二戰日本最強將軍，一生一戰，美國人評價最高的日本將軍 #栗林忠道 #二戰 #重返戰場

This is the famous Iwo Jima flag-raising photo The soldier on the right is named Rene Gagnon Actually It was more than a decade after World War II had ended He still has a deep and lasting memory of that battle In 1965 He came to Japan with his family Specifically to visit the opposing general Lilin's widow personally gave him a stone a stone from Mount Iwo Jima it is said this is a Western-style military ceremony It also means that Americans show rare respect for a Japanese general What kind of opponent is it that makes this American soldier so respectful I am Da Pang Bing This is the battlefield's return Today let's find out about this Japanese general who commands respect from opponents Tadayoshi Rikin Ryūrin Tada was born into a samurai family in Matsumae City Nagano Prefecture Japan From a young age he was very intelligent skilled at writing essays and even gave speeches Moreover his academic performance was excellent especially his English grades were exceptionally outstanding That's also why his initial dream was to become a journalist During his student years Lillin was very rebellious once organized a strike and opposed the school What a relief he was expelled from school but it's good that his family's connections saved him What about the studious Liling He quickly passed the entrance exams for the East Asia Common Book Institute and the Imperial Japanese Army Academy From then on He chose the path of military service Later on As a member of the 26th student cohort he entered the military academy in 1923 graduated with the second-highest rank in his class and was awarded a sword by the Emperor Was granted the privilege of studying abroad unlike most students who choose to study in Germany or France Liling chose to go to the United States alone In March 1928 a 36-year-old man left Japan and came to New York USA becoming a knight captain During his three years in the United States Lillin learned to drive This allowed him to travel to many American cities he has been to San Francisco he has been to Los Angeles and he also became friends with Major General Mosley of the U S Army Witnessed the formidable power of American industrial might In Liling's own words As long as you press a button all industries will be mobilized to serve military operations During this period then He also painted and wrote about what he saw and heard sending them as letters to his family in Japan By 1931 Liling returned to Tokyo and was promoted to the rank of major However Because he wasn't interested in war it was actually because of his affinity for art He was often pushed to the sidelines by the high-ranking military officials After spending a few years in the staff department He had just been promoted to the rank of major general At that time it was already 1941 The Americans were tightening the noose around the Japanese The Japanese were The desperate hope to acquire desperately needed domestic resources through war but after being severely beaten by the Soviets when moving north the desperate Japanese were forced into a corner He aimed at the United States across the Pacific Ocean But Lin Because he had witnessed the strength of the United States he strongly opposed going to war with America He had repeatedly warned his family The United States was the last country Japan should have gone to war with Even though the military was already in a desperate situation they still launched the attack on Pearl Harbor As a soldier They had to obey the orders and go to war December 1941 Ryūrin was ordered to go to Hong Kong serving as the 23rd Army's chief of staff in the early stages of the Pacific War Americans have not yet entered a wartime state but the Japanese were also experiencing smooth sailing in the Pacific However even someone who openly opposed the military like Reiren was Because of the passive accumulation of military achievements he was promoted to the rank of major general in 1943 and was reassigned as the commander of the Second Jinwei Division Although he was promoted to a higher position in reality this officer' s main responsibility was preparation and training However even more ridiculous was the fact that less than a year had passed Lilin was replaced because it might have caused a kitchen fire A teacher was just replaced like that If it's not for some ulterior motive few would believe it Alright Let's return to the Pacific theater By 1944 the Japanese forces had entered a defensive posture in the Pacific theater The United States meanwhile captured several islands during that year Broke through Japan's defense line to quickly defeat Japan and end this prolonged war the United States decided to press on Launch an attack on Japan's inner defense ring That's best It would be possible to capture an island closer to the Japanese mainland So that American bombers Can reach the Japanese mainland At that time the focus of the competition between the United States and Japan was Iwo Jima This island was Japan's southern gateway defending its homeland and also a military base that the US valued Securing the island meant being able to continuously launch bombers to attack