Battle of Okinawa

Contribution of Okinawa Battle to American Military
The Battle of Okinawa was fought between the Japanese and United States forces on Okinawa, which is the largest of the Ryukyu Islands. The battle took place from April 1 to June 21, 1945. This is considered to have been the last major battle of World War II and it was also the bloodiest of the battles. The invasion of Okinawa by the American forces was part of Operation Iceberg, which was a complex operation that aimed at invading and occupying the Ryukyu islands that also included Okinawa (Kan et al., 2018). In total the battle claimed the largest casualties of World War II with over 50,000 casualties for the US and over 100,000 casualties for the Japanese. The US believed that the capture of Okinawa would be a vital precursor to the ground invasion of the home islands of Japan. The Japanese, on the other hand, wanted to delay the eventual invasion of Tokyo by the American forces. Therefore, the battle of Okinawa was used by the Japanese forces as a delay tactic to the American forces invading and conquering Tokyo.
Landing on Okinawa Island
In preparation for the landing on Okinawa, the American troops had envisioned a massacre that would be worse than what had been experienced during D-Day. However, this was not the case. At dawn on April 1, American troops launched a large bombardment that was aimed at supporting the landing of its troops on the Okinawa beaches. The large bombardment was pointless since there was no resistance from the Japanese troops who were led by Lt. Gen. Mitsuru Ushijima. Since no Japanese soldiers were awaiting the American troops at the beaches, the soldiers could have just swum to shore. Within hours, wave after wave of troops, supplies, and ammunition went ashore.
General Ushijima had instructed his soldiers not to fire on the American landing forces. They were to watch and wait for them patiently in Shuri, which was a rugged area of southern Okinawa. As the American troops continued to move inland, they kept wondering at what point they would meet with the resistance (Suzuki, 2016). The only thing they did not know is that this is what the Japanese army wanted of them. General Ushijima had set up a triangle defensive position at Shuri that was aimed at protecting the island from the American troops.
By April 4, the US Marines and Army troops had managed to cut the island into two after their landing. The Japanese had remained silent all along and the first attack was launched on April 6-7 by the suicidal kamikaze planes and the Yamato battleship. The Japanese expected that the Yamato battleship would finish off the American fleet after they were weakened by the kamikazes (Suzuki, 2016). However, the battleship was easily destroyed by the Americans since it was not given any air support. The kamikazes were quite effective in destroying the American ships.
Intensification of the Battle
The fiercest resistance that the American Troops faced was at Shuri. The Japanese fought with great intensity as they did on Iwo Jima, and they did manage to make the Americans to expend heavy casualties with small gains. Both sides were using fixed lines and the defenders had a clear advantage since they had prepared their positions earlier. The Japanese made extensive use of the Okinawa caves and this allowed them to shelter from the American bombardment (O’Shea, 2018). Japanese troops managed to decimate American platoons until just a few were left. Most of the fighting was hand-to-hand and it was particularly ruthless. This slowed down the American forces and they were forced to seek for further reinforcements that were slow to come. The air operations were not effective in dislodging the defenders, which meant that ground troops had to destroy each Japanese fortification without any assistance. The Japanese had numerous entrances and exits to the caves, which made it hard to reach to them. The American troops made use of one of the six 105mm M7 self-propelled guns to blast the caves and pillboxes. The antitank company made use of the 3.7cm M3A1 guns. The amount of firepower that the Americans had gave them the advantage they needed in order to conquer the island.
The American troops were also equipped with water-cooled machineguns that used a .30cal. They also had 81mm M1 mortars that they used to attack the enemy. For each rifle company, there were three rifle platoons made up of three riffle squads with the twelve men being equipped with a browning automatic rifle M1918A2. The men also had M1 Garand rifles and one M7 rifle grenade launcher. It is considered that the American soldiers were making use of sophisticated equipment that the Japanese had not seen and this allowed them to effectively attack the enemy. In their arsenal, the American soldiers also had M9 rocket launchers (bazookas) and M2 flamethrowers. This were aimed at neutralizing the enemy from a far and clearing their hideouts. Even with all these sophisticated and new equipment, the American soldiers still face resistance from the Japanese. This could be due to the strategy that was employed by the Japanese of hiding in the caves. However, the battle was finally won and most of the Japanese soldiers would prefer to commit suicide instead of surrendering to the Americans. General Ushijima and his chief of staff General Cho Isamu both committed ritual suicide on June 22 rather than surrendering to the Americans.
This battle demonstrates the need for continuous reinforcements for troops on the battlefield. The huge number of casualties that were experienced by both sides does demonstrate the need for cooperation between militaries. The formation of joint forces between countries and allies allows for peace to prevail and with joint military operations, there could be an increased success (Sarantakes, 2016).
Conclusion
The American troops were prepared for the battle but what they did not expect was the amount of resistance that they received from the Japanese troops. The sheer failure of their aerial bombardment made it hard to destroy the enemy with joint forces and they had to rely on ground troops only. The Japanese strategy to wait for the Americans from a high ground gave them a strategic advantage and this was a huge hindrance to the American troops advancing in the battle. While the battle was won by the Americans, it was the bloodiest battle and stories of the battle paint a picture of bodies being scattered all over the battlefields.
References
Kan, H., Katagiri, C., Nakanishi, Y., Yoshizaki, S., Nagao, M., & Ono, R. (2018). Assessment and Significance of a World War II battle site: recording the USS Emmons using a High?Resolution DEM combining Multibeam Bathymetry and SfM Photogrammetry. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 47(2), 267-280.
O’Shea, P. (2018). Strategic narratives and US military bases in Japan: How ‘deterrence’makes the Marine base on Okinawa ‘indispensable’. Media, War & Conflict, 1750635218810904.
Sarantakes, N. E. (2016). Warriors of Word and Sword: The Battle of Okinawa, Media Coverage, and Truman’s Reevaluation of Strategy in the Pacific. Journal of American-East Asian Relations, 23(4), 334-367.
Suzuki, T. (2016). Bridging between “here/now” and “there/then”: guiding Japanese mainland school “peace education” tours in Okinawa. Journal of Cultural Geography, 33(1), 100-125.