During the war, there were not many cases of night landing operations, but the vast majority of model landing operations involved relatively few troops, and the enemy's defenses were not very tight. Cuba was the only country that actually carried out a large-scale landing operation at night. It can be said that the choice of a night landing at that time was both forced and deliberately arranged.

At that time, in terms of choosing the landing time, Luo Yunchong was more inclined to land on the morning of the 4th, after all, this would allow the marines to avoid the trouble of landing at night, and at the same time they could get more time for fire support. However, Han Shaofeng insisted on landing on the night of the third day, and also put forward several reasons that Luo Yunchong could not refute.

First, the landing fleet will arrive at the landing ground in the afternoon, and if it is delayed until the next morning, its whereabouts will be completely exposed, and who can guarantee that the US military will not take the opportunity to organize forces to attack the landing fleet; you must know that there are still a large number of bombers deployed in the southern Florida region of the United States, and these bombers can easily fly over and kill the landing fleet. Second, if the landing is delayed until the next morning, it will give the US troops more than 10 hours to prepare for defense, and whether the Marines can successfully land is a question, and after going ashore, they will certainly encounter more fierce resistance. Thirdly, the support fleet on a support mission can only last a maximum of twelve hours of fire support, that is, by the morning of the next day, both support fleets will be withdrawn from the battle, and when the time comes, who will support the landing of the marines? Fourthly, if the transfer of the landing fleet is delayed, then there will be more problems halfway, and the US military will not watch the landing fleet go to the landing site without taking any action. At last. And most importantly, the Atlantic Fleet has already appeared near the battlefield, and delaying the landing time is actually giving the Atlantic Fleet more room to maneuver, from the point of view of ensuring the success of the landing operation. This crucial period of more than 10 hours must not be delayed, as long as the landing is successful at night, the Marines will have consolidated their beachhead before dawn, and even if the Atlantic Fleet is killed, it will not be possible to reverse the situation, and at night, the Atlantic Fleet will not pose a threat to the landing force.

Combining these factors, the choice of landing at night is inevitable. Of course. This does not change the problems encountered when landing at night. The main problem is that the Marine Corps lacks the ability to continue attacking at night, and in night operations, there is a problem in identifying friend and foe, and the first batch of troops ashore may not be able to break through the US army's beach defense line, so it is necessary to let the second group of troops rush to the beach as soon as possible to strengthen the impact of the Marine Corps. Open a gap in the US military beach defense line as soon as possible.

In response to these problems, Han Shaofeng made corresponding arrangements. The first is to increase the intensity of artillery support at night. and the accuracy of the shelling, for which he also transferred a dozen long-range seaplanes from Jamaica, which provided target data to the fire support vessels and guided the shelling. Second, it is necessary to arrange for aircraft to drop flares so that the Marines can attack under more favorable conditions, rather than fighting the enemy in the dark. In addition, Han Shaofeng also arranged for four fire support boats to carry flares, which were responsible for providing continuous lighting support for the marines on the fourth section of the beach. Third. The second group of beach-rushing troops will arrive in half an hour, and more than a dozen tank landing ships will be arranged to storm the beach at the same time to send heavy equipment to the beach as soon as possible. Fourth, in order to ensure that the tank landing ships were able to rush to the beach, the number of engineers in the first batch of beach-rushing troops was strengthened, and a group of officers specially responsible for organizing engineering work on the beach were also arranged to accompany them.

It can be said that Han Shaofeng is an expert in landing operations. As early as the attack on the Mariana Islands, Han Shaofeng commanded several small-scale night landing operations, and then commanded night landing operations when sweeping the Marshall Islands and other islands. As soon as he realized that he had to go to Cuba at night, he immediately began to prepare. Ultimately. Luo Yunchong also agreed to Han Shaofeng's arrangement, since Han Shaofeng was the commander-in-chief of the landing operation. Luo Yunchong, the general of the air force, is not good at pointing fingers at landing operations.

