Chapter 5 Three Bloody Battles Tarawa Atoll

On the morning of the start of the attack, the transport convoy was scheduled to assemble off the coast of the entrance to Tarawa Atoll (ten kilometers from the intended landing site on Betio Island). Decided on the landing plan The details of the attack plan are as follows: The LVT-1 crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles carried by the ten transport ships will be unloaded into the sea, and then they will join the three ships of the second regiment-level battle group. Marines from the first assault wave will transfer to the LVT using the side ladder. The second and third assault echelons will board landing boats, and then rendezvous with the LVT II unloaded by another transport ship.

When these troops are heading towards the assembly point at the entrance of the atoll, the attacking teams after the fourth echelon must load heavy weapons and chariots into the boats and prepare for landing operations. A chariot company will be carried in the chariot landing boat, enter the sea from the stern of the mothership, and participate in the attack. While the assault landing force is gathering, minesweepers will clear the course and mark the attack course. The boats of the assault echelon will pass through this channel in file, enter the lagoon, reach the starting line of the attack, and then turn around 90 degrees and drive in file to the coast of the attack target (Betio Island).

At this time, it was almost dawn, and the mothership aircraft of the task force would start machine gunning and bombing for 30 minutes. As soon as the mothership plane leaves, the fire support ship consisting of three battleships, five cruisers, and nine destroyers will conduct naval gun shooting for two hours. In the first seventy-five minutes, the Japanese defenses were neutralized and coastal artillery positions were destroyed.In the last forty-five minutes, concentrated fire will be launched on the scheduled landing target with artillery shells.Once the assault landing force arrives at the beachhead, the mothership aircraft will launch a final five-minute blow to the Japanese coastal defense facilities.

Most of the fire support ships will be located in the western sea of ​​Bedio Island in order to launch fire on the east-west axis of the island. (Because the shells fired from the south are likely to ricochet and shoot into the boat's route). Following the minesweepers, two destroyers were to enter the lagoon, taking up positions in order to directly support the landing force. Colonel Knowles' Ideas This meticulously planned pre-bombardment and bombardment was on a scale that was unprecedented in any battle in the Pacific War.So much so that a naval officer was convinced that when the Marines landed, nothing would remain of the island.

However, Captain Knowles of the Transport Regiment (one of the landing operations commanders) had a very different idea.Remembering the experience of the Solomon Islands, Knowles said at the planning meeting: I landed the 1st Airborne Battalion on Solomon's Kabuz for the purpose of attacking the island.Prior to this, from dawn to noon, our cruisers and destroyers continued to bombard the island, but due to insufficient thoroughness, our entire army was almost wiped out.He was worried that the old drama would repeat itself, so he was always in a state of turmoil. On the morning of November 20th, the Japanese army launched heavy shooting

The moon rose a little before one o'clock in the morning of November 20th.An hour later, the covering warship moved towards the predetermined position.The transport convoy started moving at 3:55 am, and when they unloaded the Marines of the 2nd Regimental Battle Group, they found the black atoll lying on the horizon against the horizon. General Scheer, the commander-in-chief of the landing support force, immediately noticed that these convoys were being rushed into the southern sea by the tide at a speed of two nautical miles, hindering the firing of a part of the naval gun support fleet.At 4:31 in the morning, Scheer ordered the convoy to stop transferring soldiers and sail back to the designated position.

Thirty minutes after the gigantic convoy changed position, several landing craft (following the convoy) were declared missing, making it imperative to search for them.As a result, the transfer of troops to amphibious landing vehicles and small boats, as well as the assembly of the assault landing force, was delayed for some time. Ten minutes after General Scheer ordered the convoy to move north, the flare was lifted again and exploded over the eastern tip of Betio Island.After this, for two or three minutes, nothing happened. At 5:07 in the morning, the Japanese coastal battery fired.Starting with the naval guns of the 40cm caliber cannon (General Scheer's flagship USS Maryland), the US ships fired fiercely at the island.

