Although he knows that the overall offensive posture of the US military will never be reduced or changed, Yang Zhen is a little unsure about the next move of the US military. Although Yang Zhen can be sure that Okinawa, the link between Japan and Taiwan, and Japan
As long as the Americans want to attack the southern gateway of the mainland, they will definitely attack it.
But Yang Zhen is a little unsure whether the Battle of Iwo Jima will break out like the period of history that he is familiar with. Iwo Jima and the Philippines, which were once American colonies, have different meanings to Americans. Regardless of the Philippines,
What position does it occupy in the strategic landscape of the entire Pacific battlefield?
Compared with Taiwan in the north, the actual threat to the Japanese, both psychologically and strategically, is not as great as Taiwan. But the Philippines is in the hearts of Americans, especially the Southwest Pacific who holds the most power and has great influence on the White House.
For the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, the status is different.
Although the overall strategic value of the Philippines in the Pacific battlefield is far less than that of Taiwan. However, 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, required that
Beaten.
But Iwo Jima, a small island with an area of only 21 square kilometers, does not have as much significance to the current overall strategy of the Americans as it did in history. Although it has some political impact, attacking Iwo Jima is not as important as it was in terms of
The political and military impacts are far less than a direct attack on Okinawa.
This small island located southeast of Tokyo, together with the Ogasawara Islands where it is located, constitutes Japan's mainland. It is the gateway to the southeast and is indeed strategically important. But for the current US military, under the condition of paying the same price, it is directly
Attacking Okinawa will be more cost-effective and pose a greater threat to the Japanese.
If the U.S. military directly attacks Okinawa, it will cut off the last communication channel between Japan and Taiwan. In this way, the heavy Japanese troop cluster in Taiwan will be completely isolated from the mainland. Compared with Iwo Jima, which is more than a thousand kilometers away from Tokyo,
Okinawa, which is only more than 300 kilometers away from Kyushu Island, is more suitable.
According to the geographical location and area of Iwo Jima, regardless of whether the true intention of the US military in launching this battle was as stated in the history books. But judging from Yang Zhen's current position and the long-term tempered
Vision, whether from a strategic or tactical perspective.
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 exactly halfway between the Northern Mariana Islands and the Japanese mainland, where the B-29 bomber group was based when the U.S. bombed Japan. Capture this island
The US military's P-51 fighter jets can not only provide full escort for bomber groups.
Moreover, this island can also provide an alternate airport for the damaged B-29 bombers when they return. To a certain extent, it can reduce the losses from air raids on Japan. In order to avoid those who have mechanical failures or are injured,
The expensive aircraft, carrying equally valuable pilots, headed towards the Pacific Ocean.
After all, no matter how advanced the technology of the US military's B-29 bomber is, due to the limitations of the times, the losses caused by mechanical failures are far greater than those caused by the Japanese. In addition, from what aspect does this island pose a threat to the US military?
Look, they basically don’t have much value.
But at present, the U.S. military's B-29 bomber group and fighter group take off from the aviation base of the North Manchurian Anti-Japanese Alliance, and the combat radius is only a few dozen kilometers farther than taking off from Iwo Jima. For the ultra-long range of the B-29 bomber
For the super bomber and the P-51 Mustang fighter, the difference is actually only a few dozen kilometers, and it is not the same thing at all.
From a military perspective alone, Yang Zhen believes that no matter how important the strategic location of Iwo Jima is, regardless of its size or other aspects, it is at most suitable for use as an alternate airport. No matter how fast the U.S. military's emergency repairs are,
It is impossible for the infrastructure of Iwo Jima to surpass the aviation base of the North Manchurian Anti-Japanese Alliance 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 it does not have to transport fuel and ammunition all the way from the United States. The P-51 fighter jets taking off from North Manchuria can also serve as the US military's bomber group.
Provide full escort as needed.
Of course, for the US military, the biggest disadvantage of taking off from the Anti-Japanese Anti-Japanese Base in North Manchuria compared with other bases is that it is too close to the Soviets. In addition, Saipan is another important base for the Americans to conduct air strikes against Japan.
The island is also difficult to compare with Northern Manchuria. Northern Manchuria is too close to the Soviets, which is what Americans hate the most.
But in terms of the overall strategy, after the Anti-Japanese Alliance agreed to the use of the North Manchurian Air Base by the US military, the only purpose of capturing Iwo Jima for the US military was to protect the bomber group taking off from the Mariana Islands. At the same time, it was officially announced to the Japanese that I am now knocking on the door.
Apart from coming here, it is basically of no great use. As for threatening the Japanese mainland from here, Iwo Jima does not meet this condition.
With only 21 square kilometers, this island cannot provide more help to the US military. Of course, apart from the symbolic significance of attacking the Japanese mainland, no matter how big the island is or how far it is from the four main islands of Japan,
After all, this is the real Japanese mainland. Capturing Iwo Jima is still quite significant in boosting people's morale and morale.
As a long-established capitalist power, the Americans still have a good way of propaganda. Their newspapers and radio stations, in some aspects, even overwhelm the Soviets who should be good at propaganda. It is easy to turn black into white, not to mention
Although this is a little far away from the mainland of Japan, it is actually a small island in Japan?
