Did the US military win the battle of Artu Island because of the weather?

Did the US military win the battle of Artu Island because of the weather?

Prior to this, the only noteworthy action of the US military was to prevent the Japanese from sending more troops in Artu. 1on March 26th, 943, the sub-fleet led by American Major General Charles McMorris unexpectedly encountered a Japanese fleet that sent more troops to Artu. The Japanese army has four cruisers and four destroyers, which is slightly weaker than the American army. McMorris realized that if this batch of Japanese troops were allowed to enter Atul, it would greatly increase the difficulty for American troops to recover Atul, so he immediately ordered the fire, and the two fleets came and went, shelling each other for three hours.

In this naval battle, neither side invested in the air force, which made it one of the few traditional naval battles in the Pacific War in which only naval guns participated. The American ship did not perform well in this battle. The American heavy cruiser "Salt Lake City" was shot several times and lost its counterattack ability, so it was in a dilemma. West Genjiro could have ordered a siege, giving it a fatal blow, but he thought that his fleet suffered more losses than the US military, so he ordered the fleet to leave the war zone quickly and escape. In this way, McMorris was lucky to win the naval battle in Comando Islands, while Xixuan Kuzlang was dismissed because of misjudgment and cowardice.

Frustrated in the first battle

The failure of the reinforcement plan forced Jing Daole Yamazaki's 2,630-strong Artu garrison to face the US 7th Infantry Division with 1 1000 people alone. It stands to reason that under such a wide gap, the victory of the campaign should be within reach, but it is not that simple.

Although the Japanese reinforcements were defeated, the American troops were poorly prepared for the attack. In terms of equipment and psychology, the US military underestimated the huge obstacles brought by the harsh environment. Unlike the heat and humidity of tropical battles, the US military is greeted by endless mountains and polar cold. Fighting no longer takes place on coral beaches, palm trees and tropical rainforests, but on muddy semi-frozen soil and exposed hillsides covered with cold wind and snow. Heatstroke and malaria are no longer rampant, but hypothermia, trench foot disease and frost disease.

The landing plan is full of loopholes. The landing troops were divided into five independent teams, 20 miles apart, and landed at the same time, and then merged into a general attack. According to the battle plan, the new light frigate Nassau provided fire support for the troops. Regrettably, the US military did not conduct an accurate survey of the waters in Artu beforehand, and the Nassau could not reach the shore at all.

However, God took care of Americans at that time. The US military originally planned to land on May 7, but the bad weather in the Aleutian Islands delayed the US military's attack. The Japanese defenders were ready for all-round confrontation, but after a few days, nothing happened, thinking it was a false alarm, so they relaxed their vigilance. Therefore, when the 7th American Division landed on the beach in May 1 1, it did not encounter any resistance. At that time, the foggy weather was like heaven's help, so that the US military avoided casualties.

The northern landing troops landed in Artu first. The first landing was the temporary reconnaissance battalion, followed by a combat group of the 17 infantry regiment responsible for the northern landing operations. The fog all over the sky brought great trouble to the landing troops. They can't see the road clearly, so they push guns and vehicles onto the sand dunes from time to time. I managed to pull it out and sank again. According to the plan, the landing troops quickly expanded their beachhead positions, opened up landing sites, and the newly dug foxholes were filled with cold water. As night fell and the cold hit, the tired soldiers realized what the bad weather was in the Aleutian Islands.

By the time the American army was ready to recapture Artu, the Japanese army had been painstakingly operating on the island for more than a year: 2,630 troops were assembled and many permanent military implementations were built.

After the Japanese army occupied these two small islands, supplies were sent by supply ships every once in a while. This time, the US military met the Japanese fleet escorting the supply ship.

This time, the Japanese army suddenly retreated because the commander of the Japanese fleet mistakenly thought that Salt Lake City, which had lost power, was aimed at launching. Coincidentally, the Salt Lake City hit a parabolic shell due to the inclination of its hull, which landed on a Japanese warship. Due to the heavy fog, the commander of the Japanese fleet mistakenly thought that the US military had dispatched the air force and hurriedly ordered the retreat.

Since then, the Japanese troops on the two small islands have completely lost their supplies.

The U.S. military decided to attack Atu first, because this island has the least Japanese troops.

In the end, 549 people died,165,438+048 people were injured, more than 2,000 people left due to illness or frostbite, and Artu was recovered.

The Japanese army began to "die", leaving only 28 survivors among the 2,300 officers and men.

On May 3rd165438,943, Japanese radio reported shocking news: the defenders of Artu were "all defeated", and on this day, the headline of Japanese newspaper appeared in black: "All the imperial troops of Artu were defeated".

Later, the U.S. military seized an unknown diary of a Japanese military doctor who died in battle, which described the process of the Japanese army choosing the mode of death step by step. "On May 27th, the freezing rain continued and the pain was biting. We make every effort to let people rest in peace. Morphine, opium, sleeping pills ... There are 2,000 troops left 1000. They are all wounded, people from field hospitals and field post offices. " "On May 28th, we ran out of ammunition ... Suicides were everywhere."