The Ryukyu archipelago is made up of about 140 islands that stretch 2,045 kilometers from southern Japan to the southeast, and in the middle of these islands is Okinawa. "Oki" means "sea" in Japanese, and Okinawa means "rope floating on the sea". Okinawa Island is the largest island in the Ryukyu Islands, with a total area of about 1,256 square kilometers with a length of about 108 kilometers from north to south, about 30 kilometers from east to west, and only about 4 kilometers from the Ishikawa Isthmus at its narrowest point.
Twenty-four kilometers west of Okinawa Island is the Kerama Islands, which have a wide area of water that can be used as a repair and supply base for large ships. Between the Kerama Islands and Okinawa Island, there is a small island, Keiise Island, which can be used as an artillery forward base due to its close proximity to Okinawa.
The Battle of Okinawa was the last battle in the Pacific Theater, and this is something that we know in hindsight, and in early 1945, the US military did not know that the war would end in August. The plan divided the annual campaign into three phases, the first of which was to capture the Ogasawara Islands ("Iwo Jima" campaign) and the Ryukyu Islands from April ~ June, to land on the islands off the coast of China from July ~ September, and to attack the southern part of Kyushu and the Kanto Plain on the Japanese mainland from October.
The US military believes that seizing Okinawa Island will establish a chain of encirclement of the Japanese mainland from the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific, through Iwo Jima, to Okinawa Island in the south, cut off its sea communication line with the southern region, and promote more favorable conditions for strategic bombing of the Japanese mainland. In early 1945, Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet, submitted his battle plan to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, which was approved.
In order to ensure absolute superiority in forces in the Okinawa operation, the Allied forces mobilized most of the forces of the British and US navies in the Pacific Theater, under the unified command of Spruance, commander of the Fifth Fleet, with a total of seven task forces. Namely: the 58th (US) and 57th (British) aircraft carrier task forces, the 52nd, 53rd, 54th and 55th cover support task forces and the landing transport fleet. Among the above-mentioned formations, there are 34 aircraft carriers of various types (2,108 carrier-based aircraft), 22 battleships, 320 other combat ships, 500 landing transport ships, and more than 1,200 ships in addition to logistics ships and auxiliary ships. The landing force was the 10th Army under the command of Buckner, with a total of 8 divisions and 180,000 men under the 3rd and 24th armies. The total strength of the Allied forces was 287,000.
The Japanese invaders judged that before attacking the Japanese mainland, the US forces must first land on Okinawa and its nearby islands. Once Okinawa Island is lost, air and sea supremacy in the coastal waters of Korea and China will fall into the hands of the US military, and the Japanese mainland will also be completely exposed to the US military's naval and air strikes.
In order to protect the last barrier on the mainland, the Japanese invaders newly formed the 32nd Army, under the jurisdiction of the 9th, 24th, 62nd Divisions and the 44th Independent Mixed Brigade, commanded by Masao Watanabe, with a total strength of more than 100,000 troops. What made Masao Watanabe angry was that because the Japanese base camp was worried that the US troops might land on the coast of China next, they transferred the 9th Division, which had the strongest combat effectiveness of the 32nd Army that had just arrived in Okinawa, and Watanabe was unable to take charge of the board of directors, so the Japanese base camp had to let Mitsuru Ushijima succeed him as the commander of the 32nd Army.
Due to the limited number of troops, Ushijima Mitsuru reformulated the defense plan after arriving in Okinawa, abandoned the two airfields near the northern coast of Okinawa, and deployed the main force stationed in the southern part of Okinawa, and at the same time recruited more than 20,000 local residents to participate in the defense, forming a strong fortified position centered on the southern town of Shuri, and preparing to use this as the main position to carry out a decisive battle with the US forces on land.
