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Red Alert: The Republic of China Text Chapter 656 Landing on the Five Islands (Part 2)

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    After China's massive landing on the Goto Islands, Rear Admiral Etsuzo Kurihara wrote in the April issue of Japan's business magazine "Industrial Japan":

    "Some people like to use my skin to take the enemy's flesh and my flesh to take the enemy's bones. I am opposed to this tactic I agree with the tactic of using my bones to take the enemy's bones. Every day  I can do this. It is suitable for Japan¡¯s national surname and its national conditions. This tactic is the so-called special attack team tactic.¡±

    Since the Battle of the Pacific, the Japanese have been trying to use "kamikaze" tactics against the Chinese. In the defense battle of Fukue Island, this tactic became an integral part of the defense battle.

    Since the landing, the Japanese have launched five large-scale "kamikaze" attacks on hundreds of Chinese warships gathered around Fukue Island, using more than 1,500 aircraft.  Hundreds of aircraft broke through the dense anti-aircraft fire network, hit the target and exploded, sending nearly twenty Chinese warships to the bottom of the sea and hitting another twenty-five ships with bruises.

    ¡°While this number is horrific, it fails to capture the true extent of the tragic deaths and the horror and heroism displayed by both sides.  Watching a plane crash into your ship regardless of life or death, the pilot is determined to blow it to pieces together with you, this really makes the blood all over your body freeze.

    In order to cooperate with Ushijima's retreat from Fukue Island, the Japanese launched their seventh "Kamikaze" attack on April 25.  Before the "kamikaze" attack, a kamikaze squad flew five bombers to attack Yomitan Airport in central Fukue Island.  Four twin-engine planes were shot down, and the fifth scraped the ground.  The death squads climbed out of the cabin and spread out, throwing grenades and incendiary bombs at the parked aircraft. The Chinese soldiers watched helplessly, unable to believe their eyes.  They destroyed seven planes, damaged twenty-six, and burned the oil depot containing 70,000 gallons of gasoline.  The attacker himself was killed.

    Over the sea, the "Kamikaze" aircraft has been flying towards the berth of the transport ship.  In the next twelve hours, one hundred and seventy-six "special attack" aircraft broke into the target, rammed and sank a landing ship and a destroyer frigate, and four more had to be scuttled, abandoned or withdrawn from active service due to heavy damage.

    The crazy behavior of the Japanese pilots made every Chinese soldier furious, but "this behavior that is so different from philosophy seems to be fascinated by hypnotism", one commentator said, "With a -  The "kamikaze" rushed down, and each of us was stunned, as if we were witnessing some kind of tragedy. In an instant, we forgot about ourselves and that we were victims, but involuntarily guessed that it was coming from high altitude.  What do those people think?"

    From this horrific and morbid fascination sprang all kinds of stories and rumors: Kamikaze pilots went into battle wearing robes and turbans like monks, they took stimulants, they were locked in the cockpit,  They are elite troops who are automatically trained to commit suicide; the list goes on.  But in fact, they are ordinary Japanese youths who volunteered to join the special attack team. Their goal is to die meaningfully.  They firmly believe that "special attack" is the best way to overcome the disadvantages caused by Japan's lower productivity than China.  Only one person can damage or sink an aircraft carrier or battleship, and let a thousand enemies die together with him.

    Twenty-two-year-old Second Lieutenant Yasunori Aoki, who was born in Tokyo, firmly believes in their slogan of "one aircraft, one ship".  He loved nature and therefore entered the Agriculture and Forestry College in Formosa.  During the military conscription, he enlisted in the Navy because "the Navy was attractive to him." He learned to fly airplanes, and by the beginning of the 17th century, he was already serving as an instructor at the Kochi Aviation School on Shikoku Island.  When recruiting volunteers to join the special attack team, every pilot, instructor, and student must sign on the paper. Those who are willing to go will draw a circle on their name, and those who do not want to go will draw a triangle

    There was no coercion, and several people drew triangles on their names without hesitation.  Aoki thinks that those who draw triangles are cowards.  Moreover, no one would live to see the end of the war anyway, so it would be better to die as a pilot and maybe sink an enemy ship.

