Battle of Angaur Island

I was planning to introduce Mr. Hiroshi Funasaka, who is famous for being immortal ...

At the place where Mr. Funasaka's unit was placed

"Why was the battle going on?" "What kind of battle was it?"

I thought that it would be easier to understand if I understood it before I talked about the biography, so this time I will say " Battle of Angaur Island 』I will investigate.

The Battle of Angaur is one of the battles that took place in the Pacific War, and was a battle between the Japanese and American troops that took place between September 17 and October 19, 1944 on the island of Angaur, which constitutes the Palau Islands. ..

Background to the Battle of Angaur Island

In the first place, it was absolute defense zone that Japan considered indispensable for the defense of the mainland and the continuation of the war. It is an area called. Chishima , South Sea Islands (Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia), Southeast Asian Islands And Myanmar The idea was set that the line connecting the two should be protected.

Absolute Defense Zone By the time it was enacted, the Navy's main battlefield was the Pacific Ocean . , Army is separated from Mainland China and Southeast Asia is. Moreover, it is very similar to the concept drawn by the Army, so it seems that it was set by people close to the Army. Doesn't it take into account the situation of the Navy? (It is said that this concept actually exceeded the sea lane defense capability).

Since the Navy is fighting outside the defense zone regardless of the absolute defense zone, it is possible that the sea lane defense was neglected. I personally think that the Army may have drawn a more realistic idea.

In any case, the truth is that they were so out of touch that information was not shared. The line of defense needed to defend the mainland was certain, so it's possible that we knew we weren't strong enough.

The concept may have drawn a "line", but as long as the defense capacity of the sea lane is exceeded, there is a fear that many islands will be isolated and become "dots" where supply lines are cut off instead of "lines". had. There are several people who have pointed out that. And that fear has become a reality.

Looking at the actual battle situation ...

Saipan fell in July 1944 and Guam fell in August of the same year, and the American side began to move with the fall of the Philippines in mind. If the Philippines falls, go north from there to Taiwan, and if Taiwan falls, Okinawa. At the end, it is the size to reach the mainland (Saipan Island is also in a position where the aircraft can reach the mainland, so it would be bad if it was taken, but Okinawa would be even worse).

* The American side is also confused due to a slight misunderstanding of thinking, and a plan to block the sea lane, a plan to advance to the mainland from Taiwan ⇒ Okinawa, and after making Taiwan a base, surrender to the mainland using a bomber. It seems that there were various ways to drive in, so the above is just an example.

Since Japan has expanded into Southeast Asia to obtain resources, it is easy to imagine that transportation would be difficult if the Philippines were taken. It can be said that the Philippines was a very important base for Japan.

At the time of the capture of the Philippines, there was a key airfield on the island of Peleliu. It is one of the major islands that make up the Palau Islands, and is right next to Angaur Island, where Mr. Hiroshi Funasaka was.

It may be hard to see, but the Palau Islands are surrounded by red. You can see that it is right next to the Philippines.

To tell the truth, it seems that the American side was stepping on this Peleliu island, but it was not easy to drop it because Japan was showing a thorough anti-war stance in the guerrilla warfare and so on.

In that case, it is necessary to take care to suppress the neighboring islands by dropping them firmly. Furthermore, since Angaur Island was also an island where it was possible to construct an airfield, another unit of the US Army will invade Angaur Island with the intention of constructing an airfield two days after the landing of Peleliu Island.

Peleliu, Palau's main island, has already become a battlefield, and the other islands of the Pacific Ocean have also fallen, so it seems that the battle of Aungal has begun with little expectation of supply or reinforcement. ..

Battle of Aungal

The Japanese army had 1250 infantry regiments on Aungal Island, while the US army had 21,000 81st infantry divisions, including four artillery battalions and one tank battalion.

The relationship diagram of divisions, regiments, and battalions is as follows. It's like a group for running the Army, and it varies by country and era, so think of it as an approximation (there are other group units above the division and under the battalion / company).

* I used it as a reference ⇒ "About the division:The story of the formation unit of the Army"

The division consists of two or more regiments, and the regiment consists of multiple battalions or companies.

You can see that there is an overwhelming difference in weapons and number of people. On the contrary, in the case of the Japanese Army, it turns out that even the ability to carry out operations was doubtful. The 59th Regiment on the Japanese side belonged to the 14th Division, which was assigned not only to Angaur Island but also to "Defense Palau", so it devoted a lot of personnel to the defense of Peleliu Island.

In addition, the American side has dispatched a carrier group to control the neighboring islands of Peleliu and Angaur. In a situation where naval gunfire from the sea and bombing from the sky are all eaten. It seems that many of the widespread obstacles (as originally made by the engineer corps) made for waterfront operations before the arrival of the US military became water bubbles due to air strikes and naval gunfire. Obstacles and land mines from waterfront operations also cause some damage to the US military, but it is said that it took less than a day to land.

Communication means was the most damaging of the attacks from the US military. I have fallen into a situation where I cannot contact other Palauan troops.

Since many Japanese soldiers were already incapacitated in front of the firepower of the US Army, the remaining soldiers will be reorganized and attacked at night. Although it once pushed the US military back to the coast, after dawn it was counterattacked by tanks and bombings, and the Japanese attacking force at this time was wiped out.

The rest of the garrison prepared for endurance and continued to resist in the cave on the island. And October 19th. It seems that he made the final cut and was crushed.

The damage on the Japanese side was 1,191 killed in action, 59 prisoners of war

The damage on the American side was 260 killed in action and 2,294 injured.

Speaking of fierce battlefields, the image of Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa is strong, and the story of Peleliu Island and Angaur Island is rarely mentioned, but the strategy to bring it to a thorough endurance battle from the waterfront operation that was carried out in the defense of Palau is later. It is said that it was inherited by the Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa.