Although we know that the overall offensive posture of the US military will definitely not be lowered or changed. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info but in terms of judging the next move of the US military, Yang Zhen is a little less sure. Although Yang Zhen could determine Okinawa, the link between the Japanese mainland and Taiwan, and the southern gateway to the Japanese mainland, the Americans would definitely fight as long as they wanted to attack the Japanese mainland.

But whether the Battle of Iwo Jima will break out like the history he is familiar with, Yang Zhen is a little uncertain. Iwo Jima has a different meaning to Americans than the Philippines, which was once a U.S. colony. No matter what position the Philippines occupies in the strategic pattern of the entire Pacific theater.

Compared with Taiwan to the north, the actual threat to the Japanese is not as great as Taiwan, both psychologically and strategically. But the status of the Philippines in the hearts of Americans, especially for the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific, who holds great power and has a lot of influence in the White House, has a different status.

Although the Philippines is in the Pacific theater, its overall strategic value is far inferior to that of Taiwan. But for the commander-in-chief of the Southwest Pacific Theater, both politically and militarily, including the Philippine plot that the Americans continued for decades to come, it was required to be fought.

But Iwo Jima, a small island with an area of only 21 square kilometers, is not as significant to the overall strategy of the Americans as it was in the past. Although there was some political influence, the political and military impact of an attack on Iwo Jima was far less than a direct attack on Okinawa.

Located on a small island southeast of Tokyo, it forms the mainland of Japan and forms the gateway to the southeast, and is indeed strategically important. However, for the current U.S. military, at the same cost, a direct attack on Okinawa would be more calculated, and the threat to the Japanese would be greater.

If the U.S. military directly attacks Okinawa, it will also cut off the last link between the Japanese mainland and Taiwan. In this way, Taiwan's Japanese heavy army cluster will be completely isolated from the mainland. Compared to Iwo Jima, which is more than 1,000 kilometers away from Tokyo, Okinawa, which is only 300 kilometers away from Kyushu Island, is more suitable.

In terms of the geographical location and area of Iwo Jima, regardless of the real intention of the U.S. military in launching this campaign in later generations, whether it is as stated in the history books. But from the current position of Yang Zhen and the vision honed over a long period of time, no matter from the perspective of strategy and tactics.

The reason why the U.S. military launched the Battle of Iwo Jima, at least on the surface, was because the island was located almost halfway between the U.S. bombing B-29 bomber group and the Japanese mainland, which was the base of the U.S. bombing of Japan. The P-51 fighters of the US military that captured this island could not only provide full escort for the bomber group.

Moreover, this island can also provide an alternate landing airfield for damaged B-29 bombers on their way back. To a certain extent, it was possible to reduce losses from air strikes on Japan. lest those with mechanical failure or damage, expensive planes plunge headlong into the Pacific Ocean with equally valuable pilots.

After all, no matter how advanced the technology of the US B-29 bomber is, it is subject to the restrictions of the times, and the losses caused by mechanical failures are far greater than those caused by the Japanese. In addition, this island is basically not of much value to the US military in that respect.

At present, however, the US Army's B-29 bomber group and fighter group are only a few dozen kilometers farther than those taking off from Iwo Jima's air base. For a super-bomber with an ultra-long range, such as the B-29 bomber, and for the P-51 Mustang fighter, this is actually only a difference of a few tens of kilometers, and it is not a thing at all.

From a purely military point of view, Yang Zhen believes that no matter how important the strategic location of Iwo Jima is. But whether it is the size of the area, or all other aspects, it is at most suitable for an alternate airport. No matter how fast the U.S. military rushes to repair, it is unlikely that the infrastructure of Iwo Jima will surpass the air base of the North Manchurian Anti-Japanese Union in a short period of time.

What's more, choosing North Manchuria as a take-off base can also reduce the logistical pressure on the US military, at least without having to travel thousands of miles from the US mainland to transport fuel and ammunition. The P-51 fighter that took off from North Manchuria can also provide the needs of the US bomber group with a full escort.

Of course, for the U.S. military, the biggest disadvantage of taking off from the North Manchurian Anti-Union Base compared with other bases is that it is too close to the Soviets. In addition, even Saipan, another important base of the Americans' air raids on Japan, can hardly be compared with North Manchuria. North Manchurian is too close to the Soviets, and it is also the point that the Americans hate the most.

However, in terms of overall strategy, after the Anti-Japanese Union agreed to the use of the North Manchurian air base by the US military, the only use of the capture of Iwo Jima for the US military was to support the bomber group taking off from the Mariana Islands. At the same time, it was officially announced to the Japanese that Lao Tzu was basically of little use except for the fact that he was now knocking on the door. As for the threat to the Japanese mainland from here, Iwo Jima does not have this condition.

With only twenty-one square kilometers, this island is unlikely to provide more help to the US military. Except, of course, of attacking the Japanese mainland, this symbolism. No matter how big the island is and how far it is from Japan's four main islands, this is the real Japanese mainland after all, and the capture of Iwo Jima is still quite a big boost to the morale of the people.

As an old capitalist power, the Americans still have a set of propaganda methods. Their newspapers and radio stations in some respects even overwhelmed the Soviets, who were supposed to be good at propaganda. It's easy to say black and white, not to mention this small island that is far away from the Japanese mainland, but it is actually the Japanese mainland?