In addition, the Japanese had only one special regiment composed of locals in the Hagoki area, the main landing area of the US troops, and its main task was to delay the landing operations of the US troops. In order to avoid revealing their true defensive deployment, the Japanese invaders ordered all artillery to prohibit the use of firepower to return fire on the US and naval vessels on land, so as to receive the effect of surprise from the enemy during the decisive battle on land.
On the night of March 9, 1945, 334 U.S. long-range bombers took off from Guam, each carrying 6~8 tons of incendiary bombs. At 00:15 the next day, US planes arrived over Tokyo and immediately dropped more than 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs, burning nearly 41 square kilometers of buildings east of the Japanese Imperial Palace, about a quarter of the area of Tokyo. Of these, 18% are industrial, 63% are commercial, and the rest are residential. All 22 planned industrial targets were destroyed, more than 267,000 buildings were burned, 83,793 people were burned to death, 100,000 were seriously injured, and 1 million were left homeless.
In view of the fact that the Japanese base camp was already under serious threat to the homeland, they immediately drew up a "Tian" battle plan. In order to implement the plan, the Japanese invaders concentrated 2,990 army and navy planes (including 1,230 planes used in the "kamikaze" special offensive operation) and deployed them along the coast of China, in the Ryukyu Islands, and in Kyushu on the mainland. The attempt was to use all the forces that could be used at that time to surprise and destroy in one fell swoop the main force of the US Pacific Fleet concentrated in Haicheng near Okinawa Island, so as to isolate the US ground forces that had landed and cut off their rear routes and reinforcements, and then the 32nd Army would encircle and annihilate them on land, thus winning the victory in the anti-landing operation on Okinawa Island.
On March 14, 1945, Spruance personally led the 58th Task Force (on January 26, 1945, the 38th Task Force was renamed Task Force 58) from the Ulici Naval Base in the Caroline Islands, and sailed into the waters north of Okinawa and south of Kyushu on the 17th, the most powerful attack fleet in the Pacific Ocean consisting of 8 heavy aircraft carriers, 8 light aircraft carriers, 8 battleships, 18 cruisers and 56 destroyers.
When the Japanese learned of the actions of the US aircraft carrier fleet, they immediately launched the "Ten" operation. On March 18, the Japanese 5th Air Force attacked the 58th Aircraft Carrier Task Force, about 90 nautical miles southeast of Kyushu. The Japanese reported sinking 2 US aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, 1 cruiser and 1 destroyer, and damaging 2 aircraft carriers.
Immediately after the Japanese attack, US carrier-based planes taking off from aircraft carriers continued to attack airfields and military targets in Kyushu and Shikoku. The next day, US carrier-based planes attacked Kure Port and Kobe in Japan's Inland Sea. The U.S. attacks continued until March 21, destroying a total of 528 Japanese aircraft in the air and on the ground. Due to the heavy losses of Japanese planes, the Japanese air force was unable to send a large number of planes to support the anti-landing operations on Okinawa Island.
On 19, 20, and 21 March, the Japanese 5th Air Force launched a series of sorties to attack the US 58th Aircraft Carrier Task Force. The Japanese reported sinking 5 US aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, 1 heavy cruiser, and 2 light cruisers.
In fact, the US aircraft carrier did suffer considerable losses, but no aircraft carrier was sunk. Among them, the aircraft carrier "Franklin" suffered the most losses in the attack on March 19. At 7 o'clock in the morning of the same day, a group of Japanese kamikaze planes suddenly burst out of the clouds and launched a surprise attack on the 58th task force. Two Japanese planes crashed into the deck and side of the "Wasp" aircraft carrier, causing an explosion that killed 101 people and injured 269 of the ship.
Another Japanese plane crashed into the aircraft carrier "Franklin" and detonated the bombs carried by the carrier-based aircraft on the deck, and the ship was then enveloped in flames, which were extinguished two hours later, and the ship was already in shambles, with more than 3,000 crew members on board, 724 killed and 265 wounded. Subsequently, towed by the destroyer, it returned to the naval base.
