Chapter 1056: Rather Be Jade Shattered

Takemoto Tarō ran desperately towards the trenches behind him. At the same time, the American landing force had already leaped into the Japanese first-line trenches, which had been destroyed by the heavy cannons. The warships on the distant sea were now “greeting” the Japanese second line of defense with their big guns. One after another, large-caliber shells whistled over the heads of these U.S. Marines, boosting everyone’s morale.

A dozen or so navy fighter planes dived down from the sky, aiming their heavy machine guns at the Japanese targets on the ground. A dense rain of bullets scattered over the Japanese positions. The Japanese defense force, which had already felt hopeless, could at this moment only rely on their instincts, scrambling in what they thought was a safe direction.

These pitiful soldiers had only today understood what a powerful country they had provoked. And only now did they understand that their own flesh and blood, and their spirit of loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor, was no way to stop the enemy’s shells and tanks.

The tracks of a U.S. Marine tank churned up the sand on the beach. Accompanied by another Sherman tank that was driving out of a landing craft next to it, it slowly rolled towards the Japanese positions. Following behind these two tanks were row after row of American GIs, holding their weapons. There was not much resistance left in front of them, so their advance was not difficult.

Successive landing operations had given the U.S. Marines rich combat experience. They were good at using their firepower and heavy equipment against the Japanese, and this “unreasonable” style of fighting left the Japanese soldiers on the other side somewhat helpless. They lacked the means to deal with this “filthy rich” American tactic. At least, Japanese armored units rarely appeared on the islands to challenge the American Sherman tanks, which already crushed them in performance.

Although the American Sherman tank had been proven in the Middle East theater to be completely incapable of standing up to the Panther and Tiger tanks of the German armored forces, and even less so against the newer German King Tiger, this American medium tank, which had been spawned by the sheer quality of the German armored forces, could still, without any suspense, crush its Japanese opponents.

After these tanks had landed on the island, they had been able to inflict huge casualties on the Japanese army. Many Japanese soldiers had been ordered to carry anti-tank mines on their backs to blow up these steel monsters, but this kind of close-quarters, life-risking tactic was, in fact, not what the American tank crews feared.

Good infantry-tank coordination made it very easy for the Americans to deal with the Japanese’s desperate, close-quarters tactics. In addition, that dense artillery fire had really suppressed Japan’s already-few counter-attack methods.

Takemoto Tarō had finally, with great difficulty, crawled past the American artillery blockade and suppression from the first-line positions. His face covered in grime, he brought the news of the first line’s breach to the equally grimy defenders of the second line. Before he could even take a sip of water and catch his breath, the American shells had once again graced his vicinity. Because the second line of defense was the core of the Japanese defense, the quality and complexity of its construction was much better. So the American artillery fire felt here was not as fierce as just now.

The main reason was that the U.S. Navy’s cannons were in a cool-down period, preparing for the next, more ferocious attack. Most of the guns firing now were the 152mm guns on the destroyers. This level of attack was still bearable for the Japanese. Although the entire second-line position looked very tragic, it had not actually suffered much fatal damage.

This was a situation where it looked very bad, but in fact, not much had been lost. Most of the Japanese defense lines here were reinforced with timber and had also used many stone structures for support. In theory, they were designed to cope with the suppression of large-caliber American artillery. But after seeing the tragic state of the first line, everyone was uncertain whether their own line had the ability to withstand the enemy’s fire.

The U.S. fleet, apart from its aircraft carriers, now had more ships than the total number of the fleet the Germans had used in the invasion of Britain. In this situation, to attack a small island defended by the Japanese army was simply a case of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

After the American soldiers had entered the Japanese’s first trench, they did not rush to advance inland. This was also a lesson learned from countless failures. The Japanese liked to launch an immediate counter-charge after losing a position, using a short, sharp assault to retake the position and to effectively inflict casualties on the U.S. troops. So the Americans had also become cautious. They had more time, so they were not afraid to wait. As long as the beachhead was in their hands, then their own forces would become more and more numerous, and the Japanese would have less and less of a chance.

Major General Ishida, in his command post, looked at the temporarily quiet main front and, with resignation, threw his own reserves into the second line of defense. He did not dare to lose this position, because behind this line was the third line, which was not well-prepared. Compared to the first two, this third line was far from complete.

