boyutpedia Chapter 781: Special Operations of Yihao
Chapter 781: Special Operations of Yihao
In the "Operation Gi-go" plan, Captain Michiro Okuyama, the captain of the "Giretsu Airborne Team", commanded three teams of Japanese airborne troops to board eight planes to attack Yomitan Airport on Okinawa Island occupied by the American army, while Captain Suwabe Watanabe, the deputy captain, led two teams of Japanese airborne troops to board four planes to attack Kadena Airport on Okinawa Island occupied by the American army. The attack was scheduled for May 23rd.
In order to ensure the success of this military operation, in addition to a short period of simulation training, the Japanese Army's ordnance department also developed two special blasting equipment for the paratroopers participating in the "Yiretsu Operation".
They are strip explosives and adsorption explosives. The so-called strip explosives are strip explosives tied to a five-meter-long hemp rope with a lead sinker on one end and a ignition device on the other end. When in use, the Japanese paratroopers would throw the explosives above the American plane at the airport and let the lead sinker fall to the other side of the fuselage. In this way, the explosives would attach to the fuselage of the American plane and then be detonated by pulling the ignition device.
The adsorption explosive is a 1.5-meter-long wooden pole with four kilograms of explosives on the top, equipped with a fuse and a ignition device. There is a rubber suction cup on the top of the explosive, which can firmly adsorb the explosive to the root of the wing of the American bomber and then ignite it to destroy the plane.
However, when the day of departure for Operation Yihao arrived, the raid was delayed until May 24 due to weather conditions.
At 8:40 p.m. on May 24, twelve Japanese planes carrying the "Yi Lie Airborne Team" began to take off one after another. However, four Japanese planes were forced to return or make emergency landings due to mechanical failures. Another four Japanese planes were shot down by anti-aircraft fire from the United States army when approaching Okinawa Island. All the Japanese airborne troops on board were killed, without exception.
In the end, of the twelve Japanese planes of the "Yi Lie Airborne Team", only four planes carrying paratroopers, with the spirit of being ready to die, broke through the anti-aircraft firepower of the American army and arrived above the target airport.
At Kadena Airport on Okinawa Island, in addition to the parachuting Japanese paratroopers, there was also a Japanese plane that made an emergency landing on the airport with its belly landing. The commandos of the Japanese airborne troops on this plane jumped out of the cabin without waiting for the plane to come to a complete stop, and frantically threw grenades, incendiary bombs and other explosives at the American plane parked at the airport.
The airport garrison of the American army finally reacted and hurriedly opened fire to fight back. After a fierce and brief exchange of fire, the Japanese "Yiretsu Airborne Team" commando team that landed at the airport, along with the crew members, a total of 56 officers and soldiers, were all wiped out by the American army, and none escaped.
In this battle, the American army suffered very little loss in personnel, with only two deaths and eighteen injuries. However, since the combat goal of the Japanese "Yiretsu Airborne Team" was to destroy the American army's aircraft, the American army still suffered considerable losses in equipment.
On the U.S. military side, at least seven fighter planes were destroyed, 26 aircraft were damaged to varying degrees, and more than 70,000 gallons of aviation gasoline stored at the airport were ignited by officers and soldiers of the Japanese "Yiretsu Airborne Team."
This caused a fire at Kadena Airport on Okinawa Island, which was not put out until 8 o'clock in the evening on May 26. On the other side, the fire at Yomitan Airport continued to burn until the morning of May 27 before it was completely extinguished. The two airports of the United States army on Okinawa Island were paralyzed for nearly three days and three nights due to the attack of the Japanese airborne troops before returning to normal.
However, the Japanese army's luck was not very good. On May 26th and May 27th, the weather conditions over the Japanese mainland were bad. The Japanese headquarters could not use the favorable fighter planes created by the Japanese airborne detachment to launch an attack on the United States' air force on Okinawa Island.
However, the fact that the Japanese army dared to carry out such an airborne suicide assault under such an unfavorable situation, especially when they had basically lost air superiority, was completely beyond the expectations of the American army and also achieved considerable results.
This special attack operation organized by the Japanese airborne troops was just an episode. The fierce battle between the Japanese 32nd Army and the United States' offensive forces on Okinawa Island was still going on fiercely. On May 27, 1945, the United States' offensive forces captured Naha and continued to attack Shuri Castle, the capital of Okinawa Island.
On May 31, 1945, the United States' offensive forces finally made significant progress. The United States Marines entered the ruined Shuri Castle and broke through the Shuri defense line in the core defense zone of the Japanese 32nd Army.
Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the United States Tenth Army, was filled with joy at this outcome. He believed that as long as the United States' offensive forces occupied Shuri Castle, the capital of Okinawa, it would mean that the battle on Okinawa Island would be over.
However, Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the United States' 10th Army, was completely wrong. The occupation of Shuri Castle, the capital of Okinawa, by the United States' offensive forces made the desperate struggle of the Japanese 32nd Army's defense forces on Okinawa Island even more frantic.
Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima, commander of the 32nd Japanese Army, led the remaining troops of the 32nd Japanese Army to retreat about ten kilometers to the last line of defense carefully built by the 32nd Japanese Army on the southern tip of Okinawa Island.
The last line of defense of the Japanese 32nd Army on Okinawa Island was a natural barrier formed by two mountains. The terrain was rugged and steep. The defensive forces of the Japanese 32nd Army made full use of the terrain and built ingeniously hidden artillery positions and tunnel fortifications. The commander of the Japanese 32nd Army, Lieutenant General Ushijima Mitsuru, was also determined to rely on the last line of defense and fight to the last soldier on Okinawa Island.
Therefore, the resistance of the Japanese 32nd Army's defensive forces did not weaken in the slightest due to the loss of Shuri Castle, the capital of Okinawa. The United States' offensive forces still mainly relied on advanced flamethrower tanks to open the way, which allowed many Japanese officers and soldiers on fire to rush out of the defensive positions and hugged the soldiers of the United States' offensive forces to die together.
Under the frenzied blocking of the Japanese 32nd Army's defensive forces, the United States' offensive forces still found it extremely difficult to advance one meter. Faced with the even more frenzied resistance of the Japanese 32nd Army's defensive forces, the United States' offensive forces fought back with even more intense artillery fire.