On 23 March, Task Force 58 ended its air raids on the Japanese mainland air base and switched to supporting the Okinawa landing operation.
On 26 March, five infantry battalions of the first echelon of the 77th Infantry Division of the US 24th Army made a surprise landing on Aka Island, Keruma Island, Gojima, Zamami Island, and Yakakita Island in the Kerama Islands west of Okinawa Island.
By 29 March, the US forces had occupied all of the Kerama Islands and had established a seaplane base, a fleet berthing base, and a logistical supply base to support the landing operations on Okinawa, so that the Allied ships could be replenished, repaired, and reorganized nearby.
On 31 March, U.S. tank landing ships and medium landing ships transported 24 guns from two 155-mm cannon battalions of the 420th Field Artillery Group to the land on Keise Island, occupying the entire island without resistance. The 155-millimeter cannons deployed on Keise Island are about 18 kilometers from Hagoki Beach, the main landing area of the U.S. military, and about 13 kilometers from Naha City, a stronghold of Japanese defense in the southern part of Okinawa Island. At this point, the US military has completed the preliminary preparations for landing on Okinawa.
At 4 a.m. on 1 April, Vice Admiral Turner commanded the amphibious landing fleet to sail into the waters 7~3 nautical miles west of Okinawa and begin the transfer operation from a transport ship to a landing craft. At 5:30 a.m., Turner commanded the 52nd, 53rd, 54th, and 55th task force ships to prepare fire on Hagasaki Beach, the landing site.
During the more than two hours of shelling, more than 100,000 shells were fired. At 8:10 a.m., under the cover of aircraft and naval guns, the landing force advanced to the west coast of the island of Okinawa by amphibious tanks and amphibious tracked transport vehicles. At 8:30 a.m., the vanguard landed at Baishatou. The landing went so smoothly that there was little resistance, so much so that one correspondent accompanying the army wrote: "We seem to be among the first explorers of this island." ”
On the same day, the first echelon of the 6th and 1st Marine Divisions and the 7th and 96th Infantry Divisions of the 10th Army of Buckner landed a total of 60,000 soldiers, and the 17th Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division and the 4th Regiment of the 6th Marine Division occupied Kadena and Yomitan airfields, which were less than 2 kilometers from the landing grounds, respectively. At 7 o'clock the next day, the 24th Division of the 7th Army continued to advance eastward and reached the eastern coast of Okinawa. At this point, the U.S. military cut the Okinawa barrage into two sections.
In view of the smooth progress after the landing, and the completion of the north-south cut of the island 12 days earlier than planned, on April 3, the commander of the 10th Army, Buckner, decided to continue the pace of development. He ordered the 3rd Army to advance to the northeast, and the 24th Army to turn south.
On the same day, the 24th Army under the command of Hodge left the 7th Regiment of the 17th Division to hold the position and concentrate the main force to launch an attack to the south. The 32nd Regiment of the division moved south from Zhongcheng Bay and encountered the Japanese invaders in Jiuba, which was the first time that the US troops landed in Okinawa and engaged the regular Japanese troops, and with the support of tank clusters, the 32nd Regiment killed 385 Japanese invaders and captured Jiuba; when the 165th Regiment of the 96th Division advanced to the 165th Heights, it also encountered stubborn resistance from the Japanese invaders, and the US troops failed to overcome it in a bloody battle for several hours. Subsequently, the 24th Army encountered increasingly stubborn resistance from the Japanese invaders.
The 3rd Army, which was heading north, advanced unusually well, and under Geiger's command, marched to the Ishikawa Isthmus that day, after which Buckner ordered Geiger to boldly move north. On 13 April, the 6th Marine Division advanced a total of 40 kilometers and occupied the border headland in the northeastern part of Okinawa Island, approaching the northernmost Japanese stronghold on Okinawa Island.
