The Ashes of Iwo Jima
Chapter 3: Bloodbath
They look like ants, crawling out of a hole thought Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi as he observed the American troops pouring onto the beach.
"Sir, the men wish to commence firing" said one of his officers who was operating the radio.
Kuribayashi lowered his field glasses. "Tell them that I am in command and I will tell them when to fire!" he shot back. He then readjusted his binoculars and continued to monitor the Americans' progress.
Mike couldn't believe it; they were taking the beaches standing up. They had already secured positions behind a natural sea wall and a forward advance group was moving cautiously inland. The Japs might be all dead he thought hopefully.
The Americans are taking the beaches without a fight fumed Fukuda as he sat with Satou in one of the disguised bunkers, his Type 92 Heavy Machine Gun pointing out of a tiny slot covered by grass and dirt. Behind him was a small passageway that lead to a room full of ammunition. A trap door was the only way in or out. A soldier walked down the tunnel and delivered two boxes full of machine gun ammo.
"Sir, squad leaders are requesting permission to shoot" reported the officer.
"Wait for the beach to fill" replied Kuribayashi, calmly.
Mike watched as the second line hopped over the sea wall and began to advance up the beach. Behind him, the "alligator" amtracks rolled onto the black beach and began to unload ammo and additional troops. Nearly 500 Marines had landed so far.
The advance force of Americans were about to reach the first line of Japanese fortifications and had no idea they were even there. Kuribayashi felt the time was right. "Open fire" he ordered.
"Open fire" repeated the officer over the radio.
Fukuda finally heard the words he had been waiting for the whole day. The voice over the intercom said "open fire". Satou fed a fresh belt into the gun. Fukuda then clicked off the safety, aimed for the nearest Marine, and squeezed the trigger.
Suddenly Mike heard the chatter of over a dozen machine guns as the entire beach lit up with Japanese fire. The first wave of men was almost entirely cut to pieces by the accurate fire. Their bullets tore into the Marines who dropped like flies. Suddenly the ground directly in front of Mike erupted into a cloud of ash and dirt. He scanned the cliffside and saw to his horror that the Japs had placed their tanks and artillery into well fortified positions that were almost impregnable to anything but a direct hit. The Marines primary objective was to secure Mt. Suribachi, which dominated the entire island. The Japanese spotters were directing their artillery fire from there.
"Men move up!" yelled the serge. On cue all the men scaled the sea wall and charged to where the survivors were taking cover from the constant shelling. Mike dived into a crater made by a Jap artillery round with about 8 other Marines in it. It was only 50 metres from one of the pillboxes.
Fukuda cursed as he narrowly missed hitting the marine who dove into a crater only 50 metres from his position. There was a click as he ran out of ammo. "Runner, more ammo!" he yelled back.
"Hai!" replied the runner and he went to retrieve more ammo.
"They've stopped shooting. I'll move up, Jones, you're in charge if I don't return" said the serge. He climbed out of the crater and ran for the position.
"Ammo" said the runner as he returned with two more boxes. Fukuda loaded a new belt in and fired at the marine who had stupidly left the safety of the crater.
The serge made it about halfway before the fire renewed. The rounds tore through him and he staggered back and fell into the crater. Mike almost gagged when he saw the look of horror on the man's face. Slowly he took the soldier's dog tag and put it in his pocket. He stayed in the crater for another half an hour before rumbling caught his attention.
"What is that?" asked another man.
"I have no idea" replied Mike. Suddenly a large shadow passed beside the men in the crater as an M4 Sherman tank rolled by.
"It's a friendly, it's a friendly, thank you Jesus" cheered one of the Marines. The tank fired ahead and continued on. The Jap fired abruptly stopped.
"Runner, more ammo dammit!" ordered Fukuda.
Mike knew he had no time to waste; he crawled over to a marine armed with a flamethrower. "Name soldier?" he demanded.
"Private Clark Barnes reporting for duty, sir!" he answered.
"Barnes, get up there and burn out those bastards for us" Rick ordered.
"Right away, sir" Barnes replied and he hopped over the top.
What is taking that runner so long thought Fukuda angrily. I should beat him for this. His anger was interrupted by Satou.
"There is an American approaching" he said. Fukuda pulled out his M38 Arisaka rifle and fired. The shot whizzed right past the marine's left ear.
Barnes hit the side of the bunker and thanked God that he was still alive. He then poked the flamethrower through the hole and fired.
Fukuda ducked as a wall of flames filled the bunker. Fukuda heard two screams, one from the runner who was coming with the ammunition; he was engulfed in flames and fell to the floor writhing in pain. The other was from Satou, who did not entirely escape the flames and had the right half of his face singed. The flames subsided; Fukuda quickly got to his feet, slung his rifle over his shoulder, and dragged Satou down the corridor.
"Corpsman" he bellowed and a scrawny medic arrived to bandage up Satou. As Satou was carried to the adjacent aid station, Inoue walked over to Fukuda, his Type 100 sub-machine gun in hand.
"Report Fukuda" he said.
"Sir, our machine gun has been melted and is useless" he said before the squad's radio operator received a chilling message.
"Sir, bunkers 3 to 10 have been knocked out, the Americans have new flamethrower tanks on the beach" he reported.
"Sir, with all due respect, I think that we should abandon our positions and make for Mt. Suribachi" suggested Fukuda.
"No, retreat is the coward's way" he replied. "We will fight to the death for the Emperor".
Mike had moved up with the rest of his men and could now hear a group of Japs talking below him. "This is for the serge you butchers" he said as he opened his pack, produced a grenade, pulled the pin, and lobbed it down the open air vent.
Fukuda was about to argue with Inoue when a small round object fell out of the vent in the ceiling and landed on the floor in the middle of the room.
"Grenade!" screamed Fukuda and he jumped into the adjacent aid station. The grenade when off with a loud boom. The cries of pain from his squad mates couldn't be heard over the noise of the secondary explosions that rocked the room as the spare ammunition exploded. Fukuda groggily got up as the lights flickered above him. He shook off the dirt on his uniform and helmet and peered into the room. The sight was sickening; blood was smeared messily on all the walls and the mangled bodies of his former comrades lay scattered across the room. He heard a groan of pain from back in the aid station and was amazed to find Satou still alive, the right side of his face covered in bandages. Fukuda slung Satou over his back and proceeded to the trapdoor. He flung it open with all his strength then hoisted himself and Satou up. Their bunker had been close to Mt. Suribachi and he could see a cave on the near cliffside that was reachable from their current location. Fukuda took a few deep breaths then broke into a sprint for the cave.
Mike could barely see anything; the smoke from the burning bunkers had reduced visibility to what was in front of him. He could however, clearly see the Jap running with his friend on his back. He took aim with his M1-Garand and fired.
Fukuda ducked as a small rock a few centimetres above his head exploded, sending debris raining down on him and his cargo.
The clip exploded out of the top of the rifle with a loud ping. "Damn" swore Mike. The Jap made it safely into the cave. I'll get that bugger later he told himself. He never knew how close that soldier would bring him to death.