1 00:00:00,047 --> 00:00:03,106 Sub extracted from file and improved by Se7enOfNin9 for addic7ed.com 2 00:00:05,964 --> 00:00:08,926 As in the struggle against Nazi Germany, 3 00:00:08,967 --> 00:00:11,553 American strategy in the war against Japan 4 00:00:11,595 --> 00:00:14,848 includes launching mass bombing attacks against factories, 5 00:00:14,890 --> 00:00:18,143 military installations, and cities. 6 00:00:18,936 --> 00:00:20,871 But the map of the Asia-Pacific War 7 00:00:20,896 --> 00:00:23,022 covers enormous distances. 8 00:00:23,023 --> 00:00:26,401 A new, more powerful bomber is needed, 9 00:00:26,443 --> 00:00:28,612 the B-29 Superfortress. 10 00:00:29,380 --> 00:00:32,550 Securing air bases for these super-forts 11 00:00:32,624 --> 00:00:35,879 becomes a primary objective for President Roosevelt 12 00:00:35,994 --> 00:00:38,162 and American military leaders. 13 00:00:39,665 --> 00:00:41,542 All Wars changed the world, 14 00:00:41,583 --> 00:00:43,489 but none of them changed the world 15 00:00:43,532 --> 00:00:45,128 like the second World War did. 16 00:00:45,689 --> 00:00:48,875 Japan's on the march, Germany's on the march. 17 00:00:50,301 --> 00:00:53,387 No one can imagine the nightmare they're about to unleash, 18 00:00:53,637 --> 00:00:56,598 the most destructive war in human history. 19 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,613 Suddenly the world is turned upside down 20 00:00:59,638 --> 00:01:01,561 and all hell is let loose. 21 00:01:03,147 --> 00:01:06,371 The West is stunned by the speed of the advance. 22 00:01:07,589 --> 00:01:10,779 You get the Allies led by the big three: 23 00:01:10,821 --> 00:01:13,348 Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, 24 00:01:13,452 --> 00:01:18,457 men who are dealing with immensely complicated questions. 25 00:01:18,579 --> 00:01:22,499 It's the biggest military operation of human history. 26 00:01:23,059 --> 00:01:24,476 The Allies have to come together 27 00:01:24,501 --> 00:01:26,126 not just militarily, 28 00:01:26,127 --> 00:01:27,419 but industrial scale 29 00:01:27,420 --> 00:01:29,380 it's a global perspective. 30 00:01:29,381 --> 00:01:31,340 They have to fight in every climate 31 00:01:31,341 --> 00:01:34,593 from the Arctic to the jungles of the Pacific 32 00:01:34,594 --> 00:01:38,056 to the deserts of Africa and the depths of the ocean. 33 00:01:40,816 --> 00:01:43,609 But there was no certainty of victory. 34 00:01:43,853 --> 00:01:47,090 It was going to be a horrific bloodbath. 35 00:01:47,115 --> 00:01:49,233 We see humans at their absolute worst, 36 00:01:49,234 --> 00:01:51,549 how they treat other human beings. 37 00:01:51,611 --> 00:01:53,422 And we see them at their absolute best, 38 00:01:53,446 --> 00:01:55,864 willing to give their lives that others might live. 39 00:01:55,865 --> 00:02:00,229 World War II was a struggle in which there could be one victor 40 00:02:01,104 --> 00:02:02,764 and one vanquished. 41 00:02:25,687 --> 00:02:27,312 For over two years, 42 00:02:27,313 --> 00:02:31,025 the United States has been building the B-29 Bomber, 43 00:02:31,067 --> 00:02:32,861 the Superfortress. 44 00:02:33,069 --> 00:02:35,714 When it's ready to roll off the assembly line, 45 00:02:35,739 --> 00:02:39,117 the B-29 will be one of the most potent weapons 46 00:02:39,159 --> 00:02:40,628 in the American arsenal. 47 00:02:41,221 --> 00:02:45,891 The B-29 Superfortress is the most expensive program 48 00:02:45,916 --> 00:02:47,335 in World War II, 49 00:02:47,376 --> 00:02:50,546 $3 billion to go ahead and build an aircraft. 50 00:02:50,660 --> 00:02:55,367 The B-29 is a stunning leap in aircraft technology. 51 00:02:56,385 --> 00:03:00,097 The B-29 will incorporate a pressurized cabin, 52 00:03:00,139 --> 00:03:02,058 airborne radar. 53 00:03:02,099 --> 00:03:05,644 It has 10 miles of wiring. 54 00:03:05,686 --> 00:03:07,537 It had remote-controlled turrets. 55 00:03:07,562 --> 00:03:10,649 It had the most powerful engines in the history of the world. 