Although Ushijima's plan had been reported to Japanese Prime Minister Koiso Kuni, Showa, and Army Chief of Staff Umezu Mijiro before the war, and had been approved by both superiors, the advance of the American army still caused an uproar in Japan. On April 7, Koiso Kuniaki stepped down, and with the support of the emperor, Kantaro Suzuki, a representative of the Peace Coalition, became the last prime minister of Japan during World War II. On the other hand, in order to support Okinawa, the Japanese base camp ordered the navy and air force to immediately launch a so-called special attack against the US military.
From 6 April to 22 June, the Japanese naval air force organized a total of 10 "Kikusui operations" and flew about 3,742 sorties (including 1,506 "kamikaze" special attack planes). At the same time, the Japanese army aviation also frequently carried out small-scale attacks, flying a total of about 4,109 sorties (including 887 "kamikaze" special attack planes).
Predicting in advance that the Japanese might use army and navy planes, especially suicide planes, to attack US warships in the waters off Okinawa Island, the US military used its air force to suppress the airfields on the Japanese mainland and organized 16 radar posts centered on the landing zone to strengthen vigilance. The "Kikusui Operation" organized by the Japanese invaders lost a total of 2,258 aircraft. According to Japanese reports, about 404 US warships were sunk or damaged (34 were actually sunk and 368 were damaged, and not a single US cruiser or higher ship was sunk).
While carrying out suicide attacks from the air, the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet formed a naval special attack fleet with the remnants of the Navy's main force, the 2nd Fleet (battleship Yamato, cruiser Yatsu, and 8 destroyers), to raid U.S. ships at the Okinawa mooring.
At 4 p.m. on April 6, the fleet, led by Vice Admiral Senichi Ito, departed from the Seto Inland Sea Base. At 20 o'clock, the fleet had already entered the Pacific Ocean through the minefield of inland waters. Ten minutes later, the fleet was discovered by a U.S. submarine, and at the same time, the radar of the "Yamato" also searched for a U.S. submarine 7 kilometers away.
When Spruance learned of the Japanese fleet, he immediately ordered Mitchell's 58th aircraft carrier fleet to immediately head north from the waters off Okinawa Island, and at the same time he ordered the 52nd Task Force and the 54th Task Force to encircle and annihilate the last force of the Japanese Combined Fleet.
The battleship Yamato is a sister ship to the Musashi, which died in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, and its tonnage is even 4,000 tons more than that of the battleship Musashi. Designed in 1937, the ship took four years to build and was launched in December 1941 before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The standard displacement is 68,000 tons, and the draft is 10.6 meters at full load. The planned establishment is 2,200 people, and the actual establishment is 2,767 people.
The ship has four turbine engines with a total of 150,000 hp and a maximum speed of 27.5 knots (1 knot = 1 knot/h = 1.852 km/h). The ship is equipped with a total of 150 naval guns of various calibers, of which 9 main guns are 460 mm, each shell of the main gun weighs 1450 kg, and the maximum firing range is 42 kilometers. The armor thickness was greater than that of any battleship in the world at that time, and the vertical armor in the engine room was 408.9 mm, the gunplate armor was 410 mm, and the horizontal armor was 200 mm.
At 8:22 a.m. on April 7, Mitchell, commander of the 58th Task Force, sent a very brief telegram to Spruance: "Will you attack or will I attack?" After a moment's hesitation, Spruance immediately understood that this was Mitchell's generosity and humility, and that it was a great honor for a US general who had been fighting in the Pacific for many years to be able to personally command and sink the largest Japanese warship. Spruance immediately replied: "You attack!"
At 10 o'clock, 280 carrier-based bombers and fighters rose into the air. In Mitchell's next telegram to Spruance, he deliberately informed his superiors in plain code: "Unless otherwise instructed, I will attack the Yamato group at 12 o'clock." After the captain of the Yamato, Yukisaku Ariga received this provocative telegram, there was no effective countermeasure at all, except for a thunderous outburst.
