In the later stages of World War II, the U.S. army, which launched an all-out counteroffensive, cut off the Japanese army's maritime logistics supply line, and defeated the Japanese navy that had lost oil fuel in the Pacific theater. In order to save their own decline, the Japanese aggressors came up with a method of warfare aimed at destroying themselves with the US military, formed a frenzied air force death squad, shouted the battle slogan of "one plane for one ship, and the British name will be passed on for a thousand years", and rushed to the US warships one after another.
In the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, members of this Japanese death squad flew a fighter jet full of fuel through the clouds and landed vertically on the US naval base with a momentum that would rather be crushed than tiled, bringing huge losses to the US military at the cost of dehumanization. The U.S. naval base was on fire, and the vicious faces of the Japanese Air Force have since become indelible horrors in the hearts of American soldiers.
How terrible is this perverted and terrifying Japanese Air Force death squad? Did the Japanese launch such a massive suicide attack change the situation on the battlefield? Are these Japanese really not afraid of death?
Friends who like history can pay attention to it a little, you can look at the videos of the past, and you will not miss the wonderful content in the future, likes and attention is the biggest motivation for our update, thank you.
Suicide attacks have always been the last thing commanders want to see on the battlefield, because this method of combat must cost the soldiers of the troops, so it has always appeared when the difference in strength between the two warring sides is huge. But what is shocking is that during the Second Century War, this inhumane way of fighting was vigorously promoted by the front-line commanders of the Japanese army.
At that time, the Japanese army formed an air force death squad called the Kamikaze Special Attack Team, and the soldiers of the team were all young students no more than twenty years old, who had been influenced and baptized by the spirit of Japanese Bushido for many years, and firmly believed in the instructions of the military leadership.
Young warrior
The Japanese military equipped the young soldiers with a special Zero fighter, which was full of explosives and only enough fuel to fly a one-way flight, nor did it provide parachutes. Although the Japanese leadership gave the kamikaze a prestigious name, in the final analysis, the combat mission of this unit was to die with the US army.
Kamikaze first appeared in front of the world in October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and made its debut as "four amazing". Since the suicide attack was used, the casualties of the troops would certainly not be small, but the kamikaze special forces wounded and sunk many American ships and warships at the cost of the lives of 700 Air Force soldiers.
It also included one destroyer, two battleships and landing ships, six destroyers, and eight cruisers. The kamikaze task force was spread throughout the Pacific Campaign, and this unit dispatched more than 4,000 times under the command of the Japanese military, not only sinking dozens of US warships, but also causing the other side to lose three aircraft carriers, and the flesh-ridden US military even began to think about whether the war was still necessary to continue.
American soldiers who have been on the smooth side have never seen such a battle, and are frightened and panicked by the madness of the Japanese army, and many American veterans who participated in the Pacific War have written war memoirs after returning home, and they regard these Japanese pilots who shout "Long live His Majesty the Emperor" and then launch suicide attacks as the psychological shadow that they least want to recall but are also the most difficult to forget.
The Japanese Kamikaze Task Force became its most hated armed force in World War II, except for the 731 Germ Unit, leaving a very disgraceful mark on the history of world wars. But throughout World War II, many people will also ask, where did this so-called kamikaze come from? How did their appearance affect the entire Pacific War? Did it slow down the decline of the Japanese army at the end of World War II?
Kamikaze old photo
In fact, the word "kamikaze" in the name of the kamikaze has a lot of roots in China. It is said that during the Yuan Dynasty in China, that is, between 1274 and 1281, Kublai Khan, the supreme ruler of feudal society at that time, was obsessed with expanding the country's territory, and twice formulated the Plan of The East Crossing, dispatching troops and generals, intending to pocket the island country of Japan with water.
However, Kublai Khan's southern conquest of the northern war for many years, making the Yuan Dynasty the most extensive dynasty in China's history, but here in Japan, the troops who went to sea on both occasions encountered strong typhoons, and the ship was destroyed and suffered heavy losses.
At that time, Japan had not yet undergone the subsequent industrial reform, the country's economic and military strength was very backward, and it was fortunate to be able to escape the disaster of annihilation twice, and regarded the two typhoons that blocked the Yuan Dynasty army as a blessing descended by the gods, and began to worship it, calling it "kamikaze".
Since then, the word "kamikaze" has taken on a rather special meaning in Japan, gradually becoming a symbol of glory, and once someone has achieved something, the Japanese will use kamikaze to call them. During World War II, the long-dormant "kamikaze" was once again pushed onto the stage of history by the Japanese invaders.