At six o'clock, the landing craft carrying the first landing force rushed to Dequiri Beach in the southeast of Santiago in four groups. The frontal width of the landing field reached 25 kilometers, and it was divided into four sections, each of which was attacked by a regiment of marines, whose task was to tear through the beach defense line of the American army after rushing onto the beach, covering the arrival of the second group of beach-rushing troops, and at the same time advancing as deep as possible to expand the landing field. The tasks of the first landing force in any landing operation are similar, and the Marines who serve as the first attackers are certainly the most elite troops, the most combat-ready infantry units in the Marine Corps.

When the landing craft group rushed to the beach, it was subjected to only sporadic shelling. At that time, most of the American artillery was destroyed, especially those heavy artillery that was difficult to hide, and only some of the small-caliber field guns hidden in the underground fortifications, or field guns, were not destroyed, posing a little threat to the landing force. This was not the main threat, and when the landing craft group approached the beach, the machine-gun fortresses of the American beach defense line finally began to "speak".

Dense machine-gun bullets rained down on the landing craft that were rushing onto the beach, hitting the ground baffle in front of them, making the officers and men in the landing craft feel a little creepy. However, at this time, not a single officer or soldier was afraid, and in order to ensure the success of the landing, the officers and men of the first batch of landing troops were all veterans who had served for more than two years and had participated in the landing operations, and those recruits who were originally organized in these four regiments were temporarily transferred and put into the second batch of beach-rushing troops, and did not participate in the first batch of attacks.

Four groups of landing craft washed up on the beach almost simultaneously. The landing craft were originally flat-ground boats, which ensured that the Marines would be as close as possible to the enemy's line of defense, rather than being shot by the enemy while advancing towards the enemy's line. When the baffle on the landing craft was lowered, the officers and men quickly rushed out, but the officers and men on the landing craft who arrived first still suffered heavy losses.

At that time, the battle on the fourth landing beach was the most tragic on Beach B. In charge of the beaching was the 11th Marine Division, the 1138th. Of the 2,400 officers and men, more than 1,800 took part in the landing operation, each on board 40 landing craft, and the heavy equipment belonging to the regiment was transported by the second batch of landing craft. On top of that, this stretch of beach is the closest to Daiquiri and is one of the most heavily defended by the U.S. military.

Before reaching the coastline, two landing craft were hit by shells, officers and men on them

casualties. And within the first five minutes of rushing to the beach, at least 200I officers and men did not have time to leave the landing craft before they were brought down by a dense rain of machine-gun bullets. For the next ten minutes, the officers and men who had already washed up on the beach were overwhelmed by the vitality of the American machine guns, and the five artillery guides who had gone ashore with the regiment at that time lost four of them, and the last one was seriously wounded.

It was not until 6:45 a.m., when the supporting artillery fire began to cover the American line on the beach, that the Marine officers and men seized the opportunity to rush to the front of the American line and find cover. By this time, the officers and men of the Marine Corps on the beach of A, which had the easiest battle, had already torn apart the American defenses, and the fighting on the other two sections of the beach had also made crucial progress.

Officers and men of the Marine Corps who left the area where the US machine-gun fire was key to the area immediately connected the blasting canisters they carried, and then the engineers were responsible for blowing up the US defense line so that the infantry could rush in. At this time, the second group of beach-rushing landing craft and landing ships were already approaching the beach, and if the first group of beach-rushing troops could not tear through the US defense line as soon as possible and clear out the US machine-gun fire points, then the second group of beach-rushing troops would suffer even greater casualties. In the second batch of beach-rushing troops, the engineers accounted for the majority, and if the casualties of the engineers were too large, it would affect the next battle.

The officers and men of the 1138th Regiment launched a fierce attack + < attack. At 6:50 a.m., the officers and men of the two companies of the regiment were the first to break through the American defensive line, but in fact there were less than 50 officers and men left in both companies. 6:55 a.m. The officers and men of the regiment began to clear the American machine-gun fire points on the defensive line. At seven o'clock sharp, the front advanced to the rear of the beach, basically completing the tactical assault. By 7:05 a.m., when the second group of landing craft had washed up on the beach, the officers and men of the regiment had already advanced 200 meters to the rear of the beach. The successful disembarkation of the second landing force was ensured.

