Chapter 6 Four Japanese marines fight trapped beasts

When the liaison officer Lieutenant Colonel Carlson was heading towards the command ship, on the flagship USS Maryland, Rear Admiral Smith was thinking carefully about the fragmented reports of the landing force and the intelligence of the reconnaissance plane. What kind of assistance should be given to Xiaopu's second regiment, which is fighting hard on the coral reef?With the 3rd Battalion of the 8th Regiment already in the fight, Major General Smith was left with only a reserve infantry battalion, which was on standby for the landing operations. Colonel Hull was ordered to bring the 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment, under Colonel Shoppe's command, and then put the remaining regimental battlegroups in boats.At 1:43 p.m., the regiment headquarters and the 1st Battalion were ordered to move to the starting line of the attack.

Lieutenant Colonel Carlson reported the situation on Bedio Island to Hedlan.Twelve minutes before Major General Smith (Commander of the Fifth Amphibious Corps), the Second Marine Division Commander Julian.Major General Smith requested that the Sixth Regiment (Army Reserve) be transferred under his command. While waiting for an answer, the division commander ordered his staff to organize several temporary infantry battalions so that the remaining division support troops, signal troops, clerical troops, engineers, and artillery could be used on the coast during the battle.An hour after Smith's division asked for the reserves, General Turner gave him the answer, that is: the Sixth Regiment will return to the command of the Second Division.

Finally, it was finally decided to send the 1st Battalion of the 8th Regiment (as the last reserve force) to the island of Petio.Mr. Smith asked Colonel Shapp, where should the first battalion be landed?Another example is if the reinforcement troops may launch a night landing, where is the most suitable place to attack, and so on.However, the letter did not reach Shope.Because, the confusion in communication has not been improved. In the evening of this day, on the small boats on the starting line of the attack in the open sea, the soldiers under the command of Colonel Hull had convulsions, were drenched, hungry and tired, and many of them suffered from seasickness.At this time, the division ordered Colonel Hull to make a surprise landing on the easternmost point of Petio Island and attack Colonel Shop's coastal bridgehead.However, the order did not arrive due to a malfunctioning radio.All night long, the troops of the Eighth Regiment waited for this unreachable order, like a group of drowned chickens, waiting in the boat.

Send the deputy division commander to land The division commander was eager to know the progress of the attack plan, so he ordered the logistics officer (rear operations) Jess.Lieutenant Colonel Keku flew in the reconnaissance plane of the USS Maryland to report on the actions of the 1st Battalion, Eighth Infantry.When he reported that many small boats were moving towards Red Beach Two, the division headquarters became anxious. They thought that Colonel Hull was going in the wrong direction! In fact, Hull was not mistaken.What Keku saw were the boats of the artillery battery of the 1st Battalion, Tenth Regiment, heading for the island.Until midnight, the chaotic communication system began to recover.The positions of the headquarters of the regiment-level battle group and a battalion were confirmed and recorded in the division's combat map.However, it was still on the attack start line at sea and had not reached Red Beach II.

Deputy Commander Hamel was also a victim of communication confusion.He was ordered to go to the outcrop of the Long Trestle to find out what was going on, and then return to the Maryland to report.Hamel, who set off on the Monrovia with his staff, tried to contact Colonel Shop in order to determine the location of the command post.However, he was still unable to meet Xiao Pu. At 5:40 in the afternoon, Hamel finally arrived at the trestle bridge and reported that the area was exposed to the baptism of Japanese artillery fire.Then, he called the Maryland again, intending to report news about the fighting on the coast, but the radio set failed again.In desperation, he had to send a messenger to the flagship to report everything.In the meantime, Hamel was busy in order to tidy up the chaotic order of the trestle.

In the fierce battle, the D-Day gradually passed away, and the dawn came to the island of Betio. It was almost dawn when Deputy Commander Hamel and his staff left the trestle.They borrowed the radio from the minesweeper Bashoud to get in touch with Commander Smith, and prepared to report that Shop wanted to land the reinforced 1st Battalion on Red Beach 2. At 4:55 a.m. they sent a message from the Bathude.Immediately, Brigadier General Hamel received another notification and was ordered to visit the division commander.When he appeared in Commander Smith's office cabin (flagship Maryland), the normally smiling commander showed a sullen look this time.

