Born on July 7, 1891 in Saijo Village, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, Kuribayashi, who was about to take up his post on Iwo Jima, aspired to be a journalist as a child. After graduating from the 26th Class of the Army Non-Commissioned Officer School in May 1914, he was assigned to the Fifteenth Cavalry Regiment as a cavalry second lieutenant. In December 1915, Kuribayashi entered the Otsu Army Cavalry School for further study, and after graduating in November 1916, he was promoted to cavalry lieutenant in July 1918. In December 1920, Kuribayashi entered the 35th term of the Army University, was promoted to lieutenant in August 1923, and graduated in November of the same year with honors in the second seat of the saber group,the chief of which was Yoshisuke Fujimuro, director of the Technical Department of the Army's General Warfare Research Office, who died of illness in 1942.
Overlooking Iwo Jima
On December 8, 1923, Kuribayashi, who had just graduated a month ago, married Yoko Yoshii, a fellow villager in Nagano Prefecture, which can be described as "the night of the cave flower candle and the time of the golden list inscription". This particular family seems to have an indissoluble connection with the war: Kuribayashi's birthday, July 7, is the day of the Lugou Bridge Incident, Yoko's birthday, August 15, is the day of Japan's surrender, and their wedding anniversary coincides with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
In March 1928, Kurita was ordered to go to the United States as an assistant military attaché at the Japanese Embassy in Washington. During this time, Kuribayashi studied at Harvard University and also went to Bliss Battery in Texas for short-term training. This rare experience in the United States made him a rare "American pass" in the Japanese Army. Li Lin was deeply impressed by the powerful industrial strength of the United States, and knew that the saying that "the young soldiers of the United States are greedy and afraid of death" is purely self-deception. On the contrary, he was full of respect for the spirit and vitality of Americans. In February 1930, Kuribayashi was ordered to return to China, and the following month he was promoted to army junior. In September 1931, Kuribayashi traveled again to the Americas as an assistant military attaché at the Japanese Embassy in Canada. These experiences broadened Kuribayashi's international horizons, and he later strongly opposed Japan's war with Britain and the United States, saying things like "The country Japan should least be at war with is the United States." This is extremely rare in the Japanese Army, which is known for its madness.
Iwo
In August 1933, Kuribayashi was promoted to Army Lieutenant commander and returned to Japan to serve as a member of the Horse Administration Division of the Military Affairs Bureau of the Army Province. In August 1936, Kuribayashi became the commander of the Seventh Cavalry Wing, during which time he took part in the Battle of Nomonkan. In 1937, Kuribayashi, who had been promoted to Daisa, became the head of the Ma Political Affairs Division of the Military Affairs Bureau of the Army Province. Kuribayashi is a poet with excellent poetry, and like Masaharu Honma, he is known as the "poet general" in the army who can write and fight. During his tenure at the Horse Politics Class, military songs such as "Love Horse MarchIng Song" and "Prayer at Dawn" composed by Kuribayashi were widely sung in the military. He wrote in the "March of the Horse":
O war horse, my mount! Leave the Kingdom for a few months, life and death and fight with you.
Advancing in the mountains and rivers, in the reins of your hands tightly tightened, your blood and vitality are surging.
O war horse, my mount! All with you, I crossed the deep ditch and the torrent, braving the rain of bullets and bullets.
When I completed the task, I wept with joy, and I repaid you with a full trough of forage to fill my hunger.
O war horse, my mount! When you enter the city, you have a sun flag on your back.
The warriors' mood is far better than the sunny weather, and your credit will never be forgotten.
Suribachi
In March 1940, Li Lin became the first army officer to be promoted to major general in his contemporaries, and successively served as the commander of the Second Cavalry Brigade and the First Cavalry Brigade, stationed in Inner Mongolia, China. On September 19, 1941, Kuribayashi was transferred to the chief of staff of the Japanese 23rd Army stationed in Guangdong, assisting Lieutenant General Takashi Sakai in planning the Operation in Hong Kong. As mentioned earlier, Kuribayashi showed an astonishing ability to analyze and judge in the "Sugisaka Incident", which eventually led to the on-schedule war in Tokyo. On June 10, 1943, Kuribayashi was promoted to lieutenant general and became commander of the Second Guards Division. On April 6, 1944, Kuribayashi resigned due to the fire in the division's kitchen, and was transferred to the Eastern Army Headquarters, where he was ordered to Iwo Jima a month later. On the island, Kuribayashi and his men will play a brilliant defense that will stunned the Americans, ushering in the highlight of their careers. He succeeded in doing what other Japanese commanders in the Pacific theater had failed to do—causing the U.S. Marines to suffer more casualties than his own.