    Anyone who volunteers to join the special attack team undergoes training: first fly at a low altitude of thirty feet above the water, and then fire at a control tower as soon as they climb high.  The aircraft they used for training was a slow, bulky two-seat trainer.  As the commander of his plane, Aoki became the navigator, although he thought it was unnecessary.  But without an official sitting nearby, the pilot might turn the plane around.

    The weeks passed quickly.  During the training, everyone was fully focused, and the task was performed a long time ago, so they didn't seem to take it seriously.  However, as soon as the training was over, Aoki realized that he had been sentenced to death.  As the aircraft was modified to fit the mission, the sense of doom increased.  Auxiliary fuel tanks were installed in the fuselage, and a bomb weighing 250 kilograms was installed on both sides of the wings. When Aoki inspected his aircraft, he couldn't help but think: "This is what I will fly."A plane that goes on a non-return flight.  "

    On April 25th, Aoki¡¯s flight team was transferred to Kanaya on Kyushu Island.  That was the base for the final sortie to Fukue Island.  He felt uncomfortable that his fate had been finalized, but the calmness shown by his companions made him feel inferior.

    At dusk, Aoki saw a group of "Kamikaze" planes flying towards Fukue Island - it was his turn to be the next group.  He returned glumly to his barracks in a small school.  To his surprise, the six pilots he thought had flown away were now in the barracks.  Their refusal to attack made the heavy feeling of inferiority he had just felt less heavy.  He thought, at least I am not as greedy for life and afraid of death as they are.

    At noon the next day, Aoki lay on the grass and watched helplessly as his fleet of aircraft was pulled to the runway and prepared to carry out the mission.  Suddenly, the ground exploded around him - the Chinese were bombing the base.  Aoki didn't move at all.  He told himself that it didn't matter if he was killed by the explosion. It was death anyway, and he just hoped that the next life would be a relatively peaceful era.

    However, when he strolled back to the barracks, his life, which seemed worthless to him a moment ago, became more precious than ever.  Being able to live one more day, or even one more hour, one minute, one second, is of infinite value.

    He saw a fly and stopped.  "How lucky you are to be alive," he exclaimed.  After dinner, the flight team gathered to receive final instructions about the next day's mission.  Each flight team can independently choose the flight altitude and route. Most pilots choose circuitous routes, heading east or west.  Aoki suggested flying directly to Fukue Island.  His driver, seventeen-year-old Yokoyama, readily agreed.

    They went to bed early.  Aoki woke up at dawn, feeling calm and composed.  He thought, it doesn't matter!  April 27th was the last day he lived in this world. The weather was sunny and cloudless.  He felt extremely refreshed and in a particularly good mood.  He has left nail clippings and a lock of hair for his family, and written postcards to his parents, four sisters and brother.  "My sacred land will never be destroyed." After that, he prayed to bless Japan to continue to exist after its complete failure.

    That evening, his flying team had a grand dinner together.  A chief executive gave a toast.  Qing Shui raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp, but later found that his friends only took a sip.  A news documentary photographer asked these young people to stand and take pictures.  They put on flying hats decorated with sun flags, held hands and sang "Sakura Blossoms at the Same Time".

    During the last inspection, a colonel stopped in front of Aoki and asked him why his face was so red.  "Do you feel sick?"

    Aoki explained that this was just because of drinking.

    "If you feel uncomfortable!" The colonel asked for his opinion and said, "You can stay and go to the next batch."

    "No, no problem."

    The crews of the fifteen planes boarded the truck, followed by a group of farewell people.  After arriving at the airport, they looked incongruous wearing life jackets with giant sun flags on them.  Aoki's pockets were empty, save for a family photo and two small wooden Buddhist charms - which he hoped would help him complete his mission.

    When it was getting dark, a farewell ceremony was held under the auspices of a rear admiral.  While the major general was speaking, Aoki heard a group of staff officers whispering and laughing next to him.  He was extremely indignant at how nonchalant these people were in such a scene.  Their chief instructor solemnly wished them success.

    "There is an observation tower on Fukue Island, which can confirm the results of your mission," he said. "Tonight is a full moon, and it will take care of you, so you are not alone. I will reunite with you later. Please  wait for me."

    Thirty people all shed tears and felt they had a clear conscience.  They knew that the chief instructor really wanted to set off with them.  They were grateful to him because it was his words that prevented them from becoming so mediocre in their last moments on earth.

