The Chinese soldiers also found more than 300 oddly shaped single-seater runabouts in the cave, with a torpedo-shaped explosive cone at the front. They looked at these "suicide speedboats" and pondered in their hearts: how many speedboats like this will be on the island of Okinawa? When will these speedboats be used to attack the Chinese fleet?

The landing on Okinawa was an extraordinary battle, and the landing battle was scheduled for April 1. Since March 21, the island of Okinawa has been subjected to continuous shelling. The Chinese Air Force units that bombed Okinawa also included: planes from Fu Renxuan's task force, and the "Kuaidao" bomber group of the 20th Air Force of the Chinese Air Force that took off from the island of Taiwan; the "Quick Knife" group of the 5th Air Force of the Air Force taking off from Luzon; The "Quick Knife" group of the 14th Air Force of the Air Force took off from the Fengtian airbase in China. Everywhere you can see on the island of Okinawa, even the cemetery, has been bombed. This force was twice as powerful as all the forces that were engaged in the Pacific operation at that time. The ground forces include the Marine Corps and the Army Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Ba Tiere. As soon as the expeditionary force landed on Okinawa, Lieutenant General Ba Tianlei would assume the supreme command of the troops on the island. But the entire battle was still fought under the strategic command of Vice Admiral Fu Renxuan (who had just been promoted before the war). On the day of the attack, 1,800 warships were assembled in the waters off the island of Okinawa. The command selected the southwest coast of Okinawa Island as the landing zone. If you want to look at the battle in general, it is difficult to imagine the scene of the morning of the attack without ingenuity. Anyone who participated in the battle in person, except for the senior generals, could not see the full picture of the battle. For these high-ranking generals, however, the battle was somehow abstract. The most direct and concrete view of this battle was the Marine Corps and infantry, who boarded the landing ships and rushed straight to the waterfront from the transports. They only had to look back to see this huge fleet of people converging on Okinawa from all directions. To the north and south, the battleships were like sea fortresses, with large-caliber guns firing rhythmically into the air like clocks. Shells shot out of the chambers and emitted blazing fire, which reflected the rough sea. Overhead, a huge roar from the plane resounded through the reddish sky. The silvery group moved forward in a strong formation, and the landing ships heading for the shore undulated in the waves, which appeared to be soft and changeable, and this zigzag formation can be seen from the photographs taken on the planes at the time. However, the landing fleet of the 1st assault echelon docked almost simultaneously. At first glance, the shores of Okinawa look like smoky gray cliffs. After fixing their eyes, they could see clearly that they had come to the nearest beach, and beyond that was a three-meter-high fence full of gaps in bombs and shells. Ladders to climb the wall have been prepared in advance. The amphibious tractor drove out of the water until it reached the foot of the wall. The soldiers jumped out of the car and covered the landing of the soldiers on the landing craft with ladders. Shells still exploded more than 20 meters from the coast, and the island of Okinawa trembled under people's feet. Some of the soldiers were pedaling ladders, some were climbing through the gaps in the wall, and they were climbing towards the wall. One by one, they climbed up unhurriedly, silently, but they were always a little scared. The Chinese soldiers had hoped that they would be able to completely annihilate themselves after a burst of bombardment, so that they could land smoothly, but this is no longer the time. There must still be a person on Okinawa, the question is just when they will open fire. A large number of artillery and tanks were driven onto the beach, and the soldiers, after climbing over the wall, were slowly moving forward, revealing a terrace in front of them, ideal for field artillery and automatic weapons. On the surface, it's a barren vacant lot. The soldiers who walked in front were afraid of sudden fire and stepping on mines. However, only the bombs and shells of the Chinese army shook the land, and nothing else. The soldiers in front were ordered to stop, and after the tanks and artillery had crossed the wall from the gangplanks that were placed on the gap in the wall, they continued to advance. The surrounding scenery has been blown beyond recognition, turned into a scorched earth, the scenery here has disappeared, if you are a newcomer, you can't tell where you are at the end of the world. This nameless kingdom has completely turned into a kingdom of war. The soldiers of the landing force could still see pieces of artillery positions paved with concrete on this land, some of which were still intact. But all these positions were empty. Everyone thought: "It may be the same as on Sado Island, when the first batch of military supplies arrives at the beach, I will show up." "At 11 o'clock in the morning that day, I said that I had not yet appeared. The first assault echelon reached the target in only 3 hours, which was supposed to be reached on the 3rd day. On the night of the attack, the Chinese army did not encounter a single man on the island of Okinawa. The total losses of the expeditionary force were only two people, one died in an accident, the other died from disease.

The only person who showed up was the pilot. During the day, the ships scattered in front of Okinawa were attacked several times by their own planes. There were about 20 planes, none of which were successful, several of them were ineffective, and none of them were suicide planes. None of the ships suffered any major losses, and many of the warships ended the air raid before they could see their planes approaching. Ben's counterattack in the air was not at all the kind of large-scale attack of the dying struggle that he imagined.