However, the US bomber group stationed in the Mariana Islands cannot be compared with its stationed in North Manchuria in terms of size, quantity, efficiency and frequency of sorties. Its Twentieth Air Force, stationed in the Mariana Islands, actually played only a supporting role during the entire bombing of Japan.

Yang Zhen once believed for a long time that with the change of the overall strategic situation, the US military might not be fighting on Iwo Jima. In some respects, he wanted to teach the Americans a solid lesson if history still went on a predetermined track. There is also a considerable part of the reason, but it is just to disperse the forces of the Japanese mainland.

Of course, Yang Zhen knew very well that if the US military insisted on using those two fat and thin men, they would not choose the North Manchurian base as the bombing take-off base. The U.S. military insists on keeping the base on Saipan, and I'm afraid that many of the reasons are for those two things. If it is really judged by itself, Iwo Jima will still be in the sight of the US military leadership.

However, despite not knowing what their intentions, the Americans eventually launched an attack on Iwo Jima, which undoubtedly made Yang Zhen very excited. Because Yang Zhen has been worried, after he helped the Americans unload the biggest burden, the Kwantung Army. If the Americans had not touched their heads and bled out, they would not have thrown those two things at Japan.

Although the Ogasawara Islands are located more than 1,000 kilometers southeast of Tokyo, Japan, they are a little far from the Japanese mainland. However, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, which are Japan's overseas territories. This small island located in the Northern Mariana Islands, which has now fallen into the hands of the U.S. military, and the mainland of Japan, including the Ogasawara Islands, is historically considered the Japanese mainland.

If Iwo Jima is captured, it will not be of great significance to the U.S. military. But for the Japanese, it's a different story. Compared with the Japanese who still pay attention to the typical oriental way of thinking that they would rather give up ten thousand lives and not give up an inch. No matter how large Iwo Jima is, it is the territory of the Japanese mainland.

After the capture of Iwo Jima, the impact on the morale of the military and the people was fatal. The capture of Iwo Jima was equivalent to the Americans' invasion of the Japanese mainland. The islands of the mainland have been conquered, so how long can the core of the empire hold out? Won't the empire be defeated if someone else has been beaten into the house?

In order to stop the national morale, which had been completely depressed due to successive defeats, soaring domestic prices, and a shortage of supplies, and fell into a complete collapse, the Japanese army base camp had to defend Iwo Jima even if it did everything possible. Although the island is not worth paying so much, it is a matter of face.

Before the war, the Japanese base camp obtained information that the target of the next attack of the US military was Iwo Jima through various means, especially through some special intelligence sources. Before the U.S. military launched an attack, he sent a large number of additional troops and equipment to the island, doubling the number of troops on the island. It is planned to use this small island to stubbornly delay the pace of the Americans' attack on the mainland.

At the same time, the Japanese built a large number of caves on the island, as in history. Most of the heavy equipment and troops were hidden in the cave. These troops were strictly ordered not to move outside during the day. Eat, drink, and sleep, all in the cave. As a result, although the US military dispatched a large number of reconnaissance planes before the war, it made one mistake after another in judging the enemy's situation.

In addition to transferring all the troops originally scheduled to Taiwan to Iwo Jima, the army on the island has doubled, and the number of the navy has also increased significantly. The large-caliber howitzers and heavy long-range cannons in the Tokyo Bay fortress group were also transferred outside of a part of Iwo Jima.

The Japanese also secretly built two airfields to the Izu Islands north of the Ogasawara Islands and deployed a large number of suicide aircraft. At the same time, around the Ogasawara Islands, a number of naval submarines were mobilized to form a submarine interception network in an attempt to maintain this strategic point in the southeast of Japan.

Although it has always been believed that the target of the Americans' next attack should be Okinawa, or the Japanese in Taiwan, it is not clear what the United States is crazy about attacking Iwo Jima. However, this conclusion reached by comprehensive intelligence from all sides made them honestly make a lot of preparations.

In order to ensure the continuation of the Battle of Iwo Jima, which is only 1,000 kilometers from Tokyo, the US military sailed aircraft carriers to the sea off Japan in early February. A large number of carrier-based planes were concentrated to carry out air strikes on airfields, ports, and other tactical targets in Japan in order to make up for the lack of bombing by strategic bombers.

At this time, the Japanese, whose navy had been completely lost, were helpless in the face of the fanfare of the fleet, especially the aircraft carriers, which drove the fleet to their doorstep. Although shore-based aircraft were also dispatched to respond to the battle, and air strikes were carried out against the US fleet. However, in the face of the US military, which has an absolute superiority in both aircraft performance and quantity, it was completely defeated. More than 200 planes were shot down in one day, and the Japanese Navy bluntly gave up the last stubborn resistance.

The bombed Japanese Navy, which had no foothold on its own soil, had to withdraw some of its remaining forces to Busan, Hokkaido, and the Kuril Islands in southern Korea. However, the transport ships that could not be evacuated from the Japanese ports for a while suffered heavy losses in the large-scale air raids of the US military. Under the all-out air raids of the US military, the Japanese army and navy basically lost the ability to transport troops to the last resort.