    As the fifteen planes taxied to the takeoff line, the small crowd standing along the runway waved handkerchiefs, hats and flags.  From the roar of the engine, Aoki heard someone shouting "Aoki! Aoki!" He sat upright in his seat.  The person behind the plane, waving and crying, was chasing after him, a pilot who had refused to take off from the previous flight.

    Aoki felt embarrassed, as if he was being chased by a woman.  However, he smiled and shouted, "Come with us!" After saying that, the old trainer accelerated and left the ground.  It climbed high into the sky, and the sinking sun seemed to stop there.

    "How beautiful!" Qing Shui thought.

    At an altitude of three thousand meters, the young pilot flew almost directly towards Bird Island in the northwest direction, which is sixty nautical miles west of Fukue Island.  They will turn left over Bird Island and fly directly to the sea area where the Chinese transport ship is anchored.  There was an airplane flying ahead on the selected roundabout route, with a green light flashing below., there is Cape Sado.  This is the last light that can be seen before leaving the mainland.

    Aoki looked at it with all his concentration until it completely disappeared.  Aoki looked down again and saw a small island below. White smoke was curling up on the island. Was it some housewife cooking dinner for her family?  He couldn't help but think, you are still alive, but I am going to die.

    The clouds forced Hengshan to lower its altitude to 2,200 meters, but the airflow below was so turbulent that it had to lower its altitude to 1,000 meters.  They flew forward monotonously, hour after hour, and the time they expected to arrive at Bird Island had passed.

    Aoki signaled to Hengshan to continue flying forward, and then looked at his watch again.  Eleven thirty.  According to the original plan, the attack was to start at midnight, but there was no way they could arrive on time.  Five minutes later, Aoki ordered Hengshan to turn eastward and begin its descent.

    To disrupt enemy radar, Aoki spread aluminum foil, then he pulled on the collar to spin the propellers on the bomb.  In this way, the bomb safety device is removed and can be triggered at a trigger.  The dark clouds above had dissipated, and Aoki could see the moon reflected in the water.

    Suddenly there was a flash.  Then another.  No, it was the enemy shooting at them.  Yokoyama lowered the trainer to three hundred feet.  Aoki struggled to find the ship, but the flash of frenzied anti-aircraft fire about a mile away blinded him.  It still took a minute to fly over the ship, but the anti-aircraft guns were firing more and more accurately.

    "Go to the right!" he ordered:

    Fire snakes rushed toward them.  Tracer bullets! Then there was a rumble, and a Chinese aircraft flashed past.

    "Damn it!" He thought, he didn't even have a pistol, so what could he use to hit it? If Hengshan turned back at this time, it would be easier to provide the enemy with an obvious target.

    Aoki opened the glass hatch cover, stood up, and looked around.  The Chinese plane has flown away.  He ordered Hengshan to fly towards Fujiang Island.  Almost at the same time, they saw a destroyer sailing slowly south.

    ¡°Dive,¡± Aoki shouted.  When Yokoyama was training, in order to avoid colliding with a friendly aircraft, he practiced diving in a counterclockwise direction. Now, he had to dive in a clockwise direction, which was something he had never done before.

    When they approached the destroyer from the stern, not a single shot was fired.  Aoki was still standing, with his hands folded on the hatch cover, his face pressed against his arms, and his eyes fixed on the destroyer.  He calmly waited for the explosion that would shatter him to pieces.  Now that the enemy ships are so close, it is too late for the Chinese to open fire.  He was content and his death had meaning.

    When the old training aircraft made a rumble and rushed towards the destroyer, neither Aoki nor Yokoyama spoke.  With a splash, the plane crashed into the water.  Aoki found himself still inside the plane - it was only a double coincidence that he survived.  Because Hengshan had never attacked a moving target, the destroyer was safe and sound, but why didn't the bomb explode?

    ¡°Captain, come here!¡± Hengshan stood on the sinking fuselage.  Aoki climbed out of the cockpit, and then the plane sank nose down into the waves.  Aoki and the others inflated the life jackets that they thought were useless.  It was dark all around, just the two of them - no ships or planes.

    "What should we do?" Hengshan asked.