Due to the fifth salvo of the Maryland, a big explosion was caused on the land, and the Japanese 20 cm caliber gun was suppressed for a while.The smoke and dust of the explosion enveloped the whole island. When the shell hit the ammunition and fuel storage, it would immediately set off a very high pillar of fire, temporarily covering the thick black smoke.A cessation of fire was given at 5:42 am in order to allow the mothership aircraft to carry out their scheduled bombing in order to allow good visibility. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Japanese army launched another bombardment. As the surrounding gradually became brighter, the transport ships that could not move (because the landing troops had not been unloaded to the ships) suffered damage.Therefore, when the transport ship unloaded the fourth echelon of marines, it quickly avoided the northern sea.

The commander of this fleet stated in the report: For a full 30 minutes, the Japanese artillery ignored our naval guns and hit us calmly like a shooting training. uncoordinated support attack Radio operators stationed on the Maryland command bridge discovered the impact of the main gun fire, which damaged part of the radio.Moreover, after the inspection, the fault could not be found. For this reason, Scheer could not get in touch with the mothership aircraft, so he ordered the air attack to be postponed until a visual attack could be launched.However, this order only reached the mothership group and was not passed on to the commanders of the mission force.

At 6:5 in the morning, Scheer ordered the warships to continue the bombardment, but because the mothership aircraft appeared again, the shooting had to be suspended. Now, in order to continue the attack plan, the originally planned 30-minute shooting had to be shortened to ten minutes. . When the mothership aircraft attacked Bedio, it was still quite dark, so the Hellcat fighter pilots who were strafing the ground were almost dazzled by the tracer flashes of the anti-aircraft fire.However, the dive bombers seemed unmoved.For the officers and soldiers on the ship, as well as on the crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle and the landing craft, this is an extremely spectacular drama.Whirlpools of dust, mingled with columns of flames, rose high into the sky as the planes were active over Betio Island.

When the attacks were gone, the island was still faintly visible between the flames and the flames.A senior pilot expressed doubts about the outcome of the attack.He said: Most of the bombs only dug a few large holes at best, or they just kicked up large coral dust and disrupted the bombing missions of other aircraft. Three echelon amphibious landing vehicles set off After the aircraft carrying the mothership flew out of the ballistic path of the naval bombardment, the naval guns swept from one corner of the island to another.Then, it rained shells on the pre-determined target area.This time, in order to avoid the thick smoke from obstructing the line of sight, we started shooting with radar. With the fierce shelling in the final stage, the crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle carried the first three echelons of officers and soldiers, and marched from the open sea towards the entrance of the lagoon in a parallel single-column formation. The first echelon attack team consisted of forty-two LVT-1 crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles, followed by eight empty crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles. Soldiers are picked from the amphibious landing vehicle.The second echelon formed by twenty-four LVT II vehicles, and the third echelon attack team formed by twenty-one LVT II vehicles were each followed by five reserve vehicles. As a precaution, the 25 LVT 1 vehicles that the Second Marine Division can use are filled with food, drinking water, ammunition, etc. needed by the landing troops, and stay on the transport ship to stand by.However, once there is a crisis, it will be used as a tool for carrying soldiers. The scheduled landing time of the US military is 8:30 in the morning.According to the plan, the marines would attack the beach at this moment, but soon after, the US military realized that this was impossible. The reason was the powerful current that was scattering the transports to the west, and as the landing boats and tracked amphibious landing vehicles tried to maintain their speed against the current, a pre-landing drama ensued. After dawn, the minesweeper Bashoud and her sister ship Crigit began clearing the passage to the lagoon.The smoke screen released by the Landing Vehicle Personnel Craft (LCVP) just covered the mine clearance operation.The Japanese coastal artillery began to fire on the two minesweepers, but due to the smoke, neither hit.At the same time, under the shade of this smoke screen, the two destroyers Link Cort and Darcyle, located near the entrance of the lagoon, were able to fire 127mm guns, suppressing the Japanese firing. Once the route was opened, the minesweeper Bashoud immediately marked the start line of the attack, the