Japan by October 1944 The US military has drawn up an amphibious assault plan In this plan the US decided to assign General Holland Smith This unit has about 60 000 troops In addition the US military has arranged 800 warships and 2 000 aircraft for support These forces are All forces are under the unified command of Admiral Spruance but at this time these forces were still engaged in combat on Luzon Therefore the plan to attack Iwo Jima was put on hold until February 1945 when the Soviet Red Army was approaching Berlin and the European theater of war was about to be won The United States decided not to wait any longer and quickly launched an amphibious assault In contrast Japan at this point found that Iwo Jima could no longer receive support from the Japanese mainland making it a true island fortress So before the Americans arrived the Japanese high command knew this was a battle they were bound to lose but they couldn't avoid fighting Thus the choice of the defending commander became a difficult problem But this question didn't trouble Tojo Hideki He thought of the officer who had dealt with Americans before and had made many extreme remarks The forest path was quiet On May 27 1944 Linzhong became the commander of the 109th Army Division Just two weeks later He received an order from Prime Minister Tojo Hideki He was appointed to take charge of Iwo Jima On the eve of his departure He was honored with the privilege of a personal audience with the Emperor But in the letters he wrote to his wife and children later on Lin never mentioned this at all On the contrary He expressed regret over not being able to fix the damaged kitchen vent in a timely manner and included a detailed blueprint in the letter so his son could complete the work Prevent family members from catching a cold June 8 What's Lin doing is arriving at Iwo Jima to begin setting up the island's defenses He was very clear if fighting the US military head-o What would the outcome be With regard to Japan 's defensive traditions most Japanese troops preferred to defend along the coast But if they did not defend according to their usual habits It would certainly be subjected to overwhelming US military firepower What about the beaches of Iwo Jima There was no strong defensive offensive It would certainly result in heavy casualties for the troops That is Tsubayama Chūdō had to break away from the traditional Japanese military defense pattern and instead adopt a more flexible approach to defense Although This approach would make the other generals of the defending forces discontented But Linzhong who had already made up his mind had his own plan His gaze was They were stationed on Mount Yūzan and Mount Shōhōzan on Iwo Jima He was to withdraw his forces to the mountains inland on the island Yūzan and Shōhōzan are the island's high points It is very sturdy almost enclosing the airport although the two mountains are still some distance from the coast almost surrendering the coastline but on the other hand The Japanese forces avoided being hit by American heavy firepower and were able to resist by relying on the hills of Maruyama and Chihpo Therefore The new plan of Linzhong is to completely excavate these two mountains and then build various defensive structures based on the tunnels They finally turned the two mountains into a Japanese fortress Despite the other Japanese on the island opposing it Matsubayashi Nakamichi was their commander Therefore everyone had to comply with the order More than 20 000 Japanese soldiers worked tirelessly for several months digging up Zhepo Mountain and Yuan Mountain until they looked like a honeycomb Especially Zhepo Mountain which was the core of the defense The complex tunnel structure and energy points are spread throughout The total length of the tunnels in both places is 28 kilometers and many areas have been reinforced with reinforced concrete Even if subjected to battleship gunfire from the US military the safety of the soldiers can be ensured At this time Yuen Shan and Che Po Shan had been fully fortified In addition to the firing positions used by the soldiers The Japanese military also prepared gun positions living areas and even tank bunkers If the US forces wanted to enter the mountain they would inevitably be subjected to Japanese fire Even if they managed to enter a single passage The defenders could also retreat into other tunnels and even go around to the rear of the US forces through other tunnels to annihilate the US troops entering the tunnels to put it bluntly The fortresses built on these two mountains were enough to make the US forces struggle but merely having fortresses was still not enough in an island battle It inevitably carries great vitality while the opponents of Lenin's middle path come with great warriors and a massive fleet the United States military This gap in vitality is even more deadly This Lenin Street is the one that urgently needs to be revitalized otherwise it would be crushed by the US military's artillery fire and it would be impossible to even consider fighting against the US military Lenin Street sent an emergency telegram to the country The Japanese headquarters after much