    Aoki, who had already put life and death aside, found it difficult to answer this question.  He felt that there was no joy in living anymore.  In the early morning, they saw the shadow of a small, hazy island in the distance.  There is no doubt that that is Fukue Island.

    Aoki said that they were heading upstream to the island, but their way was cut off by ordinary destroyers. They were holding hands and lying on the water as if they were dead.  The destroyer sailed beside them. They closed their eyes and opened their mouths.  A hook caught Yokoyama's pants.

    ¡°Kick it away,¡± Aoki shouted.  But Hengshan couldn't kick it away, and was dragged over like a fish. Aoki was still holding Hengshan's arm at that time.

    Aoki climbed up the ladder on the side of the ship.  Now, he is captured, but he can escape or commit suicide later.

    "Are you climbing up?" Hengshan shouted, not believing it at all.

    After getting on the deck, Hengshan stared at Aoki fiercely.  They were later transferred to a larger ship.  It was obvious that there was no hope of escape, so Aoki signaled Hengshan to commit suicide by biting off his tongue, swallowing blood and suffocating himself to death.  Yokoyama stuck out his tongue, and Aoki punched him one after another.  Despite suffering a lot, there was very little blood.  He later tried to strangle himself with a thick rope.  As he fainted, a guard rushed over.  Thus, Aoki concluded that it was fate that kept him alive, and he became a model prisoner of war.

    On the eve of Aoki's suicide mission, General Ushijima led the remnants of the 62nd Division and the 27th Tank Regiment and withdrew the headquarters from Fukue Island, leaving only a pretend defense.  The downpour coveredRetreat, but also made the retreat a severe test, especially for the wounded soldiers on foot.

    Since the wounded were evacuated from the fire line, they have had no medicine and almost no food or drink.  Those wounded soldiers who were still able to stand, under the care of Fukueshima nurses who were still studying at the Normal School not long ago, marched in twos and threes in the rain, holding on to each other's ropes and groping forward in the darkness.

    They were discovered by the Chinese after marching behind enemy lines for 24 hours.  Artillery and naval support ships blocked roads and intersections with gunfire.

    The next day, April 27, the command headquarters issued new instructions to the Marine Corps and the Seventh Army:

    "There are signs that the enemy may withdraw to a new line of defense and may launch an attack on our troops that threaten its flanks. We must immediately put strong pressure on the enemy, clarify its intentions, and prevent it from advancing or retreating. The enemy must not be allowed to easily establish a new line of defense.  line of defense."

    The Chinese army sent reconnaissance combat troops to insert the entire Fujiang Island defense line, but the enemy's artillery fire to cover the retreat was fierce. The reconnaissance troops reported that there was no sign that the Japanese had retreated.  The intelligence department of the Marine Corps also agreed with this view, "Now it seems that the Japanese believe that holding on to the northern area of ??Fukue Island is the best way We may gradually encircle Fukue Island"

    The Army thought it was time to encircle, but the Marines didn't want to wait.  On April 29, the Second Marine Division launched an attack on the Fukue Island highlands and found that the defense was weak.  They immediately charged towards the edge of Fujiang Island.  The defense here is relatively tight.  That night the Marine Corps intelligence officer reassessed the situation and now felt confident that "the defenders of the Fukueshima Front were nothing more than empty shells and that most of the troops had been withdrawn elsewhere."

    It rains almost all the time.  Under the cover of heavy rain, Ushijima escaped with most of his troops and set up a new headquarters in a cave next to a cliff nine miles due south of Fukueshima City.  Below the cliff is the winding coast.  Ushijima's retreat came at a huge cost to the Fukuejima people.  In panic, the local people fled south in droves behind the troops, and were left with corpses everywhere after being blown up by artillery shells and bombs.  Thousands of bodies were left behind on the muddy roads.

    On April 31st, the Chinese Army and Marine Corps cautiously entered the ancient capital Fujiang Island from two directions.  Under the attack of mortars, 1,000-pound bombs and nearly 200 cannon and naval gun shells, Fukue Island was reduced to rubble, with only two buildings remaining - the reinforced concrete Normal School and the Supervisory Council Church.

    Smoke was still rising under the rocks, and hundreds of civilians and their belongings were buried underneath.  The acrid smoke mixed with the stench of rotting corpses.