route, and the location of the dangerous coral reef.The floating reconnaissance aircraft of the flagship Maryland also participated in this work.As the minesweeper Krigit guided the destroyers into the lagoon, the Japanese coastal batteries spewed flames and circled the ships.The Link Colt received two hits, but luckily did not explode.Instead, a shell fired by the Link Colt hit the ammunition depot on the Japanese coast, causing a huge pillar of fire, which made the Japanese army no longer able to show off its power. attack delayed At 7:15 in the morning, the minesweeper Bashoud was already on the attack start line, and turned on its searchlights to guide the landing commando, and used the searchlights to shine from the channel to the sea.The Bashoud monitored the landing craft with radar and noticed that they were sailing hard.The minesweeper immediately reported to Scheer that the commandos were twenty-four minutes behind schedule. General Scheer's air observer Robert.Lieutenant Commander Mark Pherson, confirmed the commando's delay.The general radioed the maneuver force that the attack would be postponed to 8:45 am.Mark Pherson also reported that as of 8:23 in the morning, the first echelon of the attack had not exceeded the attack start line. General Scheer had no choice but to postpone the start of the attack to 9:00 am. At 8:25 in the morning, the mothership aircraft appeared over Betio Island for the final attack on the beach.As soon as the flagship Maryland ceased firing, the wireless communications center notified the aviation assault commander of the change in plan. At 8:55 in the morning, as if planning again, the final air attack was launched.However, at this moment, the tracked amphibious landing vehicle is still far away in the open sea.Therefore, some pilots expressed considerable doubts about the outcome of this aviation attack.One pilot even asserted that even going back and forth to the coast and strafing the ground would be a waste of ammunition and would have no effect at all. Assault on Red Beach After the plane launched its attack, the naval guns fired at the landing area and gradually extended inland.At 9:00 a.m., the destroyers Darcy and Linker Cort stopped firing. Because, at this time, the gunners of the two ships suddenly saw the reason for the assault landing wave.For a full ten minutes, there were only two destroyers, and each boat's twelve.7 mm caliber machine guns, launched supporting fire to support the leading crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle.The machine gun fire lasted for several minutes, and did not stop until the long line of tracked amphibious landing vehicles passed the long trestle bridge, crossed the coral reef under the water surface, and reached the shallows of the coast. The landing force headed for three coasts.The so-called Red Beach No. 1 occupies the northwestern tip of the island to the middle of the coastal trestle, with a frontage of about 65 meters, including the beak and throat of Betio Island. As for Red Beach No. 2, it is a narrower coast with a length of only 550 meters, and it occupies the remaining part of the trestle bridge. And Red Beach No. 3 is the 720-meter frontage from the east side of the trestle bridge to the east end of the airport. (The so-called beachhead refers to the coastline of the landing area assigned to a regiment-level battle group during the attack operation. The attack coasts of each regiment-level battle group will be displayed in different colors on the map. This is a more detailed part The coastline drawn is from the sea to the coast, and the numbers are attached from right to left. When Tarawa landed and fought, it was indicated in red) active lieutenant hudgens The trestle bridge is the largest defensive stronghold in the landing area, so it must be destroyed.This task fell to William.On the shoulders of the Lieutenant of the Hutchins Marine Corps and the second scout sniper platoon, Hudgens' subordinates are all super shooters.The thirty-year-old platoon leader, a Texan, had been promoted to an officer in the Kadar Kanal field. At 8:55, when the aircraft of the mothership started to straf the ground, half of the Hudgens platoon's crew had arrived at the edge of the coral reef in small boats.Hudgens brought engineer officer Alan.Second Lieutenant Lisley and four scouts stepped down from the ramp (installed on the bow of the landing boat to allow people and vehicles to land on land), guided everyone from the coral reef to the trestle, and attacked among the piles of iron cylinders .At the beginning, the platoon leader made a gesture to ask everyone to follow his rear, but the Japanese army had already fired in the direction of the iron barrel, so that the bullets rained down, so he made another gesture and ordered the rest people back up. Six people below the platoon leader quickly crossed the trestle bridge, knocked down several Japanese soldiers, and destroyed the building that seemed to be a defensive stronghold.The flame thrower carried by Lisley turned the two huts into a sea of ​​flames, and the flames passed through the slab walls and spread