War is not only about the military combat capability of the troops, but also about the comprehensive strength of the country. In the later stage of the Pacific War, the US military, which had a strong economic foundation, strong industrial manufacturing capabilities and rich mineral resources, launched a comprehensive counteroffensive, while the Japanese army's combat capability plummeted after losing the maritime logistics supply line, and a large number of war resources were consumed on the Chinese battlefield, and there was a huge gap in logistics materials and troop strength.
Having lost all advantages in maritime warfare, it is no longer possible to bear the long war wear and tear. In order to end the fighting as soon as possible and reduce the waste of resources, some people in the Japanese army proposed suicide attacks. It is not surprising that the Japanese army was able to come up with such a method of warfare, after all, their Bushido spirit always emphasized dedication, encouraging soldiers to kill and sacrifice their lives for righteousness.
Kamikaze task force photo
From 1944 to 1945, the Japanese military formed a total of 8 such suicide attack squads, and successively trained more than 9,000 aircraft. In order to beautify this terrible way of fighting, the Japanese army also gave the kamikaze aircraft shells a beautiful name, called "cherry blossom bombs".
Cherry blossoms are Japan's prestigious national flower, the flowering period is short, but when it blooms very brilliantly dazzling, the Japanese army to the kamikaze special attack team aircraft to carry such a name, but also hope that the soldiers of the troops to remember their duties, inherit the spirit of Bushido, dedication to the country and the nation.
When it comes to the Japanese Kamikaze Special Attack Team, it is necessary to mention a Japanese soldier named Onishi Takijiro, who served as a lieutenant general in the Japanese army during World War II. This man did not have the "fame" of his immediate superior, Isoroku Yamamoto, but in fact he played no less than his superiors throughout World War II.
Ōnishi Takijiro was a Bushido enthusiast who was involved in the strategic planning, intelligence acquisition, and operational implementation of pearl harbor throughout the attack, single-handedly driving the outbreak of the Pacific War. As early as June 1943, Onishi Takijiro had proposed to his superiors that the troops organize death squads and adopt the method of suicide attack.
Later, the Japanese kamikaze special attack team also carried forward in the hands of this person. However, Onishi Takijiro never felt that his actions were contrary to human morality, he was active and belligerent, and always regarded being loyal to the country as the highest honor of a soldier, and the day after the Japanese emperor announced his surrender to the world through radio broadcasts, Onishi Takijiro committed suicide with a knife in his combat headquarters.
In fact, the decline of the Japanese army can be seen from the Battle of Guadalcanal that broke out in November 1942, which consumed almost half of the Japanese air force, while Japan, which lacked national strength, did not recover for several years, and the combat capability of the army plummeted.
However, the Japanese army's opponent in the Pacific theater, the US military, is just the opposite, relying on rich financial resources and advanced military technology, the US military strength is gradually improving, step by step to grasp the battlefield initiative in the hands. The decline and fall of the Japanese army is irreversible, after all, if it is a strategic decision-making mistake, it can be adjusted, and if the troops are not in good combat, they can send other troops.
However, if it is difficult to sustain because of insufficient national strength, the final battle result is almost doomed. But the hard-mouthed Japanese invaders were always unwilling to admit their defeat and tried everything in their power to try to save it.
Kamikaze fighters
In 1944, the Japanese invaders, who were gradually losing the upper hand in the Pacific War, drew up a new round of operational plans to repel or eliminate the anti-fascist allied naval forces on Leyte Island. The Japanese army was desperate, and the United States also made a decision, abandoning the attack on Taiwan, choosing to land in the Philippines and counterattack the Japanese army, and the Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf officially broke out.
At the time, Onishi Takijiro was the supreme commander of the Japanese First Air Fleet, responsible for leading all his air forces to the frontal battlefield in the Philippines to block the Americans. As a result, the Battle of Leyte Gulf became the first official battle of the Japanese Kamikaze Special Attack Team.
Although the Japanese army was full of confidence, invested dozens of warships and 4 aircraft carriers in the Philippine battlefield, and also sent more than 200 aircraft to escort the naval forces, but because of the continuous consumption of the Pacific War and the lack of domestic resources, the Japanese combat team was left with only a bluff empty shell, in fact, less than 100 aircraft could effectively fight, and the equipment performance was also very poor.
