanese tank rushed into the American position at the highest speed, the guns and artillery were fired in unison, and the American military position rampage, the soldiers of the 1st Marine Division of the American Army did not expect that the Japanese army on the small Peleliu Island actually had tanks hiding in the trenches to avoid, The Japanese Type 95 light tank roared past and plunged into the rear beach of the American army, and soon the Japanese Type 95 light tank. rushed to the beach, the U.S. troops on the beach saw the Japanese Type 95 light tanks rushing over, there was chaos, they fled, the war materials piled up on the beach were discarded, and the U.S. artillery erected in the U.S. Army didn't have time to turn the artillery ** to attack the Japanese Type 95 light tanks from the side, the U.S. troops on the beachhead also had chaos, the U.S. artillery all dropped their artillery and retreated, and the Japanese infantry rushing from the frontal heights had also torn apart the front line of the U.S. Army, seeing that the U.S. Army was about to encounter a catastrophe. Eight American M4A2 tanks suddenly appeared on the beach, and the Japanese Type 95 light tank fired at the M4A2, while the Type 95 light tank. The shells hit the M4A2 was ineffective at all, and the American troops on the beach who were originally panicked and scattered saw their tanks and stabilized, after a fierce tank fire, the Japanese 16 Type 95 light tanks were all destroyed, and the US Army only had 1 M4A2 was broken by the Japanese Type 95 light tank, and the US Army's M4A2 tank destroyed the Japanese combat vehicles that went deep into the rear of the US Army, and quickly moved forward to provide fire support for the US troops at the front, and the US troops on the beach also stabilized their spirits and moved forward to support the front. And the artillery returned to the artillery position, firing shells to support the resistance of the front, the infantry of the Japanese counterattack saw that the American army gradually stabilized, the resistance of the American army became more and more, and the firepower became more and more fierce, and it was very difficult to continue to break through, and immediately asked Nakamura Prefecture to ask for retreat, Nakamura Prefecture Male Osa immediately ordered to stop the counterattack when he saw that it was wrong, and the well-trained Japanese troops quickly withdrew under the cover of artillery, the casualties were not large, the Japanese counterattack failed, according to past experience, the American Army was able to open up the situation soon, Therefore, the 1st Marine Division of the US Army breathed a sigh of relief, but the experience in Perriliu was not effective, and in fact, the US military had to fight fiercely on Peleliu Island for more than five months before it could grasp the situation on the island.

After the failure of the Japanese counterattack, the 1st Marine Division of the US Marine Corps, which stabilized its position, began to attack the depth of Peleliu Island, but the US Army found that the Japanese troops on this island were really powerful, cold gunners were everywhere, and the impact of the US Army was not at all, and the Navy's warships made up the shells to fully cooperate with the impact efficiency, and the 1st Marine Division was unexpectedly in 2 days! Only advanced 200 yards, the U.S. military changed its strategy, no longer attacking the frontal heights to attacking the flank heights, and soon played a role, the 1st Marine Division of the U.S. Army gradually made some progress, on September 18, 1944, the U.S. Army hit the airfield on the island, but the Japanese resistance became more and more fierce, and it was difficult for the U.S. Army to take a step forward, and the U.S. Army arrived at the airport and immediately stationed the aircraft, but the U.S. military did not fully control the airport, only completely controlled the runway of a few hundred meters, and the U.S. planes took off and landed by the Japanese army. When the US military plane took off, it began to strafe with machine guns, and as soon as it left the runway, it threw solidification, which was unheard of before, and it was also a unique scene in the Pacific theater.

The U.S. Marine Corps Division suffered 4,000 casualties in the first week of fighting, but the Japanese ammunition was insufficient, so the 1st Marine Division was still able to hold out, and by September 20, the U.S. Marine Division was still confronting the Japanese at the airport, and the U.S. Army felt that there was nothing to do. At 10:30 p.m. on the same day, 250 people from the 14th Division's 15th Infantry Wing's 3rd Brigade 1rd Squadron set off from the main island on 6 boats of the 1st Maritime Mobile Brigade Transport Squadron's 1st Squadron, and at 5 a.m. on the 23rd, they miraculously crossed the US blockade and landed on Peleliu Island, suffering only 14 casualties. At 8:30 p.m. on September 23, the main force of the 3rd Brigade of the 15th Infantry Wing of the 14th Division and 500 porters, a total of 1,200 people, carried a large number of supplies to Peleliu Island, but they were discovered by the U.S. Army on the way, and all the supplies carried by the Japanese army were destroyed, and only a few hundred infantry carried a small amount of ammunition to join the Japanese army on Peleliu Island. Since then, due to the intensification of patrols by the U.S. military, the Japanese army on the main island of Palau can no longer provide any support to Peleliu, but the U.S. military has still made no progress on Peleliu Island for a long time.