The U.S. bomber group stationed in the Mariana Islands cannot be compared with that stationed in Northern Manchuria in terms of scale, quantity, efficiency and frequency. Its 20th Air Force stationed in the Mariana Islands
, during the entire bombing period against Japan, he actually only played a supporting role.
Yang Zhen had believed for a long time that with the changes in the overall strategic situation, the U.S. military might not carry out the Iwo Jima operation. His actions in some aspects, in addition to wanting to continue the war if history continues according to the planned track, would
In addition to letting the Japanese troops on Iwo Jima teach the Americans a solid lesson, there is also quite a part of the reason, which is just to disperse Japan's mainland troops.
Of course, Yang Zhen knew very well that if the US military insisted on using those two fat guys and thin guys, they would not choose the North Manchuria base as the bombing take-off base. I am afraid that many reasons why the US military insisted on retaining the base on Saipan were because of those two
It's a thing. If it really were judged by oneself, Iwo Jima would still be in the sight of the top brass of the US military.
However, despite not knowing what they were thinking, the Americans finally launched the attack on Iwo Jima, which undoubtedly made Yang Zhen very excited. Because Yang Zhen had been worried, he helped the Americans remove their biggest burden.
After the Kwantung Army, the Americans would not have thrown those two things at Japan if they had not suffered a bloody blow.
Although the Ogasawara Islands are located more than a thousand kilometers southeast of Tokyo, Japan, and are somewhat far away from the mainland of Japan, they belong to Guam, an overseas territory of Japan, and the Northern Mariana Islands. This island is located in the Northern Mariana Islands, which is now in the hands of the US military.
The islands, the small islands in the middle of the mainland of Japan, including the Ogasawara Islands where they are located, are actually regarded as the mainland of Japan from history.
If Iwo Jima is captured, it will not be of great significance to the US military. But for the Japanese, it will be very different. Compared with the typical Eastern thinking that is still very particular about sacrificing thousands of lives rather than giving up an inch of land.
From the perspective of the Japanese, no matter how big the area of Iwo Jima is, it is the territory of Japan.
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 entering the Japanese mainland. All the islands in the mainland were captured, so how long can the core area of the empire last?
?If someone breaks into your home, won’t the empire be defeated?
In order to prevent the national morale, which has been completely low due to consecutive defeats, soaring domestic prices, and severe shortage of supplies, from falling into a complete collapse, the Japanese base camp must try its best to defend Iwo Jima. Even though this island is not worth the effort
It costs so much, but it's a matter of face.
Before the war, the Japanese base camp used various means, especially through some special intelligence sources, to obtain information about the next target of the US military attack, which was Iwo Jima. They tried their best to cross the sea and rush to the island before the US military launched an attack.
They sent a large number of troops and equipment, doubling the number of troops on the island. They planned to use this small island to delay the Americans from attacking the mainland.
At the same time, as in history, the Japanese built a large number of caves on the island. They hid most of their heavy equipment and troops in the caves. They also strictly ordered these troops not to move outside during the day, eat, drink, or sleep.
, all were solved in the cave. This caused the US military to make successive mistakes in judging the enemy's situation, although it said it would dispatch a large number of reconnaissance aircraft before the war.
In addition to transferring all the troops originally scheduled to be transferred to Taiwan to Iwo Jima, the army on the island was doubled, and the number of the navy was also greatly increased. The large-caliber howitzers and heavy long-range cannons in the Tokyo Bay fortress group were also transferred.
They were also transferred outside part of Iwo Jima.
The Japanese army also secretly built two airports on the Izu Islands north of the Ogasawara Islands and deployed a large number of suicide aircraft. At the same time, a group of naval submarines were mobilized around the Ogasawara Islands to form a submarine interception network in an attempt to protect this area southeast of Japan.
strategic location.
Although they have always believed that the next target of the Americans' attack should be Okinawa or Taiwan, the Japanese do not know why the United States is so crazy that they want to attack Iwo Jima. However, the conclusion drawn from all aspects of intelligence makes them remain honest.
A lot of preparations were actually made.
In order to ensure the progress of the Battle of Iwo Jima, which is only a thousand kilometers away from Tokyo, the US military sailed aircraft carriers to the sea off Japan in early February. It concentrated a large number of carrier-based aircraft to conduct air strikes on airports, ports and other tactical targets in Japan to make up for the loss of strategic bombers.
Not enough bombing.
At this time, the Japanese, whose navy had been completely depleted, were helpless in the face of the U.S. Navy, which brought the fleet, especially the aircraft carrier, to their doorstep with great fanfare. Although they also dispatched shore-based aircraft to fight and carried out air strikes against the U.S. fleet,
However, it was completely defeated by the US military, which had an absolute advantage in terms of aircraft performance and quantity. More than 200 aircraft were shot down in one day, and the Japanese navy gave up its last stubborn resistance.
The bombed Japanese navy, which was unable to stand on the mainland, had to evacuate part of its remaining forces to Busan, Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands in southern Korea. However, the transport ships that could not be evacuated for the time being at the Japanese ports were destroyed by the U.S. military's air raids.
The losses were heavy. Under the all-out air strikes of the US military, the Japanese army and navy basically lost their ability to transport troops in the end.