At 12:20 p.m., US "Corsair" dive bombers and "Caurcia" torpedo planes passed through the anti-aircraft fire of the Japanese ships and dropped the first batch of bombs and torpedoes on the Yamato. The port side of the Yamato was first hit by a torpedo, followed by two more bombs on the starboard stern, leaving the ship in a mess and a blur of flesh and blood. The cruiser "Yazu" next to it has been paralyzed, and the destroyer "Hamakaze" is burning a raging fire and gradually sinking.
At 13:37, the second group of US attack planes arrived, and the Yamato was hit by three more torpedoes and several bombs, the hull of the ship was tilted 15 degrees to the left, a large amount of seawater poured into the cabin, and the speed dropped to 18 knots. Before the loophole could be plugged, about 100 US planes of the third group launched an attack, at which time heavy rain began to fall, interfering with the US offensive. At 14 o'clock, the 7th torpedo hit the Yamato, the hull tilted again, in order to balance the hull angle, the captain Yuki Ariga gave the order to fill the right-wheel engine room with water, at this time there were hundreds of sailors working inside, 3,000 tons of seawater drowned all these soldiers.
Yukisaku Ariga did not save the fate of the Yamato, and the fourth and fifth groups of US planes came one after another, and the 12th mine hit the ship, the hull tilt angle was already 35 degrees, the mast and chimney were all blown up, the deck of the warship was cracked, the turret was destroyed, and the corpses were scattered in all directions, and blood flowed all over the ship.
At 14:22, the largest battleship in the history of the human navy sank, along with the last battleships of the Japanese Combined Fleet, the cruiser Yatsuki, the destroyer Fuyutsuki, the destroyer Ryzuki, the destroyer Isokaze, and the destroyer Hamakaze, and 4,230 officers and men of the fleet were killed. The US military participated in the war with 386 aircraft, losing only 10 and 10 pilots.
In the northern part of Okinawa Island, the U.S. forces suffered a setback in the process of attacking the border households, and a leading company of the U.S. troops was cut off by the Japanese invaders, and most of the entire company was killed. Fortunately, the U.S. military met a Chinese Hawaiian resident surnamed Liu, who was doing business in Okinawa before the war, and was detained by the Japanese as a laborer to build fortifications for the Japanese invaders.
After the U.S. troops landed on the island, he took the opportunity to escape the surveillance of the Japanese invaders and found the U.S. military to ask him to do something for him. With the help of this man, the U.S. military mastered the detailed map of the Japanese tunnels and learned that the Japanese had a regiment of troops stationed on Ie Island opposite the border of the Bianhu corner. At 21 o'clock on the 15th, the U.S. military launched a sneak attack on the border house, which was discovered by the Japanese and changed to a strong attack, and the two sides started hand-to-hand combat. After several hours of fierce fighting, the U.S. forces captured the surface positions of the Japanese in the early morning of the 16th. Four days later, the U.S. military cleared the tunnels of the Japanese invaders.
Progress in the southern part of Okinawa has encountered great difficulties. Beginning on April 7, the offensive of the US 24th Army came to a standstill, and it advanced less than 1 km in four days. Here, Mitsuru Ushijima arranged the 32nd Army's 2 divisions and 1 brigade in a line, with the 62nd Division in the center, the 44th Independent Mixed Brigade on the left flank, and the 24th Division on the right flank. These units were transferred to Okinawa from the Kwantung Army, and although most of them were recruits, they were well-equipped and had a high fighting spirit.
Within the Japanese 32nd Army, Ushijima was a more rational commander, and he knew very well that the defeat of the 32nd Army was only a matter of time, so what he had to do was to delay the time for the US army to capture Okinawa as much as possible and kill and wound as many US troops as possible. However, the chief of staff of the army, Chang Yong, who drafted the order for the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, opposed Ushijima's plan of operation, and advocated a counteroffensive against the American forces to drive them back to the sea. In desperation, Ushijima gave the order to fight back.