At 5:50 p.m. the day before, Major General Smith had ordered Hamel to take command of the troops landing on the coast, and report immediately after setting up the division command post.Due to repeated radio failures, this order was not clearly communicated to Brigadier General Hamel.All night, the division commander sat dryly, anxiously waiting for Hamr's report, and worrying endlessly about him. When Hamel explained the reason, Smith's face returned to the former harmony.But he still believes that the reason why the communication fell into an abnormality was caused by improper handling.Thus, until November 21st, Colonel Shoppe still had to assume the duties of the most senior commander of the Betio Island landings.

The battlefield landed, however Even if the 1st Battalion of the 8th Regiment was able to participate in the battle on the coast on D-Day (the day the attack began), it must not land as a complete force.Such smooth troops are rare.Only Major Crow's troops, without much damage, reached the island of Petio in a smooth and controlled manner.Thus, Crowe's 2nd Battalion, 8th Regiment, completed Shope's task of capturing the breakwater of the bridgehead.From then on, Xiao Pu looked at Crowe and his subordinates differently. The Marines of the Eighth Regiment, perhaps thanks to several Sherman tanks, made it to the coast unharmed in the early days of the D-Day battle.

When it was time to start the operation, the second and third platoons of Company C of the First Tank Battalion of the Marine Corps Amphibious Force were ordered to land on Red Beach No. 3.The assignment of this unit to the Tarawa Landing Force can be called prescient.Because, the tank companies of the Second Division are all light tanks, and the 37mm caliber gun, the main weapon, is an excellent anti-personnel weapon, but it can't do anything with concrete and steel bunkers.The 75mm caliber gun of the Sherman tank has extremely powerful short-range shooting power, and it has become the nemesis of the small Japanese bunkers.

In order for the chariot to cross the atoll from the sea off the Red Beach, it was necessary to have guide soldiers, but this was not done because the artillery fire was too intense.The seven war troops had no choice but to pass through the bomb crater and the damaged boats, and moved forward slowly.One of them sank into a low spot in the water and was scrapped.At about 11:30, the four tanks in the third row entered the command of Major Crowe.At the same time, the three tanks in the second row headed west towards Red Beach No. 2 in order to find Colonel Xiao Pu of the second regiment. Crowe gathered the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 8th Regiment, plus Sherman tanks (to attack east and south), in order to increase the attack power.As soon as the battle started, a Sherman chariot slowly moved forward under the protection of aircraft and naval guns. Unexpectedly, it was mistaken for enemy troops by friendly dive bombers and was destroyed.Two more were discarded due to burning. One of them was declared ablaze because it hit a bunker with fuel stockpiled, and the other was burned by Japanese artillery shells.