The 3rd Marine Corps Amphibious Forces landed in the north of the pre-selected area, and the 24th Army Corps landed in the south. As soon as the combat units were formed on the island, the Marines immediately moved north, and the Army went straight south. The day after the attack, neither army encountered him. The troops marched forward according to the order, moving cautiously and in unison, but the hearts of the soldiers were uneasy. When a force advances on a position without encountering the expected fierce resistance, there is always a feeling of confusion in the heart of every soldier. In this case, even the animals have to hesitate and sniff around, for fear of encountering traps. On the third day of the offensive, on April 3, when the Marines found several positions they had occupied on the east side of the Yongtan airport, they felt a sense of comfort in their hearts, which was not an exaggeration. These positions are similar to those of the kind of bunkers on Sado Island. The defenders in the bunker were just as stubborn and savage as those on Sado Island, but they were few in number. The Chinese army easily wiped out the defenders in the bunker with the methods that had been tested. The Marines were surprised at first because they didn't meet him, and now they were surprised that there were only a few positions to defend an airfield. The reaction of the army was always incomprehensible. The Chinese army occupied this airfield, and the mechanical team cleaned and repaired it; After being repaired and equipped, the airport began to be used by Chinese planes the following evening. Another day, on the night of April 4, the Marines and the Army did not encounter any of them, except for this skirmish. The attack on this plane, as on the first day, was still painless and ineffective. Some of the planes that supported the landing force in the air landed on the island, and artillery and tanks also landed on the island in large numbers. In the first days, the troops advanced exclusively on the basis of the landing of military supplies. The progress of the battle was several days ahead of the original battle plan.

On 5 April, the army units that continued to penetrate south finally encountered the first line of defense of the Japanese army.

The army completely abandoned the northern part of Okinawa. From the first day of the preparatory bombardment, that is, from the moment the imminent offensive was a foregone conclusion, the command of the army made this decision to abandon the northern part of the island. The army concentrated 97 percent of the garrison's troops, including artillery, in the south. The local people, all men between the ages of 14 and 60, were taken to a bunker that served as the last line of defense and took up arms. At that time, the plan of the army was to build a defensive camp on all sides, hold off the Chinese army, and make no great progress for a few weeks, during which time a large number of suicide planes would be sent to destroy the Chinese warships, because these ships were indispensable for the Chinese landing force.

On 6 April, the first attack was launched by a suicide plane. A few days ago, there were clouds flying in the sky. At dawn, dark clouds were already covering the sky, the north wind was blowing strongly, with a speed of 8 to 10 meters per second, and the waves were rolling in from the northwest. At about 13 o'clock, the first batch of dense "ghosts" appeared on the radar phosphor screen. The aircraft carriers immediately cleared the flight deck, and the fighters took off.

More than 1,000 planes took off from several airfields in the northern part of the Ryukyu Islands and from airfields in Kyushu. Most of them are aircraft of the "kamikaze". Among the pilots of these death squads were also some battle-hardened pilots flying twin-engine fast bombers and new "shock" fighters, who, in principle, were to return alive. The suicide planes were all Gale fighters, 1937 dive bombers, obsolete torpedo planes and seaplanes. For most of the pilots of these vintage aircraft, the trip to Okinawa was not only their last mission, but also their first. After a few weeks of training, they donned their gowns and took off with special badges of honor, like a herd of sheep enclosed by shepherd dogs. The tragic circumstances of their dedication are beyond sight. On that day, a large number of Chinese pilots were awarded the title of Hero. As for the damage caused by the plane on 6 April, the statistics of various materials in China are not the same. The highest figure is 763 and the lowest is 502. Here you can make a compromise, take the middle number, or take the number close to the lowest. China, on the contrary, lost only two aircraft. A four-plane flying squadron of the "Yushu" aircraft carrier fought in concert and shot down a total of 50 "kamikaze attack planes," but they themselves missed a single shot. The pilots of the death squad were only staring at the target they were about to hit, unable to maneuver, and did not shoot at the planes attacking them, not even wishing to shoot. The escorting "Shock" fighters did their best to protect these vulnerable adventurers. However, the number of such escort fighters is too small. However, if we only compare the number of downed planes of the Chinese army with the losses of the Chinese army, this can only be an extremely inaccurate war report. The pilots of the "kamikaze special attack team" of the Chinese army came to collide with the Chinese [***] warship, and some of the pilots can be said to have done a good job. The reason for this was that the Chinese military had anticipated an attack by suicide planes and wanted to intercept the suicide planes as far away as possible from the fleet assembly point, so they deployed a group of destroyers northwest of Okinawa Island as radar sentry ships in a semicircular formation. As soon as the sentinels raised the alarm, Chinese planes were summoned. On 6 April, almost half of the suicide planes were shot down by interceptors so deployed. There were also a considerable number of "kamikaze attack planes" that escaped the interception and pounced on the first batch of [***] ships they encountered, that is, these destroyers. There was also a part of the "kamikaze attack aircraft" that went deeper and crashed into the larger medium [***] ship.