So he didn’t have much time left. As soon as the second line of defense was broken by the Americans, his troops would be cut off and surrounded, and the core of the small island would be completely occupied by the U.S. Marines, including the field hospital and the port.

“Have the soldiers who came down from the first line go to the port, and immediately blow up those piers. We cannot leave anything for the Americans.” With his hands behind his back, Major General Ishida finally gave the order to destroy the pier. Nothing here could be left to the U.S. military, otherwise the entire Pacific war situation would be even more broken.

By the time Takemoto Tarō had received the order to blow up the pier, the U.S. Marines were still strengthening their defense line. The other side was not in a hurry to launch a new round of attacks, as if they had been frightened by the Japanese counter-attack. So, after receiving some reinforcements, the Japanese’s second line of defense at least looked very solid.

Takemoto Tarō, along with a group of mud-covered routed Japanese soldiers, retreated towards the pier. They were to replace the elite Japanese troops who were defending the pier, to blow it up, and then to set up a defense there. The reason they hadn’t blown it up yet was mainly because Ishida was still fantasizing that he could get some supplementary supplies delivered by submarine from there.

Listening to the rumbling of the cannons that had started up again behind him, Takemoto Tarō felt that he was a very lucky man. He had, with great difficulty, escaped from the American artillery fire, and had been dispatched by a life-saving order to the rear, far from the battlefield. This was good news for him, a very reassuring message.

He followed his unit through the jungle, his rifle on his back, walking one step at a time along a slippery path. At a fork in the road, he saw two officers cutting down a signpost, probably so as not to leave it for the Americans to use.

Takemoto Tarō, who was familiar with the terrain, had walked this road countless times. He knew that the field hospital was not far ahead. There were at least 500 seriously wounded men there, who had been thrown away on the island, unable to be evacuated in time. The covering personnel had already been transported away in the previous evacuations. Only a few nurses who had voluntarily stayed behind were left to take care of these poor, wounded men.

When the tents of the field hospital appeared before Takemoto Tarō’s eyes, what he saw was a terrifying scene. The open space here was littered with the bodies of already-dead soldiers, many of them wrapped in bandages. It was clear that these soldiers were all patients from the hospital.

A dozen or so wounded men with bandages wrapped around their heads were polishing their long, thin katanas. Their eyes had become ruthless, a hair-raising sight. The entire camp was filled with the stench of blood. A few soldiers with bandaged hands looked with cold indifference at Takemoto Tarō and the soldiers who had retreated from the front line with him.

“Bakayaro! We, in order to save food, have already killed all the wounded who couldn’t stand up! How dare you abandon your positions and retreat?” a wounded officer, his face covered in blood, limped in front of Takemoto Tarō and the others and roared. “You should be loyal to the Great Japanese Empire and His Majesty the Emperor! You should have been shattered like jade on the front line when your positions were lost!”

Takemoto Tarō looked at the wounded men who had been hacked to death in their sickbeds, at the corpses of those who had plunged bayonets into their own stomachs and were kneeling on the ground. His whole body was enveloped in a thick feeling of nausea. He didn’t know how to defend himself, but in theory, he was indeed one of those who had been routed.

“We are soldiers who have been ordered to change our defenses, not deserters!” an officer who was leading the group, his hand on his officer’s sword, stood in front of the wounded officer and defended his men. “If you don’t believe me, you can go and ask Commander Ishida yourself!”

“An officer who orders his own soldiers to retreat? Ishida is a shameless coward!” the wounded officer sneered, and then pointed to the other wounded men behind him, his facial muscles twitching. “I’ll take everyone to support the front line! We will never live in disgrace! We will use our lives to defend the Great Japanese Empire!”

“Long live His Majesty the Emperor!” A few of the more lightly wounded soldiers behind him began to shout, following their officer. They were the most fanatical of the militarists, the samurai who were completely willing to dedicate everything for the expansion of the Great Japanese Empire.

Unfortunately, Takemoto Tarō had no intention of following these idiots back to the main front. After all, he was more willing to go to the rear, which had already been chosen, to carry out the simple and safe task of blowing up the pier. But this did not mean that everyone else thought the same. A few of the soldiers who had been looking down followed the wounded men and stayed behind. They were going to back to finish off the Americans, to be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor.

“Idiots!” Takemoto Tarō sneered in his heart, and followed his unit, leaving this field hospital.

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