The remaining one moved to the left flank of Crow's position in order to attack the Japanese concrete bunkers near the trestle bridge. The activeness of thirty-seven-mm guns Named after a pre-war British company that exported coconuts from the Gilbert Islands, the jetty extends for sixty meters onto the atoll.It is located at the east end of Red Beach No. 3, where Crow of the 2nd Battalion of the 8th Regiment occupies. It is about 400 meters away from the border between Changzhan Bridge No. 2 and No. 3 Red Beach.At the beginning, Company F (belonging to the 2nd Battalion of the 8th Regiment), which was advancing towards the Japanese position near Pence Trestle Bridge, was stopped by the crazy Japanese machine gun fire. At this time, the Japanese army fed a lot of hand grenades.Crowe immediately telegraphed Company G to reinforce Company F.The remnants of company K of the third battalion of the eighth regiment were moved to the position on the right flank. Company E enters and exits the triangle (constructed by the east and west taxiways of the airport). About thirty-five soldiers were ordered to guard the right side of the delta (I and L companies of the 8th Regiment, which landed around 3:00 p.m.).Thereafter, when Major Ryder landed, the group's soldiers were multiplied. Due to the fierce attack of the warship on the eastern end of the island, and the destruction of the Japanese defense facilities on the ocean side by the aircraft of the mothership, the surrounding area of ​​​​Major Crowe's battle line was full of smoke.Explosive smoke and dust have always entangled the marines. The cunning Japanese soldiers took advantage of this golden opportunity and launched hand-to-hand attacks. The battlefield presented a scene of hand-to-hand combat. In order to advance to the east coast, Lieutenant Boniman led the flamethrower and demolition squad of the engineers, and slowly approached the large bunker in front of Company F. At the same time, an infantry platoon attempted to move to its south side, however, the steel bunkers on the left, and the machine guns in the front position, almost wiped out the infantry platoon.Major Crowe made up his mind that it would be better to stick to the secured spot than to risk his life. On the runway to the east of the airport, a Japanese tank suddenly appeared. Company K of the 3rd Battalion sent by the 8th Regiment fired two 37mm guns one after another.Finally, the Japanese chariot retreated in the face of difficulties.Throughout the afternoon, this kind of artillery displayed incomparable power. It severely hit about 200 Japanese soldiers moving in the woods, causing them to scatter.At dusk, these guns were incorporated into the first-line defense facilities. As the night scene approached, the U.S. military was busy expanding the strength of the salient. In and out of the airport In this afternoon, the reinforcements of the Eighth Regiment heading towards Red Beach No. 3, Major Ryder's Third Battalion, were able to advance endlessly.At two o'clock in the afternoon, Major Ryder established radio contact with Major Crow.At the same time, proceeded to the minesweeper Bashoud, and explained the situation concerning Colonel Hull's 3rd Battalion.At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Colonel Xiaopu ordered the remaining soldiers of the other battalion (that is, advancing along the west side of the long trestle bridge) to land.In the hours that followed, the Marine Corps used various methods to explore the coast. With Colonel Shop's permission, Carlson delayed the Maryland trip.Then, the crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle was moved to the trestle, and the soldiers of the third battalion of the eighth regiment (which was being tossed by the Japanese artillery fire) were picked up, and the landing operation was launched.Major Ryder landed with a small number of troops.Then, leave the deputy battalion commander at the protruding end of the trestle bridge, let him gather, arrange the soldiers returning from the coral reef sporadically, and send them to the coast. After landing on Betio Island, Major Ryder walked to Colonel Shop's command post.Ordered to reorganize his battalion and Company L in order to occupy the defensive position in the airfield triangle.Since K Company of the Ryder Battalion has been combined with the 2nd Battalion of the 8th Regiment, it has been under the command of Major Crow in the subsequent battles. Thanks to the landing of Keir's Battalion, the central part of Colonel Shop's coastal bridgehead was able to gradually expand the front inland, and at the same time, it also gained a chance to breathe a sigh of relief. The A and B companies of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment suffered heavy blows when they landed, but the surviving soldiers were still able to advance inland. Although the two squads of Company A advanced to the west of the machine gun with the company commander, they were outnumbered and were finally repelled. The first battalion faced many difficulties.In order to smash the Japanese defense stronghold, it is necessary to take great risks and launch earth-shattering hand-to-hand