Folding Bowl Mountain Elevation
In the Japanese Army, Kuribayashi enjoys a high reputation as much as Imabari, and there are many legends about him. It is said that during his tenure as a second lieutenant officer at the Cavalry School, there was an untamed horse, the "Diandu". Kuribayashi got off the horse three times on his first day, and was dropped three times. The second day, the third day, all the way up to the fifteenth day. At first, there were still people watching, but everyone gradually lost interest in continuing to watch the liveliness. Even Major General Yusa Yukihei, Japan's top equestrian expert during the Taisho period, advised him to give up, and Kuribayashi just smiled and shook his head. One day a month later, suddenly someone shouted, "Look, Lieutenant Kuribayashi is riding on horseback with ease!" Many people asked him for tips on taming a fierce horse, and Li Lin only said lightly: "Although it is only a horse, it also knows a word of 'sincerity'." Kuribayashi loved horses so much that there was a joke circulating in the army that he told his driver to "tie the car over there."
Life in the chestnut forest is very simple. From the captain all the way to the lieutenant general, Kuribayashi cut his own hair. He can fiddle with his hair sharply with his left hand and cut a beautiful hairstyle with a pusher in his right hand. He also has a special habit of never eating sashimi, which is considered a delicacy by the Japanese. In fact, he himself likes to eat, first, he thinks that his body that is accustomed to eating food is easy to get into trouble on the battlefield, and his mother also likes to eat, but he can't eat it in his hometown, so Kuribayashi doesn't eat it. Like most Japanese, Kuribayashi likes to drink, but never drinks more. Kuribayashi cares for his family, and even the maid takes good care of him. The maid of his family ate with her family and ate the same meal. Kuribayashi would sometimes hum a little tune and wash the tableware after the meal with the maid.
Chichijima Nimi Port
There was a tailor named Zhengang in the Kuribayashi headquarters, who had been with him since he was the chief of staff of the Twenty-third Army in Guangzhou. Zhengang said that he admired Li Lin as much as he admired his parents. Once, he heard Kuribayashi say to the staff officer who had proposed the establishment of the confinement cell: "This matter will be discussed later, or it will not be set up at all." My subordinates are very disciplined, there is no need to set up a confinement room. "This was clearly not in line with Army regulations, and the confinement cell was eventually established. Soon, a 19-year-old scribe who made a mistake, Fujimori, was imprisoned. According to Japanese habits, if reprimanded by his superiors, the young man is likely to commit suicide by caesarean section. Li Lin specifically told his superiors not to reprimand him. That night, he took out a blanket and handed it to Zhengang: "It's cold at night, you can send it to Fujimori." ”
Zhen Gang once said: "The world is so ugly, but as long as I am with the general, I can feel the beauty of this world." As soon as he saw Kuribayashi go out into the street to buy fruit or nutrition, Zhengang knew that he must have sick and hospitalized soldiers under his command. When Kuribayashi was ordered to Iwo Jima, Sadatsu was hospitalized due to illness and stayed in Chichijima. Later, as soon as there was a ship from The Port of Nichimi, the only good port in the Ogasawara area, through which almost all the supplies shipped to Iwo Jima had to transit through it, Zhen gang tried every means to find a way to get there by boat, but in the end it did not make the trip. Zhen Gang regarded the failure to accompany Li Lin to death as a lifelong regret.
Chief of Staff of the Twenty-third Army, Tadao Kuribayashi
The one who actually rushed to Iwo Jima to die with Kuribayashi was Lieutenant Masayoshi Fujita, an aide-de-camp. When Kurita was the commander of the Second Guards Division, Fujita served as his aide-de-camp. Fujita is a graduate of Aoyama Gakuin and his father is a priest. Kurita is very strict with Fujita. Every day Fujita would drive to pick up Kuribayashi. If he had been 30 seconds earlier or 30 seconds later, Kuribayashi would have spoken. He told Fujita: "Victory or defeat often depends on the last 5 minutes, which is already a matter of Napoleon's time. Now the victory or defeat of a decisive battle often depends on 30 seconds. In 30 seconds, a few shells will hit, and hundreds of people will fall because of it, have you calculated? ”
Before he left for Iwo Jima, Fujita's parents had just set up a family affair for him. Fujita said that he was going to Iwo Jima with the commander, but categorically refused the affair. Kuribayashi did not agree to let him go to the front, and Fujita went to the staff several times a day to go to the soft bubble and grind hard, and finally got permission.
In 1965, one of the six flag bearers of the U.S. Military presented Yoko and Taro with the stone of origami-san
June 8, 1944, was the day Kuribayashi departed for Iwo Jima. It seems to indicate the ominousness of this trip, and the little daughter Takako, who has always been well-behaved and lively, has been crying non-stop. Takako was a fifth-grade elementary school student at the time. Kuribayashi coaxed Takako as he handed her over to his wife. He did not tell Yoko where he was going, which was a military secret at the moment, but only pretended to be relaxed and said: "This time, it is likely to be buried in a foreign country." ”
His son, Taro Kuribayashi, was allowed to travel to Kisarazu Airport to see his father off. Before boarding the plane, Kuribayashi told his son in a flat tone, "Mom and sisters will be handed over to you." ”