boyutpedia Chapter 777 Occupation of the North
Chapter 777 Occupation of the North
At this moment, the Japanese Navy's battleship Yamato could not withstand the pressure and began to capsize. Finally, a chain explosion occurred in the five ammunition depots on the Japanese Navy's battleship Yamato, causing a huge fireball, huge waves and thick smoke.
This Japanese Navy super battleship, once hailed as unsinkable, was blown into two pieces by American planes and sank to the bottom of the sea without firing a single main gun shell. The explosion not only led to the sinking of the Japanese Navy's Yamato battleship, but also caused the deaths of 3,063 Japanese naval officers and soldiers. In the end, only 269 naval officers and soldiers on the Japanese Navy's Yamato battleship survived.
The sinking of the Japanese Navy's battleship Yamato also marked the complete destruction of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, and also announced the complete passing of the era of big ships and big guns.
While the American planes were attacking the Japanese Navy's Yamato battleship, some of the American planes also attacked the Japanese Navy's Yahagi cruiser and other destroyers.
In the first wave of attacks by American planes, the Japanese Navy's "Yahagi" cruiser had lost its maneuverability due to the bombing of American planes. American bombers and torpedo planes took turns attacking the Japanese Navy's "Yahagi" cruiser with beautiful attack moves.
After the textbook attack performance of the American aircraft, the Japanese Navy cruiser "Yahagi" was hit by seven torpedoes and twelve aerial bombs in the attack of the American aircraft, and capsized and sank at 2:05 pm.
At the same time, the Japanese Navy's destroyers "Isokaze", "Asako" and "Kasumi" were also severely damaged by American aircraft. Finally, the warship commanders had to order their officers and soldiers to sink the warships themselves.
When the Japanese Navy's battleship Yamato was sunk by American aircraft, Captain Yoshida Masayoshi, commander of the Japanese Navy's 41st Destroyer Squadron, took over command of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet.
While organizing the remaining Japanese naval ships to salvage the Japanese naval officers and soldiers who fell into the water, Captain Yoshida Masayoshi, commander of the Japanese Navy's 41st Destroyer Squadron, sent a telegram to Admiral Toyoda Soetake, commander of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, reporting the current battle situation and asking for instructions from Admiral Toyoda Soetake, commander of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, on the next actions of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet.
At 4:39 p.m., Admiral Toyoda Soetake, commander of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet, discovered that the warships of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet had suffered heavy losses under the attack of American aircraft, and the original expected combat plan could no longer be realized.
Therefore, Admiral Toyoda Soetake, commander of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet, decided to terminate the special attack operations of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet at sea. After receiving the order to stop the special attack operations, Captain Yoshida Masayoshi, commander of the Japanese Navy's 41st Destroyer Squadron, immediately led the remaining four destroyers of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet to retreat with wounds all over their bodies, and returned to the Japanese Navy's naval base in Sasebo on April 8.
Before the battleships and cruiser formations of the United States Navy were put into battle, the Japanese Navy's maritime special attack fleet had been almost wiped out by the United States Navy's aircraft carriers. In this attack, the United States Navy dispatched a total of 386 aircraft carriers, including 180 fighters, 75 bombers, and 131 torpedo planes. The Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Maritime Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet only shot down a total of ten United States planes.
As for the eleven submarines of the Japanese Navy operating near the waters of Okinawa Island, due to the powerful anti-submarine forces of the United States Navy, the entire waters of Okinawa Island were under strict guard by the United States warships. This prevented the eleven submarines of the Japanese Navy from achieving any results. Instead, eight of the eleven submarines were sunk by the United States warships.
At this point, all the support operations provided by the Japanese Navy to the Japanese Army on Okinawa Island ended in failure. Although the Japanese Army Headquarters' air special attack operations caused considerable losses to the US Army, this did not have any decisive impact on the entire landing operation of the US Army.
As for the ground combat of the United States army on Okinawa Island, it had been in a relatively smooth state before April 8, 1945. On April 4, 1945, the 1st Marine Division and the 6th Marine Division of the United States Tenth Army successfully captured the central area of Okinawa Island, dividing the 32nd Japanese Army defending Okinawa Island into two parts, north and south, and then the United States army split into two routes.
The United States Marine Corps' 3rd Army attacked the north of Okinawa Island, and the United States Army's 24th Army attacked the south of Okinawa Island, while gradually advancing to the north and south ends of Okinawa Island.
The offensive force of the Third Marine Corps of the United States, responsible for the attack on the north side of Okinawa Island, encountered only weak resistance from the Japanese troops defending Okinawa Island before reaching the neck of the north side of Okinawa Island. It was not until April 8, 1945 that the offensive force of the Third Marine Corps of the United States began to encounter stubborn resistance from the defensive forces of the 32nd Japanese Army responsible for the northern area of Okinawa Island.
It was not until April 18, 1945 that the offensive forces of the 3rd Marine Corps of the United States basically wiped out the Japanese defense forces in the northern half of Okinawa Island. The offensive forces of the 1st Marine Division of the United States successfully reached Yumei Bay, and the offensive forces of the 6th Marine Division of the United States reached Hedozaki, the northernmost part of Okinawa Island, and on April 21, 1945, they occupied the entire northern part of Okinawa Island.
On April 16, 1945, the 77th Division of the United States Army, which had previously captured the Kerama Islands, successfully landed on Ie Island west of Okinawa Island, and after five days of fierce fighting, completely occupied Ie Island on April 21.
Compared with the smooth attack of the United States Marine Corps' 3rd Army in the north of Okinawa Island, the attack of the United States Army's 24th Army on the southern part of Okinawa Island was extremely difficult, because the commander of the Japanese 32nd Army, Lieutenant General Ushijima Mitsuru, deployed the main force to defend Okinawa Island in the southern part of Okinawa Island.
Moreover, Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima, commander of the 32nd Japanese Army, also ordered the defense forces to make full use of steep terrain such as cliffs, deep ravines and high valleys to build solid and concealed defensive fortifications. As a result, the progress of the offensive forces of the 24th Army of the United States Army was extremely slow.