to the trestle bridge. The Hutchins platoon had fully accomplished its mission, so that the Japanese could no longer use the trestle to attack the assault landing wave. After completing the task, Hudgens returned to the boat, intending to return to the coast along the channel of the trestle bridge.However, because the water was too shallow, the small boat could not sail, so Hudgens and others had to take a crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle to the coast.The Japanese army launched a fierce counterattack. Although the armor of the tracked amphibious landing vehicle is thin, it is still much safer than the landing boat. Landing No. 3 Red Beach The Japanese army is fully prepared.They clearly grasped the movement of the U.S. military, so the effect of the U.S. military's shelling support was not too great.A large number of troops with strong firepower still hold the coastal defense positions. When the assault landing wave of the crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle was still 2,500 meters away from the coast, the shells of the Japanese army had already exploded on top of their heads. At that time, the firepower of machine guns had already posed a great threat on the sea surface. As for the concentrated shooting of light artillery fire, the crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle had been correctly caught. taste. The luckiest was the 2nd Battalion of the 8th Marine Regiment, which was heading towards Red Beach 3.The destroyer's bombardment continued until 9:10, virtually saving them from heavy casualties.The original group of LVT-1 crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles arrived at the beach seven minutes later than scheduled. The second and third echelons of LVT II follow closely behind.The two LVTs found a gap in the revetment embankment, and resolutely attacked from there to the inland, and went straight to the taxiway of the airport.Company E, 2nd Battalion, occupied a nearby position.As for the remnants of E Company, a platoon of F Company and G Company consisting of 522 shock troops landed from another point, resulting in 25 casualties. By the time the undamaged tracked amphibious landing vehicle returned to sea, the Japanese had recovered from naval gunfire and supporting bombardment, and the volume and speed of defensive artillery fire, especially on the east coast, was even greater. The sea of ​​fire caused the crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle to face the armor of the bridge towards the land, and return to the sea by retreating. In the inland part, the 2nd Battalion of the 8th Regiment was attacking the Japanese bunker positions with all its strength. Therefore, the battle situation at Hongtan No. 3 gradually became more intense. Deathmatch at Red Beach Two The place where the Japanese artillery fire was the most intense was the central part of the sea off Red Beach No. 2.Several crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles of the second battalion of the second regiment suffered fatal shelling, and the dead and wounded drivers fell slumped on top of the control device.Those soldiers who survived the catastrophe jumped into the shallow sea one after another, braved the fierce machine gun fire of the Japanese army, and marched forward bravely.It seems that the coast of Bedio Island is not necessarily safer than the atoll. The second echelon of crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles landed at 9:22.As soon as the marines jumped out of the two sides of the crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle, they were subjected to fierce machine gun fire from the front and side, and the entire army was wiped out. The two platoons of Company E boarded the right half of Red Beach No. 2.Due to the fierce artillery fire, they could only start a tug-of-war with one advance and one retreat, and the officers and non-commissioned officers fell down one after another.As a result, the remaining platoon of Company E had no choice but to board the far left wing of No. 1 Red Beach.Then, crossing the revetment embankment, broke through the Japanese gun positions, and destroyed a stronghold.At this time, the platoon leader collapsed, and the soldiers in the platoon hid in a huge shell crater to avoid the Japanese guns. Company F, which was on the left side of the central part of the coast of Red Beach No. 2, had lost about half of its troops when it attacked the coast and the revetment embankment.The survivors occupied a series of machine gun positions fifty meters ahead.Throughout the morning, they could not get in touch with E Company on the right, because the radio was broken, and the orderlies became the prey of the Japanese snipers. Most of the officers and men of G Company of the third landing echelon suffered such a severe blow in order to attack the coast and the shelter of the log bunker that they had to land between the other two companies.On the narrow beach, there were battalion soldiers who wanted to attack the endgame, the dead and wounded, and soldiers who used the revetment embankment as a parapet. The Greatness