Utmost Savagery PTO (id:#56144)

Multi-Man Publishing (HASL 5 - Blood Reef: Tarawa ID: BRT CG III)   [next]   [previous]

Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands 1943-11-20 (26 others)

Overview:

In the darkness of the morning of November 20, 1943, the irresistible force of the United States Marine Corps was about to collide with the immovable object of the Imperial Japanese Marines at a very small place called Tarawa. Despite nearly 170 years of maritime tradition, the Corps had never landed in force against a well-fortified defensive position. Betio island was one such fortified location. Surrounded by a fringing reef, Betio island was a natural setting for a fortress. Only three miles long and no more than 800 yards at its widest point, Betio was the most heavily fortified piece of ground in the world. The defenses of the tiny island were designed and built under the direction of Admiral Saichiro, who used his years of training as an engineer to create a breathtaking array of concrete and steel emplacements. Behind a coconut log seawall, emplacements were in-terwoven with double-apron barbed wire, mines, and tetrahedrons. When the concrete ran out, bunkers were built with coconut logs and sand. Almost 500 positions were constructed, mutually supporting and packed with automatic weapons. Betio bristled with armaments that included 8-in. naval guns, large caliber anti-aircraft guns, anti-tank guns, and machine guns too numerous to count, all manned by over 4,000 well-trained Imperial marines. “One million Americans couldn’t take Tarawa in 100 years,” said Rear Admiral Meichi Shibasaki, the commander of the garrison, to his troops. Eighteen thousand men of the 2nd Marine Division were about to give it a try.

Defender: Japanese (3rd Special Base Force/11th Construction Battalion/1st and 2nd Companies, 7th Special Naval Landing Force)  

Errata (source)