consideration They had transported 361 75mm and larger artillery pieces to him Of course these were just the ones that reached his hands How many were intercepted by the US military along the way All these cannons were tightly packed into the crates by Lenin Street These sturdy crates can effectively protect the cannons' safety They managed to survive the US military's counter-fire Effectively suppressing the American forces landing on the island In addition to reforming Iwo Jima Lenin Middle Road also banned soldiers from making fearless suicidal charges General Holland Smith told reporters after the war that the Japanese did not launch a banzai charge during this battle and he had thought all Japanese were brainless brutes Who would have known that the head of the Japanese army here was actually a smart bastard and also Lenin canceled the etiquette between superiors and subordinates to boost the soldiers' morale and confidence He required all officers and soldiers to eat the same meals share the same water supply eliminated long-standing grievances among the Japanese forces and made the entire unit more united To prevent the phenomenon of insincere compliance Lenin maintained the habit of patrolling every day Additionally he had already evacuated more than a thousand islanders before the war began The establishment of traditional Japanese military entertainment activities is also prohibited Even so Lenin still felt very guilty about fighting on the island and harassing the islanders War will not disappear because of a person's guilt He will still come when he is supposed to On February 15 1945 the US Navy fleet gathered near Iwo Jima to determine the Japanese artillery positions led by William Brandi Under the reconnaissance aircraft's guidance the surface positions on the island were bombarded and at the same time Brandi also sent 12 landing ships The landing craft landed on the southeastern coast of the island The Japanese artillery on the hill was unaware of the deception and fired sinking 9 landing ships and damaging 3 But this also revealed the position of the heavy artillery Destroyed by the US military's strategic circle After testing All of the US military's ship guns and aircraft The island was subjected to three days and nights of artillery bombardment The three-day bombing The US military dumped a total of 24 000 tons of bombs on the island Equivalent to an average of 1200 tons per square kilometer according to Admiral Turner's estimate of the US landing force even a barbell would have been shattered but in reality The US military's operation was as fierce as a tiger but it only destroyed 17 enemy positions and the Japanese losses were virtually negligible February 19th The unaware US military formally launched an attack at 9 a m under the cover of bombers and battleship gunfire consisting of the 4th and 5th Army Divisions The first wave of 30 000 landing forces launched an attack on the beach but they encountered almost no resistance the US forces faced their greatest obstacle it was actually the volcanic ash on the beach The tank drove over and immediately sank It was very difficult for people to walk on top As a result The tanks originally used to cover the infantry All ended up stuck in the volcanic ash on the beach Then the landing craft unaware of what was happening kept pouring people and supplies onto the beach causing the entire beach to become completely congested At this point the US troops just felt it was a bit crowded He didn't have much of a problem After all the Japanese didn't have many people left Soon they would take over the entire Iwo Jima Being completely unaware of the impending danger at the time of ten o'clock the Japanese forces gave the order to advance and all the artillery and machine guns were deployed The beach with a crowd of people was fired upon The observation post located on Zhèbó Mountain overlooked the entire East Coast from a high position accurately guiding the artillery fire The US Marines were caught off guard by the precise Japanese attacks the beach instantly changed the 24th and 25th Regiments of the 4th Marine Division It directly reduced the personnel by 25 percent The first wave of 56 tanks also lost more than half The beach became a target range for the Japanese The soldiers of the 4th Army Division advanced step by step through the hail of bullets and gunfire At the same time the warships also conducted a artillery barrage on the Japanese strongpoints The Marines launched illumination rounds toward the objective The fleet eliminated many Japanese strongpoints By dusk the Japanese ceased fire The Americans managed to hold the beach And it also successfully severed the connection between Zhebo Mountain and Yuan Mountain but the US military 's advance resulted in significant casualties According to post-battle statistics the first day of combat American casualties reached more than 2 300 people The legendary figure of the US military John Basilone also died on this day If you want to learn more about John Basilone You can watch this movie We won't go into detail here Okay let's get back to Lumina Island February 20th Four battalions of the US Army