of Sergeant Portillon Acts of bravery in the tumult of battle on the coast are numerous, but few are as powerful as William.Staff Sergeant Portillon (Assault Engineer, 1st Battalion, 18th Regiment) was a well-behaved man.His crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle was destroyed by the Japanese army. He immediately led the other four surviving soldiers to grope to the coast, made two explosive packs on the spot, and destroyed the two bunkers that were shot.While storming the third position, he was wounded by a gunshot, but was able to meet the enemy with a pistol and support other soldiers climbing the revetment embankment. Regardless of his injuries, he jumped into the water to rescue a wounded soldier.Returning to the coast, he helped another wounded soldier.Without taking a short break before and after, he prepared explosives again and attacked the Japanese bunker single-handedly.This time he did not get his wish, because the Japanese shooter knocked him down. After his death, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor (a supreme medal awarded by the president himself to soldiers with special merit).He was the first soldier to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for the Battle of Tarawa (a total of four officers and soldiers of the 2nd Marine Division were awarded this medal, Portillon was the first one). The Japanese strongholds located at the boundary of Red Beach No. 1 and No. 2 were bunker positions equipped with a large number of light artillery and machine guns. Intense thrashing. The K company of the left assault force was even more severely affected.Many crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles were hit by direct bombs, and the soldiers suffered great casualties while walking in the shallow sea. On the right wing, Company I, which landed at around 9:10 in the morning, did not suffer a fatal blow in the water, but when it launched an attack inland, most of the officers and soldiers below the company commander died in battle. From the widely spread positions of the stronghold on the left flank, the Japanese army launched a frenzied shooting on the beach at the western end of the island.American casualties were appalling, and soon an unexpected surge of reinforcements arrived on the beach.The destructive shooting at the Japanese positions along the coast forced a certain platoon of Company G of the Second Battalion of the Second Regiment to turn to the right of Red Beach No. 1 to land. fighting. Asian American Battalion Commander Died in Battle In the landing force, the battalion commander and battalion headquarters took extra landing boats between the third and fourth echelons, preparing to land and command operations once the bridgehead was captured.The fate that befell them was emblematic of the events of this morning in Tarawa.The first battalion reached the coast flawlessly, the second battalion lost all its personnel, and the third battalion reached the coast, but the personnel landed on the wrong coast and were unable to join their troops all day. In the sea off Red Beach No. 3, Henry.Maj. Crowe (Jim, the shaggy red-bearded, bull-bouncing, soldier-turned-officer) sensed that his tank landing craft would not reach the shore.However, he didn't call for help, and led the battalion staff to wade and land.Due to the shelter of the destroyer's supporting fire, the Japanese artillery fire on the No. 3 Red Beach was not too intense, so Major Crow and his group were able to land safely. The commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment, the tall and handsome Lieutenant Colonel Yamei, was brutally killed when he was about to reach the island.At that time, the two crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles turned back from the beach notified Major Yamei that it was possible to land, and then they transferred the main personnel of the battalion headquarters and headed towards the beach.At a distance of 180 meters from the land, the crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle got stuck on the barbed wire and couldn't move.About fifteen officers and soldiers disregarded the danger and got off the crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle, intending to wade to land.At this time, the salvo of the machine gun killed Yami and four others.Other soldiers hid in the shadow of a wrecked boat. As a result, Lieutenant Colonel Jordan (a liaison officer sent by the Fourth Marine Regiment), a senior officer, took command until the deputy battalion commander, Major Rice, landed. Despite the devastating Japanese fire, by about ten o'clock in the morning, Jordan's group had touched the shore.Under the scene of bloody killings, they set up their battalion headquarters in the huge bomb cavern.The battalion's radios were all destroyed by bullets and flooding.The messengers sent by the three companies launched a mission to find the battalion headquarters, but their reports were depressing.Now, not only is it difficult to move an inch, there are many casualties, and even the teams have lost contact. The fifth echelon assault suffered huge losses