    The Fukue Island Castle, which took 10,000 migrant workers eight years to build, was completely destroyed by naval artillery fire.  Large pieces of the city wall are swaying like children's building blocks.  Only two bronze bells damaged by gunfire can still be recognized.

    The enemy's abandonment of this strong line of defense made the headquarters rejoice.  "Fukuejima's defense line retreated, but Ushijima made the wrong calculation. Now, except for dealing with sporadic resistance, the work has been accomplished. Of course, this does not mean that there is no battle to fight, but it means that the Japanese have no way to build another line of defense.  ¡±

    However, Ushijima found a natural barrier-a coral mountain three miles south of Fukue Island.  This mountain is formed by the overlap of Zaidake and Yaedake.  It is like a big wall, cutting across most of the southern end of Fujiang Island.  This mountain is higher than Maeda Highlands, more dangerous, and backed by the sea.  The Japanese will make their final resistance here.

    On June 1, the Chinese army began its campaign.  They trudged through ankle-deep mud, thick clouds blanketing the lowlands south of this formidable barrier.  The troops on both wings surrounded the peninsula on the east and west sides.

    To the east, the Chinen Peninsula was not heavily guarded, but the Koroku Peninsula protruding south of Naha was guarded by two thousand sailors.  According to Ushijima's orders, they had abandoned their facilities on the peninsula, destroyed most of their equipment and heavy weapons, and then retreated south.

    But in the southern part of the new natural defense line, they found that ordinary people had occupied most of the caves they originally planned to use as fortifications.  Instead of driving out the Fukue Islanders like the Army did, they returned to the peninsula and used small arms to repel the amphibious and ground attacks of the Chinese Marine Corps.

    On June 5th, the rain finally stopped, but the ground was still dry.  The road leading to Yoza-Yaedake has become a swamp, and Chinese tanks cannot pass through it.

    It was not until June 10th that the Chinese 732nd Division launched an attack on Yaedake. The Chinese Army named Yaedake "Big Apple".  A regiment of the Chinese Army established a strong position in the northern part of the "Big Apple" after two days of concentrated shelling and close combat.

    Ushijima had almost no artillery that could be used to stop the Chinese army.  Communications were poor, and infantry reinforcements did not arrive on time.  Before the Japanese army could effectively carry out the attack, the Chinese army had consolidated every position it occupied. By midnight on May 13th, the high road wasThe entire eastern half of the defense line had begun to collapse.

    The sailors who resisted tenaciously on Kuga Island eventually lost to the 6th Division of the Chinese Marine Corps, but the fierce battle cost the Chinese 308 casualties.  The bodies of the Japanese commander Rear Admiral Ota Minoru and five staff officers were found in the underground headquarters on May 15. The corpses' throats had been cut, and they were lying on a high platform with their limbs stretched out. The straw mats underneath were soaked in blood.  .

    When the fighting developed into fighting for caves one by one, nearly a thousand Japanese were killed every day.  That night, Colonel Jin Sanjun, captain of the 27th Regiment of the 7th Division, gathered his officers at the command post.  He stood on a small high platform and said that the Seventh Division was scheduled to launch a general attack at dawn.  But he couldn't do what he was told.  There were less than a hundred men left in his regiment, and he thought the other units were similarly depleted.  Organized fighting was no longer possible.

    Jinshan poured gasoline on the military flag, struck a match and lit it.  When the military flag was on fire, he said, "You have gone through a lot of hardships in the past three months. You have fought so well, and I would like to express my gratitude. I am disbanding this regiment now. You can find your own way out. If you want to go back to Kyushu, you can  Try it. I'm going to die here, and you shouldn't share my responsibility."

    His men didn¡¯t know what to do and were opposed to finding their own way out.  Jinshan drew his dagger, stared at his men, and warned them again not to "imitate" him.  He cut open his abdomen silently according to the ritual of seppuku. Blood spurted out immediately and his head drooped.

    His adjutant, Captain Sato, raised his sword and slashed hard, and Jinshan's head was missing.  Sato then shot himself.  Another lieutenant also drew his pistol.  "Long live His Majesty the Emperor!" he shouted, and then pulled the trigger.  (To be continued.
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