The US forces launched attacks on Zhabei Hill and Yuan Mountain respectively They met with fierce resistance from the Japanese army The US forces fought from dawn until dusk It had only advanced 180 meters Then night fell The battle of the next day was essentially over The Americans were afraid of a Japanese night attack The fleet fired illumination shells all night toward the shore However the Japanese forces followed the instructions of Rikin Chūdō and remained motionless without launching any night attack On February 21 the US military focused on Zhibo Mountain At 7:30 a m bombers took off first and conducted multiple bombings on the mountain Shortly after that The hidden Japanese soldiers emerged from the trenches after the bombing and began firing The number of American casualties and missing personnel reached 5 200 the next day The weather suddenly changed on February 22nd American forces affected by the storm were forced to halt operations for a day Taking advantage of the pause the 3rd Marine Division which was in reserve The 5th Marine Regiment took over from the heavily damaged 4th Marine Division and continued the attack on Mount Koko on February 23 the 28th Regiment had fought four days of bloody battles They finally captured Zhebo Mountain and raised a starry flag on the summit But at this time there were still nearly a thousand Japanese soldiers inside Zhebo Mountain By using the tunnels and the attacks along the way it was a desperate resistance On February 24 in order to capture the second airport the Third Marine Division launched a fierce attack on the Japanese positions The 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment advanced 730 meters with strong support from naval and air firepower but that was just a mere 730 meters The US Marines encountered nearly 800 Japanese pillboxes During the elimination of these pillboxes the Third Marine Division lost nearly a thousand men On February 25 the 4th Marine Division ended its rest period the three marine divisions that resumed combat began attacking side by side on Iwo Jima The four divisions are on the right the third division is in the center and the fifth division is on the left They advanced in a line toward Mount Yuan The battle continued until March 2nd The US military finally captured the second airport and Hill 382 In order to seize these two positions several companies of the Fourth Marine Division were completely wiped out A officer in this division wrote in his diary that many people he had known since the division was formed had already died and he no longer had the courage to send soldiers into battle By March 9th The US military split the Japanese defense line in the Yuanshan area in two the Linlin Middle Road the public announced the decision to organize and counterattack but when the Japanese carried out night infiltration The Japanese forces lost over a thousand men when they were discovered by the US military March 10 The US military split the Japanese line into two They then began expanding their gains on both sides The 5th Marine Regiment suffered over 75% casualties while fighting against units directly under Rilin's command The casualties of the 3rd and 4th Marine Regiments were also severe The Battle of Iwo Jima had become a meat grinder In order to reduce casualties the commander of the Fourth Marine Division Clifton Cates was Lilin Zhongdao sent a letter urging surrender but this letter was ignored and no positive response was received March 16th The US military announced the capture of Iwo Jima after 26 days of fierce fighting On the same day Reiko Nakamura sent a farewell message to Tokyo And then The command ordered the remaining Japanese forces on the island to prepare for a general attack on the evening of the 17th However due to various reasons the attack was postponed for ten days until the early morning of March 26th Lilin with his ammunition and supplies exhausted removed his rank insignia erased the names on his sword and other personal items and tied on a white sash The remaining 350 Japanese soldiers launched a final counterattack against the Americans And Linzhong also disappeared without a trace during this battle Some say he committed suicide by throwing himself into the mud others say he was severely injured and buried on the spot by a close aide and now no one can find him anymore The American military commander after the war openly stated that this was a battle without a winner Unlike most Japanese officers Rikin placed particular emphasis on family consistently writing letters to his family Also includes hand-drawn illustrations He wrote most to his beloved second daughter but never mentioned the war in the letters Later many of Liling's letters were discovered The Japanese military published a book titled "Letters from the Middle of the Liling Road to Huangdao" In 2006 the American director Eastwood was It was adapted into the film "Letters from the Yellow Island" Winning numerous awards including the Golden Globe and the Oscar After World War II What did a U S military history expert ask a serving general Who was the most outstanding Japanese commander in the Pacific War General Lillin