Compared with the situation of No. 2 in the Central Committee, the situation of Red Beach No. 1 is far from satisfactory.However, the battalion's radio was declared damaged by the sea water.As a result, communication with the unlanded units of the 2nd Marine Division was often interrupted.McKell.Major Ryan commanded L Company (which made up most of the fourth echelon).When his landing boat approached the coral reef, he found that there were caves everywhere, and the western area where Company K landed was scattered with some immobile crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles.Some exhausted their efforts and moved inland again, so Major Ryan ordered the landing boats to bypass the destroyed Japanese ships on the coral reef and head for the beach. The landing boat landed on a coral reef about 450 meters from the coast.Under the violent explosion of Japanese artillery shells and the rain of machine gun fire, the marines waded forward through the sea.When Major Ryan saw a crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle turning back from the beach, he immediately ordered it to carry him and the soldiers to land. When he set foot on Betio Island, he looked back and all he saw were soldiers wading in the water.They held their guns high above their heads, and many soldiers fired forward in a low posture in order to minimize the target. Starting more than 100 meters from the coast, the coral reef gradually bulges, so that there is not enough sea water to hide.Arriving here, the marines gradually accelerated their pace in an attempt to reach the land as soon as possible.However, the artillery fire of the Japanese army was enough to watch, and the soldiers fell down one after another.By the time L Company and its associated 81mm mortars reached the coast, the fourth echelon had produced thirty-five percent of its casualties. Regardless of sacrifice, urgent landing While Major Ryan and his men were moving towards the coast, Major Scheider, the commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment, had his hands full.He spotted the landing craft (LCM) loaded with chariots and was about to turn back to sea from the edge of the reef.So, he couldn't wait to order the boat to turn around and transport the chariot to land.When the landing craft loaded with tanks was carefully guided to the beach, Seidel was thinking hard about how to use the rest of the battalion who were waiting in the open sea. Hardly any tracked amphibious landing vehicles have come back from Red Beach One.The bodies of marines and damaged tracked amphibious landing vehicles were floating in the sea.The crazy shooting of the Japanese army caused many victims of Ryan's troops.In this dismal situation, Scheider decided to postpone the landing time of the rest of the 3rd Battalion. At 9:55, Seidel radioed the second regiment commander, Xiao Pu. The troops were on the right flank reef of Red Beach One and were being fired so heavily that they were unable to advance. Shoppe replied: Land on Red Beach No. 2, and try to attack westward! Scheider's answer made Xiao Pu feel extremely depressed. We don't have a single soldier to land with capital Shader and the remaining soldiers waited for hours off the reef.Due to the shooting of the Japanese defensive strongholds, several crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles landed on the designated route from Red Beach No. 2, were chased to the west, and became the only troops to reach Red Beach No. 1. At 2:58 in the afternoon, when Scheider reported that he had lost contact with the landing force and that the rest of the battalion had not yet landed, the division commander, Major General Smith, gave the order: No matter what the sacrifice, the landing operation must be launched , restore control of your battalion, and continue to attack. Scheider and his subordinates, based on the order received earlier from Lieutenant Colonel Shaw, boarded Red Beach No. 2 in the evening of that day. This incident has almost no impact on the navy's operations, but it has lowered people's evaluation of the third battalion of the second regiment. Unable to determine battle situation due to radio failure The lack of radio contact with western coast bridgeheads (Betio has two definite coast bridgeheads) then became a matter of course.The radios of the Marine Corps are weak power receivers of TBX and TBY. The communication distance of TBX is very short, while TBY will break down as soon as it comes into contact with water.Under such circumstances, the contact with the coast had to rely on messengers and telephones.However, messengers and stringers often become the prey of Japanese snipers and machine gunners. The commander in the open sea knew nothing about what happened on Betio Island.Although the report from the reconnaissance plane was better than nothing, it was impossible to report the details of the battle to General Smith and General Scheer.In order to know what was brewing on the island, they sent people to the coast one after another to find out what happened. However, just as Colonel Shoppe decided to make a desperate attempt