Due to the continued lack of progress in the Battle of Peleliu, the U.S. Army also threw the 321st Regiment of the 81st Division into Peleliu Island on September 23, 1944, and on this day the U.S. Army finally occupied the entire airport, but the high ground next to the airport was still controlled by the Japanese army, and the U.S. planes were still taking off and landing in the rain of bullets, leaving the runway. Since the US military had already issued an order to abandon the landing on Palau before landing on Peleliu Island, Admiral Nimitz's operation to attack the Palau Islands was tantamount to abandonment, and the US military finally insisted on seizing the Palau Islands, and the operational intention became a campaign to support the Philippine operation, using the captured Palau Islands air base to provide support for the landing on Leyte Island, but a stalemate was fought on Peleliu Island, let alone any support for the landing on Leyte Island. A large number of U.S. warships and ammunition were pinned down on Perry Iwo Island, which became a chicken rib that pulled back its legs, and as for the U.S. military on the main island of Palau, it completely lost confidence and didn't even think about it, the interesting thing is that the U.S. military named the battle of Palau as a stalemate, and it really became a stalemate on Peleliu Island.

After the US occupied the airport, there was still no obvious progress in October, and the 1st Marine Division of the US Army organized some offensives and made limited progress, but it was stalemate after breaking away from the support of naval artillery, although the Japanese army organized a large counterattack and the US 1st Marine Division was defeated and retreated, but the unprecedented naval and air fire support of the US Army, coupled with the assistance of the 321st Regiment of the 81st Division of the Army, finally helped the 1st Marine Division of the US Army to stabilize the defensive line, so the US Army and the Japanese entered a state of tug-of-war, and the Japanese Army could not take away the US Army. The U.S. military couldn't help the Japanese army, and the Battle of Peleliu at this time really became a battle that pulled the U.S. troops back, and had disrupted the U.S. plan to land on Leyte, and by mid-October, Admiral MacArthur couldn't wait, and decided to ignore Peleliu Island, withdraw the fleet, and simply announced that on October 12, the U.S. Army had ended the Peleliu Campaign, and launched a landing operation on Leyte Island on October 20. The Battle of Peleliu was originally redundant, and the troops should be withdrawn from Peleliu Island to end this battle that had long been abandoned as soon as possible, but most people believe that Peleliu Island should be fought resolutely to the end, because the American army has paid too much casualties for this island, and if it ends like this, then all the sacrifices and costs paid in front will be wasted. In the end, it was agreed that this battle might not have been fought at all, but since too much price had been paid, it could not be paid in vain, and the fate of Peleliu Island was decided in the end at any price.

The U.S. military is determined to completely take Peleliu Island, relying on the existing forces can no longer do, so the U.S. Army decided to put the main force of the 81st Division and artillery units into Peleliu Island, so that the U.S. Army can completely take Peleliu Island, the U.S. Army relies on the huge strength and material superiority, relying on *****, shells, ** and a large number of infantry, yard by yard to advance, hole by hole hitting, burning, bombing, day and night with the Japanese army, and the Japanese army ran out of ammunition in November, November 8, 1944, Nakamura Prefecture O Osa, believing that Peleliu Island could not be defended, sent a telegram to the 14th Division, claiming that the ammunition had been basically exhausted, most of the soldiers had run out of bullets, and could not fight normally at all, and decided to organize a Banzai charge, but was rejected by the 14th Division Command. On November 22, the U.S. troops rushed to the vicinity of the headquarters of the 2nd Infantry Wing of the Nakamura Prefecture, and at 7:40 a.m. on the same day, the headquarters of the 14th Division of the Nakamura Prefecture Infantry Division, Nakamura Prefecture Commander reported the battle situation and pointed out that the battery was running out, which may be the last farewell, and informed the 2nd Infantry Wing that the flag had been properly disposed of and the classified documents had been destroyed.

On November 22, the U.S. military launched a general attack on the command post of Nakamura Prefecture's Osa, using a large amount of *****. The fierce battle until the afternoon of November 24, the Japanese garrison at the command post suffered heavy casualties, ran out of ammunition, and was no longer able to stop the attack of the American army, and at 16 o'clock in the afternoon, Nakamura Prefecture Nan Osaku finally sent a telegram to the headquarters of the 14th Division, saying that it would become a withered cherry blossom. After burning the military flag and classified documents, he committed suicide by seppuku, and was posthumously promoted to lieutenant general. In the process of garrisoning Peleliu Island, Nakamura Prefecture received 11 letters of condolence from the Japanese garrison headquarters and a certificate of appreciation from the Supreme Commander of the Army and Navy of the whole army. After his death, he was promoted two levels in a row, and the commander of the Okinawa garrison, Mitsuru Ushijima, was only promoted by one level after his death. That night, Nakamura ordered the Japanese troops who were still mobile to flee from the command post, and then Nakamura committed suicide, along with 60 wounded soldiers who could not move, and the Japanese troops on Berry Iwo Island lost organized resistance.

On November 27, the U.S. military officially announced the complete occupation of Peleliu Island, which actually lasted 73 days of large-scale combat, and announced that the Japanese garrison of Peleliu was completely destroyed, and only 160 people were captured. However, the battle to sweep away the remnants of the Japanese army on the island was still raging, and at the end of December, the U.S. military launched a large-scale island-wide sweep to sweep away a small group of Japanese soldiers who were engaged in guerrilla warfare on the island.