On April 12, the 22nd Wing of the 62nd Division set out for a counteroffensive. That night, the Japanese used artillery of various calibers to bombard the American positions, and then the 22nd Wing began to attack. However, at this time, the flares fired by the US military illuminated the sky as if it were daylight, and the Japanese attack force was completely exposed to the US firepower. One hour later, the Japanese were forced to retreat.
On Route 5 to Shuri, it is surrounded by rolling limestone hills with many natural caves, cliffs, and valleys. Less than 800 yards west of the highway was a high ground flanked by mountains and saddle-shaped in the middle, and the two armies fought over the high ground called Jiashu.
At 6 o'clock on April 19, the US military launched a powerful fire assault on the Japanese positions. In order to ensure the effectiveness of the fire assault, the US military has invested 27 artillery battalions, with an artillery density of one per square meter. At the same time, 379 combat aircraft also took to the skies to assist in the battle.
It should be said that no creature in the area of fire assault can withstand this terrible rain of steel. However, the Japanese invaders miraculously escaped them, and when the infantry attacked, the Japanese invaders hiding in caves, caves, and tunnels came out one after another and fired at the enemy with various firearms, making it difficult for the American troops to advance. Seeing that a frontal assault would not work, the U.S. forces turned to a roundabout attack. Major General Kleiner, commander of the 27th Infantry Division, had a tank company cover an elite infantry battalion to detour between Jiashu and Nishihara and attack from the left flank towards the Jiashu Heights.
The Japanese invaders had already taken precautions and blocked this direction with mortars, machine guns, anti-tank guns, and other firepower. The U.S. tanks advanced under heavy artillery fire, but were hit by Japanese artillery fire and hid in the east, gradually distancing themselves from the follow-up infantry. The infantry in the rear lost tank cover and had difficulty advancing and had to retreat. The 30 tanks that rushed to the front did not dare to rush deep without infantry support, and were forced to turn back, and by the time they returned to the original starting position for the attack, 22 tanks had already been destroyed by the Japanese invaders.
The 92nd Infantry Division, which was tasked with assisting on the right flank, only occupied the diagonal position in front of the Nishihara Heights, and the 7th Infantry Division on the left flank was blocked by the stubborn resistance of the Japanese and did not advance further at all. The next day, the U.S. forces attacked again on the Jiashu Heights.
At 5:40 a.m., six battleships, six cruisers, and eight destroyers of the US army took the lead in firing at the Japanese positions with naval guns. Twenty minutes later, 324 guns from 27 artillery battalions simultaneously shelled the forward positions of the Japanese invaders, and then raised their muzzles and fired 400 meters behind enemy lines. At 6:30, the artillery fire was lowered and the front line was bombarded for another 10 minutes. In the Pacific War, this one was the most intense in terms of one shelling, with a total of 19,000 shells fired.
Then, the 96th and 7th Infantry Divisions launched a feint. After 50 minutes, the 27th Infantry Division attacked the Jiashu Heights from the west of the defensive line. However, although the bombardment was unprecedented, the positions of the Japanese troops were unharmed. Despite the fierce attack of the American troops, they were all repulsed and suffered heavy casualties, and by dusk, the 24th Army suffered 720 casualties.
In the days that followed, the U.S. military continued to advance very slowly. Although the 96th Infantry Division broke through the Nishihara defensive line, it was blocked in the deep Maeda Heights and suffered repeated defeats. The commander of the 24th Army, Hodge, suggested that Buckner conduct an amphibious landing operation behind the enemy's defensive lines, so that the enemy could not take care of the end of the enemy. However, Baknar rejected this suggestion, arguing that there were too many reefs off the southern coast of Okinawa, and the beaches were not suitable for loading and unloading supplies, and even if a beachhead was established after landing, it would be surrounded by Japanese invaders and would not be able to develop in depth.
