American air forces pounded Iwo in the longest sustained aerial offensive of the war.
"No other island received as much preliminary pounding as did Iwo Jima."
. . . Admiral Nimitz, CINPAC
Incredibly, this ferocious bombardment had little effect. Hardly any of the Japanese underground fortresses were touched.
Twenty-one thousand defenders of Japanese soil, burrowed in the volcanic rock of Iwo Jima, anxiously awaited the American invaders.
The Japanese strategy was unique for three reasons:
1. The Japanese didn't fight above ground. They fought the battle entirely from beneath the ground. They dug 1,500 rooms into the rock. These were connected with 16 miles of tunnels.
2. Japanese strategy called for "no Japanese survivors." They planned not to survive.
3. Japanese strategy was for each soldier to kill 10 Americans before they themselves are killed.
In Tokyo months before
Tags: World, war, 2, Japan, empire, axis, USA, marines, naval, fleet, invasion, conflict, volcanic, ash, allies, napalm, flamethrowers, bombardment, truth, b29
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