The combat operations of the 1138th Regiment continued until ~ only 218 officers and soldiers were able to continue fighting, and another 1174 officers and soldiers were wounded, and 438 people were killed, of which more than eighty percent were killed or injured during the attack on the American beach defense line!

This shows how fierce the battle on Beach B was at that time, and it was also the most costly battlefield. The fighting on the other three sections of the beach was much easier, especially on Beach A, where the Marines took the American beach line with little effort. And quickly advance into the interior. The battles on the beaches of C and Ding were not too fierce, and by 6:50 a.m., the beach defenses of the American troops had already been captured.

The situation changed rapidly after the second landing force, especially heavy equipment, was brought ashore. The first four marine divisions that Han Shaofeng invested in were the most powerful in his hands, so to speak. This is also a basic principle of landing operations, using the most powerful troops to take the lead. Defeat the enemy first, or at least tear through the enemy's defenses, and then throw in reserves to expand the victory.

In fact, the battle in the first four hours was much smoother than Han Shaofeng expected. At the beginning, Han Shaofeng was anxious to throw in the second batch of beach-rushing troops, because he was worried that the first batch of attacking troops would not be able to tear apart the direction of the US army, so he concentrated the strength of the two groups of troops to launch an attack. But in fact, the first batch of beach-rushing troops had already completed their tasks. In addition, the resistance of the U.S. military was much weaker than expected. And the smooth offensive is not only due to the officers and men of the Marine Corps who fought bravely. Ground support from other forces is also critical, especially the support fleet that has been supporting the Marine Corps in the back.

For the first four hours after the start of the landing, the artillery fire of the support fleet did not stop. Although the fighters on the escort aircraft carrier did not make a sortie at night, the artillery of dozens of fire support ships was enough for the American troops. Without the support of fire support vessels, it would have been difficult for the Marines to successfully land on the beach without the main fleet. In these four hours, Han Shaofeng had already sent the combat units of the four marine divisions to the beach, although there was still a lot of heavy equipment, especially the artillery units, which had not been sent, and the engineering units were also left behind. But with four Marine divisions ashore, it was basically able to ensure the safety of the beach positions.

The support fleet was withdrawn at about half past ten. Both support fleets had to return to the open sea to replenish ammunition, otherwise they would not be able to continue to provide artillery support to the Marines during the day. From this time on, the HNA shore-based tactical bombers deployed in Jamaica replaced the support fleet and continued to support the Marine Corps.

Although the bombs dropped by the air force were more powerful, the bombers could not be compared with the fire support ships in terms of the intensity, persistence, and timeliness of firepower. A tactical bomber carries a maximum of eight small bombs, and often drops all of them in a single bombing, and it takes at least 5 minutes from the time the Marines make a call to the time the bomber drops the bomb, and even 10 minutes when there is a ground. Similarly, artillery fire from a fire support ship can last for several minutes and cover a much larger area, while the support arrives in less than two minutes. From these two important statistics, it can be seen that in a landing operation, it is impossible for bombers to replace the guns on battleships.

At eleven o'clock, Han Shaofeng ordered the marines, who had already begun to advance inland, to slow down their advance and focus on consolidating their beach positions. At that time, he had not yet transferred the command post to land, and still commanded the battle from his flagship. At this time, what Han Shaofeng was most worried about was the counterattack of the US military.

The U.S. Army's poor defense on the beach positions has proven that more U.S. troops are deployed in defensive positions in depth, and now that the support fleet has been withdrawn, if the U.S. forces start to counterattack, the reckless attacking Marines will suffer a big loss. Han Shaofeng's worries soon became a reality, and at 11:40 a.m., the U.S. counterattack force arrived on the battlefield, and the newly recovered marines had not yet been able to establish a defensive line, and the entire landing field was mortally threatened.

Just when Han Shaofeng was anxiously calling for air support, suddenly a red flash appeared over the sea in the southeast direction, and then a dull shelling sound came, Han Shaofeng was a little surprised at first, and then he reacted, it was the shelling sound of the main guns on the battleship, what he didn't expect was that the combined fleet, which would not participate in the support landing operation, arrived at the most critical time.