attacks.In order to completely capture the Japanese bunker, the soldiers burned the holes with flamethrowers, and then blasted the positions with explosives.This kind of soldier's attack achieved an unexpected effect because the infantry launched endless support fire. However, the sacrifice in this battle is also worth seeing.In order to approach the well-configured Japanese positions (capable of taking into account each other's blind spots), there seemed to be no other way but to forcefully break through the areas exposed to firepower. Even after destroying a position, the road to advance is quite short, and the speed is more like a snail crawling.The sabotage operations were carried out again and again, and the sacrifices were huge enough.However, no one can walk on Petio Island in safety until the coastal defense belt is destroyed. During the whole day of D-day, the landing battle had to avoid the embankment with a height of more than one meter, and tried to touch the inland with a low posture. The assault landing force was very clear that the Japanese soldiers would attack them coldly.Even so, there must still be someone who takes the lead, standing at the forefront of the attack, and the others follow behind. On the island of Petio, heroic acts of valor seemed a matter of course.Many soldiers were buried in the fierce battle, not knowing the passage of time. The Sherman chariot also fought hard The three Sherman chariots aboard Red Beach No. 3 entered the command of Colonel Xiao Pu at noon.They were ordered to advance westward in order to break through the Japanese positions and reinforce the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment of Red Beach One.However, when the chariot platoon was approaching the Japanese positions (located at the boundary of Hongtan No. 1 and No. 2), they suddenly saw the soldiers of the first battalion who were in distress (due to the heavy artillery fire, they were struggling to use all the terrain) features avoid).They waved their hands fiercely, signaling the chariot to retreat as soon as possible. The three Sherman chariots were suddenly baptized by concentrated artillery fire.When they tried to rescue the advancing marines and changed direction to the left, one of them suddenly fell into a deep crater, couldn't move, and was finally abandoned.Another vehicle was struck by a mine and declared destroyed.The last one, firing 75mm guns continuously, broke through several Japanese positions. The focus of Colonel Shaw's attack was to cross the taxiway on the east side of the airport and attack westward along the main runway.At 1:30 in the afternoon, Major Kayle, the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment, landed on Red Beach No. 2 and assumed the responsibility of combat command.However, Xiao Pu ordered him and Lieutenant Colonel Jordan to cross the island and break through to the south coast. The 2nd Battalion of Jordan's 2nd Regiment fought fiercely in Red Beach No. 1, so that they felt the extreme shortage of soldiers.Today, the battalion can only consolidate the right side of the coastal bridgehead.Kayle took B Company to the taxiway to join A Company, while C Company widened its front toward the coast. The small troops fought fiercely for a long time, and finally completed the task of launching the front line, but the cost was too high.At sunset and dusk, they exerted their last remaining strength, dug trenches, and then hid in them to recharge their batteries. The troops mixed up Although the four battalions of Colonel Shapp's coastal bridgehead (Red Beach No. 3) suffered heavy losses when they landed and fought to secure a foothold, the marines defended at night, and the front line There is no sense of terror.After nightfall, the lost personnel arrived from the beach one after another. The 81mm mortar squad dragged the gun body, bottom plate, and heavy ammunition boxes, and brought heavy machine gunners and infantry squads back to the team.They were thrown into a front that was riddled with casualties. The soldiers who rejoined the team have already lost touch with their units, but this doesn't matter much. As long as the next day comes, it will not be difficult to rearrange them.At dusk on November 20, the most important question was: Will there be any Marines on Betio Island by tomorrow morning? Like the Central Coast bridgehead, the landing of the chariot on the morning of D-Day also enabled the battle on Red Beach No. 1 to start smoothly.The tank landing craft unloaded the 30-ton Sherman tank on the coral reef.Six chariots, led by soldiers walking on the coral reef, cautiously headed towards the coast.The machine guns of the Japanese army shot and killed the guide soldiers in the sea.After crossing the 1,000-meter coral reef, the Sherman chariot has arrived at the coast.The dead and wounded piled up on the sand, making it impossible for the chariot to move an inch.As a last resort, the Sherman chariot crossed the coral reef again, bypassed the headland at the bird's mouth of Betio Island, and headed towards the beach on the west side. On the way, unfortunately, four chariots fell into a crevice in the coral reef and were declared