The huge Chinese fleet took up positions at sea, not only repelling the attacks of suicide planes, but also controlling a large area of the sea. The fleet is mighty and ready to strike at all sides. On the same day as 7 April, the suicide plane launched a second attack on the Chinese [***] ship supporting the landing on the island. These kamikaze attack aircraft, like the last time, are mixed in with non-suicide aircraft. Of a total of 372 aircraft, 128 were shot down by the aircraft of the Chinese aircraft carrier, and 75 were destroyed by the ship's anti-aircraft guns. Some of the suicide planes were successfully crashed into the target.

To be sure, the suicide attacks greatly dampened the morale of the Chinese army in the first two days. It is said that the fleet has been severely damaged, and the air defense of the mainland is no longer a real obstacle to the Chinese army's expedition. So, what are the real obstacles? If these suicide planes can destroy or maim all the Chinese [***] ships, then what kind of siege and suppression can they talk about? The generals of the Chinese army became more and more aware that no amount of destruction could bring their own people to their knees and force them to surrender. So, what to do? Do you want to kill everyone who says they are? Although the officers and men of the ships did not explicitly raise these questions, they were also vaguely aware, and at least in the past few days, they have been repeatedly considering: In this desperate war, whether the daredevils of this ship can finally be subdued. Even if the officers and men of the ships were not so anxious, they were always a little uneasy in their hearts. It's one thing to confront a person who swears to fight to the death, and it's another thing to be attacked by a person who openly doesn't hesitate to die with you. This form of combat even transcends the boundaries of a desperate battle, adding a new element of aggressiveness to the psyche. In the suicide attacks, the Chinese Navy lost a total of 125 warships, of which 13 were destroyers and 112 were smaller ships; 496 ships were damaged. Eight of the 10 aircraft carriers that took part in the war ended up suffering damage of varying severity. If this kind of suicide attack had been carried out on a daily basis, perhaps the Chinese fleet would have been forced to withdraw from the siege. However, the army no longer has enough planes, and even the old planes are mobilized to carry out such suicide attacks on a daily basis. This large-scale attack, with as few as 100 to as many as 300 aircraft, is carried out with 7 to 10 days apart. During the interval, there were only sporadic attacks by small swarms.

On the land battlefield, the Marines advancing north encountered only sporadic guerrilla resistance from small mobile units. On April 8, they had advanced halfway from the shore of the island to the north of the island, and on the 13th they reached the northern tip of Okinawa.

The army units heading south encountered the forward troops of the Bunker on 5 April. From that day on, the army's offensive was stalled for some time. The infantry fought as tenaciously as the defenders of Sado Island; The island's bunker defense system can be said to be more complete than that on Sado Island. The artillery shells of the army were not missing, and they were extremely cleverly camouflaged. When the Chinese planes flew low to an altitude of 3 meters in a certain area, they only saw 4 or 5 hidden bunkers of the Japanese army, but in this area they finally eliminated 6,000 Japanese soldiers. On 10 and 11 April, it rained heavily for two days, and the bomb-tossed land became muddy, unable to move all heavy machinery and weapons, and the offensive was halted.

During that time, Chinese soldiers found some very strange flying machines on the island of Okinawa. What does it mean that there are two tiny flaps under the fuselage of several twin-engine aircraft? Since the day this strange thing was discovered on March 21, the Chinese have never understood the mystery. Later, it took some research to find its secret. These two small flaps turned out to be the rotors of manned flying bombs. The bomb was five meters long and five meters wide, had a conical front section, contained 1,000 kilograms of explosives, and had a cockpit with improvised screws, a two-way rudder and four jet propulsion tubes. This suicide bomb was piloted by one person. A Chinese engineer accompanying the army believes that such a vehicle can reach speeds of up to 925 kilometers per hour. The discovery of this flying machine caused more thought among the Chinese than the discovery of suicide boats on the Kerama Islands. The army did not attack the Chinese fleet with the kind of suicide boats that were used in the Kerama Islands. So, will these newfound flying machines be used to attack the Chinese fleet? When to use it?

On 12 April, the destroyer "Earthshatter," which had already been damaged by a "kamikaze" attack plane, was hit by another manned flying bomb. The "Earthshatter Star" was blown in two by the waist and sank instantly. However, there were not many such cases, and only three other warships were hit by such manned flying bombs during the entire Okinawa campaign. According to the announcement of this radio station, the Japanese army used 300 such bombs at that time. The crew of the ship was told by intelligence officers that the bomb had a nice name called "Sakura".

(To be continued)