Moreover, Japan, which is the land of bullets, has lost too many troops on the battlefield, and now the pilots of the air force units are also inexperienced hairy boys, who have not carried out much military training and have been forcibly sent to the battlefield, and their combat quality and psychological endurance are very poor. If it were to adopt the usual way of fighting, the Japanese army would not be a rival to the US military at all.
The situation on the battlefield was not favorable to his side, and Onishi Takijiro was anxious and once again remembered the method of suicide attack. This time his idea was secretly supported by his superiors.
Warplane remains
With the permission of his leadership, Onishi Takijiro immediately set about the action, recruiting 24 young pilots to form the first kamikaze special attack team. After that, the United States and Japan began to engage in fierce fighting, and the Japanese army, which did not have the advantage in the number of warships and fuel reserves, soon suffered setbacks, and was wiped out by the US military a large number of naval and air forces.
Seeing that the battle was hopeless, Onishi Takijiro sent a long-prepared kamikaze special attack team to swoop down as quickly as possible on the U.S. naval base around the Deployment of the Philippines. The US military did not expect that Japan would adopt such a crazy combat method, and it was overwhelmed by surprise, so it could only quickly issue an order to let the troops retreat in order to save more living forces.
However, even if the US military reacted quickly and retreated to the rear, it was because these crazy people of the kamikaze special attack team lost many ships, leaving a serious psychological shadow, and many American soldiers directly called the kamikaze special attack team "demon".
On the eve of the battle
Because of this suicide attack by the Japanese army, the U.S. army lost a total of 43 large ships in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Battle of Okinawa, and other battles that followed, including several aircraft carriers, and more than 370 small ships were damaged and destroyed. Seeing that this method of warfare was effective, the Japanese army began to further promote it in the troops and expand the scale of the kamikaze special attack team.
In fact, the fighters and weapons used by the special attack team are relatively backward, and the fuel carried during each mission is also very small, most of the time it is only enough to fly a one-way, and even the return cannot be supported. This is also the consideration of the Japanese leadership, hoping to achieve the greatest combat effect with minimal resource consumption.
The fighter type often used by kamikaze special attack teams was the former Pacific Air Overlord Zero fighter, which had a certain air superiority in the early stages of the campaign, but was soon eliminated due to changes in the international situation and the development of American armament technology, becoming a special suicide weapon for the Japanese army.
Japan later developed a manned torpedo called Huitian, which was specially built to attack U.S. aircraft carriers, could only accommodate one soldier, and was not equipped with an escape device.
The Japanese were explaining tactics
In order to allow more citizens to voluntarily join the kamikaze, the Japanese military began to glorify this suicide attack method, praising the dedication of the special attack team. The Emperor of Japan also took action, commending and rewarding the soldiers of the special attack team who had previously sacrificed themselves on the battlefield, and awarding them the Medal of death and the samurai sword.
Before the follow-up kamikaze special attack team received the combat task and prepared to leave, the Japanese leaders would personally come to the front line to give a speech, inspiring the confidence of these young soldiers in combat and calling on them to die generously for the army and the country. Having been so steeped in such a cultural environment, many Japanese men are full of the "noble" idea of "loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor", actively participate in the kamikaze special attack team, and regard death as a homecoming.
However, such a state of excitement in the Japanese army is quite abnormal in the eyes of soldiers in other countries, and many people feel that this is completely an alternative thought control practiced by the Japanese leadership, and the soldiers of the kamikaze special attack team are a group of crazy psychopaths. But as the saying goes, the poor are afraid of horizontal, the horizontal are afraid of being stunned, and the stunned are afraid of not dying, and the kamikaze special attack team's open-minded way of playing has still brought a lot of trouble to the Allied countries.
In the Battle of Iwo Jima in February and March 1945, the kamikaze achieved the biggest victory since its establishment, successfully sneaking into the US aircraft carrier, not only causing heavy casualties to the aircraft carrier staff, but also accurately igniting the ship's cabin and ammunition depot, causing a chain of explosions, making this large weapon completely incapacitated and sinking to the bottom of the sea after struggling for hours.
In early April 1945, the Battle of Okinawa broke out, the largest and bloodiest battle of the Pacific War, which lasted for 82 days. The Japanese pinned all their hopes on the battle, dispatching almost all the aircraft that could be mobilized, a total of 7,000 sorties, and converting nearly 30% of the fighters into suicide attack aircraft.
This move of the Japanese army fully reflects their recognition of the kamikaze combat method, and also reflects from the side that the Japanese military itself understands that their country has reached the end of the road and is getting weaker and thinner. But what the Japanese did not expect was that the kamikaze special attack team did not delay the decline of the Japanese army.