Baknar was preparing to move some of the Marine Corps from northern Okinawa to the front line, and he ordered the commander of the 3rd Army, Geiger, to reinforce the 27th Infantry Division with a tank battalion from the 1st Marine Division. However, at this time, the intelligence services reported that the Japanese had abandoned the Kashu Heights and retreated, and that the American forces had occupied the heights. This news surprised Bucknar and the others, who really didn't understand why the Japanese invaders would abandon this high ground that the U.S. military had not conquered with all the effort of the U.S. military a few days ago.
It turned out that there was once again a disagreement within the Japanese invaders. In view of the equally heavy casualties on his side, the defenders suggested that they shrink their forces and hold Shuri, and Ushijima approved this plan and ordered his troops to retreat. But soon after, Ushijima Mitsuru was so anguimous with the chief of staff of the main attack faction that he changed his mind and decided to launch a counterattack against the American troops.
On April 27, the Japanese launched a sneak attack on the position of the 96th Division of the US Army with one wing, but as soon as the troops moved, they were discovered, and artillery and tanks carried out a counter-surprise attack on the Japanese counterattacking forces along Highway 5, and the Japanese were defeated. Late that night, the Japanese invaders attacked again, but this time they were not discovered, and the sleeping American troops were caught off guard, and most of them were killed. However, this kind of small-scale counterattack could not change the overall situation on the battlefield at all, and although the first-line divisions of the US army suffered heavy casualties, the casualties of the Japanese invaders were even greater. On 4 May, the Japanese launched their last counteroffensive, depleting their reserves, and Ushijima ordered his troops to halt the offensive.
In the ensuing battle, the U.S. advance was still slow, and Buckner was unwilling to put his soldiers at greater risk in order to speed up the attack. This was beyond reproach among the admirals, including Nimitz, who arrived on the island of Okinawa.
The U.S. fleet at sea was constantly under threat from the Japanese kamikaze, which cost the U.S. an average of 1.5 ships a day, Spruance's flagship battleship "New Mexico" was also attacked, a kamikaze plane crashed into the bridge, and Spruance's bedroom was just two corridors away from the bombed cabin, where he was resting and fortunately unharmed.
On May 31, the U.S. forces captured Shuri, and seven days earlier, Ushijima had ordered his troops to retreat from here in the midst of heavy rain, enveloping the island's inhabitants, and under the blows of U.S. bombers and naval guns, the retreating ranks were strewn with corpses, leaving thousands of corpses on the muddy roads. On June 13, the U.S. military captured Yae Sedake, the last important stronghold of the Japanese invaders, and then moved to the cave-by-hole clearance. After that, the Japanese invaders and some of the island's inhabitants showed extreme arrogance, paranoia, eccentricity, and cruelty. After breaking through to no avail, they chose to commit suicide, and civilians were more forced by the Japanese to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff, or even killed directly by the Japanese invaders. According to statistics, 75,000 civilians died in the Battle of Okinawa, accounting for about 16% of the island's residents, and most of them did not die in the fighting.
On July 2, the Battle of Okinawa ended, which lasted 96 days. About 135,000 Japanese were killed, more than 10,000 were captured, 16 surface ships, 8 submarines, and 7,830 aircraft (including about 3,000 destroyed on the ground), including 2,200 special attack combat aircraft.
The U.S. military lost more than 7,300 killed and wounded about 32,000, totaling about 40,000. In addition, Lieutenant General Buckner, commander of the US 10th Army, was killed by Japanese shelling at a front-line observation post on 18 June. 34 U.S. warships were sunk (most of them were sunk by Japanese special attack planes), 368 ships suffered varying degrees of damage (including 8 aircraft carriers, 3 battleships, 2 cruisers and 33 destroyers), 763 carrier-based aircraft were lost, and 4,900 sailors were killed in the battle.