sunk.The remaining two tanks headed inland from the gap in the revetment embankment. Major Ryan, who commanded the L Company of the 1st Battalion, made full use of the overwhelming attack power of the Sherman tanks to prepare to destroy the defense facilities of Green Beach.Lacking the strength to sweep the front of Red Beach, Major Ryan was determined to secure Green Beach. As the most senior officer ashore in the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Regiment, Major Ryan was determined to take up battalion command. Increased defensive firepower At about two o'clock in the afternoon, Major Ryan organized his forces to attack the south, leading two chariots forward. The 81mm mortars of the battalion launched supporting fire, and the infantry captured the Japanese positions one after another, setting an astonishing advance speed. The Japanese shooting was not only fierce, but also quite accurate.A trooper was hit and set ablaze.The turret and 75mm caliber gun of another tank were damaged, and the front machine gun was also scrapped.The attacks were repeatedly thwarted due to repeated shortages of fuel and explosives for the flamethrowers.Despite the hard work and setbacks, the Marine Corps still reached the anti-war trench only 300 meters away from the south bank.The wounded soldiers' reception squad and medical soldiers were often baptized by artillery fire, which made them very distressed.As the Marines moved forward, the Japanese defensive artillery gradually increased.In order to prevent the counterattack of the Japanese army and prevent the excessive expansion of the front, Major Ryan ordered the attack team to retreat to the bridgehead on the coast. At 6:00 p.m., Ryan answered Shope's radio communication, reporting the unit's position during the night.But there is no mention of how far that day has gone. Up to now, the communication link has not been improved, therefore, Ryan's report has not been passed on to Xiao Pu, so that the latter still does not know the detailed situation of Red Beach No. 1. The radio set used by Major Ryan was brought to the coast by Major Rice, the deputy commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment.Originally, Rice planned to land on Red Beach No. 2, but due to the chaos, he landed on Red Beach No. 1.Most of the officers and soldiers who fought with Major Rice were finally placed under Ryan's command. Major Ryan actively organized an attacking force, preparing to attack the interior of Betio Island regardless of everything. Therefore, he didn't care about Zhang San Li Si, the number, arms, and class, and all those who had already landed were snatched up. Now, Ryan's strength plan includes: three infantry companies of his own battalion, the remnants of a machine gun platoon, two infantry platoons of the second battalion of the second regiment, two machine gun platoons, and soldiers of the first battalion of the second regiment, There are only a hundred in total.In addition, there are some chariot soldiers who have lost their chariots, drivers of tracked amphibious landing vehicles, heavy weapons soldiers, soldiers, messengers who have lost their weapons, and various special forces.These soldiers are used as reserve soldiers.Today, the officers and soldiers in the northwest of Betio Island, no matter where they are, no matter under someone's command, are busy digging trenches to prevent possible losses caused by the Japanese night attack. Mortal Resupply and Reinforcement After the daylight battle on D-Day came to an end, Major Ryan was busy raising ammunition, food, and drinking water.He sent part of his soldiers to the reefs to extract all that could come in handy from the wrecked or abandoned landing craft.After the sun went down, the crawler amphibious landing vehicle brought in a few supplies, but Major Ryan's mixed force was still able to make do with what they had. The battle on D-Day was more intense than expected, resulting in an astonishing consumption of combat materials.By the evening of the day, replenishment has become a big problem that cannot be delayed.For example, ammunition for various guns, medical supplies (especially blood plasma), radio parts, batteries, explosives, fuel for flame throwers, food, drinking water, etc. are almost zero.Major Ryan assembled a small number of small landing craft and crawler-type amphibious landing vehicles, and patiently launched the supply work by using the channel along the long trestle bridge No. 2 on the Red Beach.On the coast near the trestle bridge, there are mountains of supplies piled up.On the sea near the pier, all kinds of small boats swarmed together, waiting for the arrangements to unload supplies. In the evening, Brigadier General Hamel came to the trestle and immediately began to clean up the mess.He dispatched his own staff, as well as Major Laxian, the deputy commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd Regiment, to organize a transport squad to clear away ammunition boxes, water cans, and messy shells.Relying on the intermittent contact with Xiao Pu, he has learned what the coast needs most.Then, he stowed these things on the crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle, and