at the landing on Betio Island, a sudden radio report was made about the state of the coast.When a group of tracked amphibious landing vehicles returned to the open sea from the coast, the personnel of the second regiment-level combat group headquartered in a landing boat arrived at the coral reef near the trestle bridge.Xiao Pu called a crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle full of dead and wounded (preparing to transport the dead and wounded to the transport ship from Red Beach No. 2), and moved the wounded to his small boat, while he and a small number of staff transferred to To another tracked amphibious landing vehicle. Inside this crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle, there are: Xiaopu's combat officers, regiment medic, Liaison Officer Carlson Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, regiment-level combat group artillery (10th Regiment 1st Battalion) Battalion Commander Presley.Li Kexi, Lieutenant Colonel of the Marine Corps and others. They planned to land on Red Beach No. 3, but they were immediately repulsed by fierce artillery fire. Xiao Pu wanted to touch Red Beach No. 2 in the center, but he had to give up because of the continuous artillery fire.The fragments of the shells hit the crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle like raindrops, and in just an instant, the boat turned into a honeycomb, and the driver who was stunned jumped into the sea desperately.Xiao Pu said casually: Let's go out for a walk from here!He led the group overboard to the shadow of the trestle, where the mounds of coral rock were everywhere, just in time to escape the crazy Japanese artillery fire. The reserve battalion reinforces Red Beach No. 2 At 9:58, while advancing towards Petio Island, Colonel Shope ordered the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment of the Reserve Battalion to land on Red Beach II.At 10:30, when the troops under the command of Major Keyle arrived at the coral reef, the commander of the naval boat team informed that the landing boats could no longer reach the island, and they had to use tracked amphibious landing vehicles instead. When the two companies A and B launched the landing battle, the projectiles fell on the sea like hail. Fortunately, there were enough crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles to pick them up, and no accidents occurred. When Company C landed at noon, it also had enough crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles to use, but it was only the remaining personnel of the battalion, which lacked crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles to use.The headquarters company is under the command of the deputy battalion commander, so it has to stay on the boat temporarily, and when there is an opportunity, it wants to attack the coast in a swarm. Although the three main companies of Major Keyle headed towards the coast in crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles, due to excessive shooting, several crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles were hit by shells, and the soldiers fell into the sea. Casualties. The Japanese positions on the right flank of Red Beach No. 2 disrupted the assault formation of the Kayle Battalion, so that Kayle had to send a group of tracked amphibious landing vehicles (carrying four officers from the 1st Battalion and 110 men) moved westward to land on Major Ryan's bridgehead. Prior to this, an infantry platoon and two machine gun platoons from the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment were driven to Major Ryan for the same reason and by the same route.The Keil Battalion suffered a lot of casualties in the battle in the sea, and lost 50% of its troops during the landing operations. Therefore, any reinforcements are very welcome. The division commander also expressed concern about sending reinforcements.While Colonel Shop put Keyle's battalion into action, 2nd Marine Division commander Julian F.Major General Smith ordered Colonel Hull, commander of the 8th Regiment, to send the 3rd Battalion under his command to the starting line of the attack, so that Colonel Shope could be reinforced at that time.At 11:03 in the morning, when Major Ladd, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 8th Regiment, got in touch with Shope, he ordered the 3rd Battalion to land in order to support Major Crowe's 2nd Battalion. When Battalion Ryder's first echelon reached the reef, it found that there was not a single tracked amphibious landing vehicle available.So the marines of K and L companies, risking artillery fire, jumped from the nailboard of the boat into the sea.The Japanese army changed their sights in an attempt to feast on the rain of American soldiers in the sea.Because the marines were carrying heavy combat equipment, they fell into the deep hole of the coral reef unknowingly, and they were declared drowned before they were attacked by enemy bombs. The Bloody Battle Near the Trestle Bridge The remaining soldiers of the two companies started a 600-meter-long advance in the sea. Seeing the sea water drop from the depth