On May 8, 1945, the Nazi German army announced its surrender, and the lone Japanese army still dreamed of using kamikaze special attacks to attack the American army, and its own defense line was broken by the fierce artillery attack of the American army. The Battle of Okinawa ended in a crushing defeat for the Japanese, in which more than 100,000 japanese suffered casualties, 10,000 captured, 783 aircraft and a dozen warships and ships, and the gateway to the mainland was opened by the U.S. military.
Fearing that Japan would make more unexpected moves of resistance, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the Japanese mainland, trying to completely cut off the Japanese army's back road once and for all. So from another point of view, it was the Japanese's unscrupulous style of doing things to achieve their goals that accelerated the decline of their own armies in World War II.
Brutal air combat
The kamikaze suicide attack can play more combat effective than the usual air combat, but this is all at a huge cost behind it. The reason why the Japanese army launched a war of aggression was because they made strategic preparations with the strength of the whole country.
However, the time for the Japanese military to officially carry out changes was only a few decades after the industrial reform, and both material reserves and human resources were far inferior to those of other deep-rooted Western countries. Later in the campaign, the rate of depletion of Japanese aircraft far exceeded their production rate, and even the Zero fighter piloted by the Kamikaze could not be replenished in time.
Because the young and middle-aged men in the country suffered casualties, the recruits recruited by Japan were all teenagers who were sent to the battlefield to fill the gap in the military without receiving professional military education. Before these young soldiers had been fully civilized by the Japanese spirit of Bushido, they faced the cruelty of war and witnessed their comrades flying fighter jets and dying with the enemy.
Many people began to feel that this method of warfare was wrong, not only could not change the outcome of the war, but also sacrificed the lives of soldiers in vain, so the voice of opposition to the kamikaze special attack team gradually appeared within the Japanese military. Later, this kind of thinking spread, even the members of the kamikaze special attack team heard about it, and everyone was not stupid, seeing that the country's defeat had been decided, they began to wonder whether there was still a need to continue fighting.
Some kamikaze soldiers began to be passive and sluggish, or applied to their superiors to be transferred out of the team, not intending to continue this crazy way of fighting, blindly sacrificing. There are also some soldiers who did not join the team voluntarily, but were just selected by the Japanese military, or because they had a certain amount of flying experience and combat skills.
Kamikaze soldiers will write a suicide note before each combat mission, the early Japanese side will monitor the writing process of the soldiers, only allow them to write some good words of praise and praise, the later Japanese army has no extra energy to carry out this work, the kamikaze team members began to write their true thoughts in the suicide note, a Japanese soldier wrote in his suicide note: "This is not my intention, my life has been decided by others." ”
However, the brutal and inhumane Japanese military did not feel pity for these young soldiers, and the anti-war sentiment in the kamikaze team intensified, but the Japanese army still insisted that all of them obey the command, and would send accompanying fighters to supervise the kamikaze, and as soon as they found that someone tried to leave the team and withdraw from the war, they would shoot it down immediately.
Of course, there were also some Japanese soldiers who insisted on sacrificing everything for the country from beginning to end, and they still carried out this suffocating suicide attack. But the sacrifices of these Japanese soldiers did not turn their country into victory, and on August 15, 1945, Japan's Emperor Hirohito officially announced his unconditional surrender, and World War II came to an end, and the crazy kamikaze finally withdrew from the war stage.
But these kamikaze members who claimed to fight for national honor certainly did not expect that they had made such a great sacrifice and were abandoned by the state after the war was over. Japan, which has entered the era of peace, not only denies the authenticity of the Nanjing Massacre and publishes the so-called "comfort women voluntary theory", but also regards the kamikaze special attack team as its own bad deeds and tries to erase their existence.
The war is cruel, and many soldiers have the firm confidence of throwing their heads and spilling blood for the country to kill the enemy and lose their lives in the fierce battle. From the perspective of the Japanese people, the kamikaze soldiers can certainly be called loyal to the country, but for those who are forced to embark on this path, their right to live has been brutally deprived.
From the perspective of the whole history, the war of aggression launched by Japan was originally unjust, and the sacrifices of these soldiers were in vain. Nowadays, the smoke of World War II has long since dissipated, but history is not only a memory of the past, but also a driving force for today's development, and we must always be vigilant against The right-wing elements in Japan and guard the peace and stability of the country.
The pinnacle of World War II suicide attacks! The Japanese Air Force used human bodies to make missiles and attacked American warships in a desperate way