the soldiers took on the work of transportation. Why didn't the Japanese use mortars? On the morning of D-Day, Captain Knowles ordered the Marine Corps to say: it is necessary to drive the small boats constantly and frequently transport supplies to the Marine Corps.Therefore, the captains of transport ships and cargo ships, regardless of what the landing boats stowed, transported them to land at a rapid speed.Because the crew members of the crawler-type amphibious landing vehicle thought that these things were indispensable for the coast, so they quickly delivered them to the beach despite all the dangers.The commanders of the ship, in order to unload the things on the beach, even those things that have nothing to do with Xiaopu's needs, have been transported in mountains and piles, so that Xiaopu was annoyed, and he immediately told the coast. Commander: This is not taking out the trash, unnecessary cumbersome items, don't bring them here! Brigadier General Hamel, in order to understand the situation on Betio Island and where Xiaopu needs to send reinforcements, at around 7:30 in the afternoon, he dispatched Major Tompkin and Captain Dutton to the Red Army. Beach No. 2.Just like marines fighting with weapons, the two of them reached the coast after a lot of setbacks. Although the surrounding area had already become dark, the artillery fire of the Japanese army did not restrain itself. At the same time, a new threat emerged.In order to occupy the wrecked ship located on the reef off Hongtan No. 2, the Japanese army dispatched snipers to touch the coral reef.Some even chose their shooting positions in the abandoned boats on the coral reef. Nightfall saved the lives of many marines from the fierce Japanese artillery fire.In order to reach the coast earlier, the US Marines tried to climb onto the trestle.However, their figures will always be printed on the surface of the fine sand of the white coral. In this way, they will become living targets for Japanese machine guns, so they finally gave up the idea of ​​convenience.To reach Betio Island, if there is one, there is no shortcut but wading. The marines of the transport squad dropped their cargo as soon as they arrived at the beach.They were so tired that if they were not restrained they would surely fall asleep and die.After seeing this scene with his own eyes, Major Tompkin was puzzled by the fact that the Japanese army did not use mortars. The beach was so full of sleeping American soldiers that it was almost impossible to get through.The Japanese could easily kill hundreds of Marines by firing mortars on the beach.However, why don't they do it? no counterattack However, the Japanese neither fired mortars nor launched counterattacks.The U.S. Marine Corps on the beach seemed to be in a fog.The U.S. military has been in a state of unease.Presumably the Japanese army must have sufficient troops to launch a counterattack, but why did they suddenly become mysterious?Regarding this point, the commanders of the Marine Corps believe that the Japanese army's telephone communication network may have been cut off when the US army was preparing to attack, so that the heroes were useless. It seems that the small units of the Japanese army are not equipped with radios.The Japanese naval forces also seem to have never used messengers.The U.S. military has never found this type of paper on Bedio Island (it was often found in previous operations).General Shibasaki seemed unable to coordinate a counterattack (a well-planned and executed counterattack in order to allow the actions of various units to be fully utilized).Or, he didn't think about it at all.Compared with the grandiose counterattack, the Japanese army's concealed tactics often hurt the US Marine Corps more. The augmentation of the supplies was declared a success.Lieutenant Colonel Li Kexi and Colonel Xiaopu decided to unload Li Kexi's howitzer to Red Beach II.All the artillery squads of A and B companies of the 1st Battalion of the 10th Regiment (Artillery) (one gun constitutes a squad) arrived on the beach safe and sound.As for the three artillery squads of C Company, the guns must be disassembled first, and then the personnel will cross the coral reefs and transport them to the coast.None of the guns reached Petio before dark.All the guns were left overnight on the beach so that they could be fired as soon as it was daylight. After learning everything from Colonel Shoppe, Major Tompkin and Captain Dutton went to visit the deputy division commander, General Hamel.At 3:45 a.m., they filed a status report.Not long after, in order to get in touch with the division headquarters, Hamel took the minesweeper Bashoud to sea.But Cliff, the staff and supply officer, was left behind.Lieutenant Colonel Adkinson, in order to preside over the transport of supplies. That night, about eight Japanese planes flew over Betio and bombed three times.The marines are all on standby in various bunkers.The first night of the battle on Betio Island passed like this.On this day, the Marine Corps experienced the true meaning of sharing life and death together in adversity in the battle of narrow escapes.