of their shoulders to the depth of their chest, waist, and knees, they forgot the horror of bullets and swarmed Rush towards the shore. From the position near the trestle bridge, Colonel Xiao Pu and his staff watched helplessly at the tragic scene of the massacre.Xiao Pu waved to the nearest soldiers of the 3rd Battalion of the 8th Regiment, telling them to use the shadow of the trestle to hide. Seeing Xiao Pu waving his hands like crazy, the officers recognized that it was a dangerous signal, so they quickly rushed towards the trestle bridge.At this time, the sound of shells exploding and the sound of machine gun shooting intertwinely compose a battle suite. Countless waves swayed on the sea, and the remaining soldiers walked hard, splashing blood-red sea water, towards the coast. go ahead. The beach was littered with dead bodies and bits of flesh.The wounded soldiers swayed forward, and the seriously wounded were rescued by nearby sergeants.When they reached the coast, some of the soldiers who were helping the wounded also collapsed.In the end, only a hundred marines (35 percent of the first echelon assault wave) reached Petio Island. When the second and third echelons of Ryder's battalion left the atoll and headed for the coast, they had seen what happened.The boats unloaded the soldiers near the jetty.The soldiers advanced slowly along the foot of the trestle bridge, and some soldiers moved from under the trestle bridge towards the coast. The third echelon was almost wiped out Here, the artillery fire is also skyrocketing.Major Ryder, who had lost radio contact with Shop, immediately reported to Colonel Hull, commander of the eighth regiment, that his third echelon assault landing wave had almost completely wiped out the entire army, and the fourth echelon was quickly dispatched after a small number of soldiers landed. back. The Japanese army launched a fierce attack on the boats gathered near the trestle bridge, and the fourth echelon suffered a tragic blow.When Major Ryder retreated the boats out of the range of light weapons in order to regroup, he received an order from Deputy Division Commander Hamel (the Menlovia, who was on the transport ship with Colonel Hull), Yun said: Unless there is a special order, no troops can be landed again. Before noon, Colonel Shoppe had reached Petio Island.Next, a command post was set up near the center of Red Beach II (occupied by the U.S. Marine Corps).In this way, the commander of the regiment-level battle group can already know everything that happened on Bedio Island.However, the situation of the teams is still worrying. Among them, only Crowe's 2nd Battalion of the 8th Regiment was in better condition.The battalion's first-line positions were set up near the airfield. In some areas, soldiers had entered two hundred meters inland, securing a large area. Colonel Xiaopu ordered the Marine Corps of Lieutenant Colonel Jordan, who commanded the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment, to occupy a foothold at the scattered coastal bridgeheads (protruding less than 70 meters inland). From the report obtained by Major Scheidel, and the information provided by the flagship Maryland, Commander Shop judged that the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment was on the western coast of the island.About the situation of the third battalion, only so little is known. Judging by the circumstances, the two reinforcement battalions had to land during the day.The soldiers of the 1st Battalion of Keil arrived at the coast and were immediately assigned to the front line near the jetty (to the left of the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment).The Marines of the 3rd Battalion of the 8th Regiment who arrived sporadically were placed under the command of Major Crowe.In many cases, subsequent troops suffered more serious damage than the leading landing force.Due to the fact that the troops had been dispersed when they were about to land, they had already been torn apart. Hold on to the bridgehead Although the battle was extremely fierce and the losses of his subordinates were quite heavy, Xiao Pu gave full play to his indomitable spirit.At 13:30, Colonel Shapp, in view of the unreliability of the radio, simply dispatched an officer to the commander's boat, and reported directly to the division commander and the commander of the landing support force about the Betio Island Marine Corps. The state of affairs, while explaining the plan to attack the island, in order to connect the scattered bridgeheads on the two coasts before capturing the eastern tip of the island, it is necessary to launch an attack in the southwest direction. Xiao Pu didn't know how the battle on Red Beach No. 1 was going, but he hoped to land all the reserves that could be used on Red Beach No. 2.Sure enough, Xiao Pu used the reserve team skillfully.In order to report the situation to the commanders in Maryland, he chose Lieutenant Colonel Carlson as the liaison officer. Before leaving, he did not forget to give him a few words. You tell the generals, we will stick to this place and deal with the enemy to the end.