56 00:03:10,691 --> 00:03:14,235 But the critical thing about the B-29 was range. 57 00:03:14,236 --> 00:03:17,738 It could carry bombs farther, higher, faster 58 00:03:17,739 --> 00:03:20,119 than anything else that had, not just been built, 59 00:03:20,144 --> 00:03:21,451 but ever imagined. 60 00:03:22,494 --> 00:03:25,121 The complexity of its design, however, 61 00:03:25,122 --> 00:03:27,249 delays its manufacture. 62 00:03:27,815 --> 00:03:30,127 It's been riddled with problems. 63 00:03:30,168 --> 00:03:32,129 It ends up behind schedule. 64 00:03:34,923 --> 00:03:36,967 Bombing the Japanese home islands 65 00:03:37,008 --> 00:03:39,803 is a crucial part of the American strategy 66 00:03:39,845 --> 00:03:41,849 in the Asian-Pacific War. 67 00:03:41,874 --> 00:03:43,990 Allied air commanders wanna launch 68 00:03:44,015 --> 00:03:46,685 the same kind of air offensive against Japan 69 00:03:46,726 --> 00:03:48,978 that they've been carrying out against Germany. 70 00:03:48,979 --> 00:03:53,315 They wanna destroy factories, shipyards, infrastructure, 71 00:03:53,316 --> 00:03:56,778 bring the Japanese war economy to its knees. 72 00:03:57,602 --> 00:04:00,474 In addition to strategic considerations, 73 00:04:01,350 --> 00:04:04,594 President Roosevelt understands that the American people 74 00:04:04,619 --> 00:04:07,873 expect retribution against the Japanese. 75 00:04:10,125 --> 00:04:14,129 If you'd have done a public opinion survey of Americans, 76 00:04:14,246 --> 00:04:15,922 there was a palpable sense 77 00:04:15,947 --> 00:04:18,549 of wanting to get these people back for Pearl Harbor. 78 00:04:18,550 --> 00:04:21,386 By 1943, its payback time. 79 00:04:21,421 --> 00:04:23,773 And so the B-29 is going to become 80 00:04:23,805 --> 00:04:25,807 the first weapon system 81 00:04:25,849 --> 00:04:29,186 that can really attack the Japanese homeland 82 00:04:29,227 --> 00:04:31,187 and military targets. 83 00:04:31,188 --> 00:04:34,320 The problem is where are your airfields going to be? 84 00:04:34,345 --> 00:04:37,515 They have to be within range of the Japanese home islands. 85 00:04:38,236 --> 00:04:41,633 US Marines have been fighting their way across the Pacific, 86 00:04:41,820 --> 00:04:45,594 but it will take months before they can secure an area suitable 87 00:04:45,619 --> 00:04:47,579 for launching B-29s. 88 00:04:48,318 --> 00:04:51,499 The B-29's got a 1,600 mile combat range. 89 00:04:51,500 --> 00:04:54,418 So Roosevelt's looking at several options 90 00:04:54,419 --> 00:04:55,962 as to where to base these things. 91 00:04:56,004 --> 00:04:58,380 They don't have an island close enough, 92 00:04:58,381 --> 00:05:00,133 but they do have an ally 93 00:05:00,175 --> 00:05:02,969 within range of the Japanese home islands. 94 00:05:03,011 --> 00:05:05,923 And that ally is Chiang Kai-shek and China. 95 00:05:07,073 --> 00:05:09,616 Chiang Kai-shek emerged as the leader 96 00:05:09,684 --> 00:05:13,480 of the Chinese Nationalist Party in 1928. 97 00:05:13,522 --> 00:05:15,565 He's ruled China ever since. 98 00:05:15,607 --> 00:05:18,960 He is the Generalissimo of China. 99 00:05:18,985 --> 00:05:21,238 He's a general, but he's also a dictator. 100 00:05:21,832 --> 00:05:25,032 The problem he's got is since the early 1930s, 101 00:05:25,033 --> 00:05:28,327 there is rising communism under Mao Zedong. 102 00:05:28,328 --> 00:05:30,288 He's effectively got a civil war. 103 00:05:30,455 --> 00:05:32,958 In addition to internal conflict, 104 00:05:32,999 --> 00:05:36,002 China faces an external threat. 105 00:05:40,757 --> 00:05:44,453 Japan invaded China in 1937 106 00:05:44,578 --> 00:05:48,180 and seized Chiang's capital, Nanking, 107 00:05:48,181 --> 00:05:51,101 as well as all major Chinese coastal cities. 108 00:05:51,993 --> 00:05:55,814 The Japanese control 95% of China's industry, 109 00:05:55,856 --> 00:05:58,608 90% of China's railways, 110 00:05:58,650 --> 00:06:00,442 half of China's population. 111 00:06:00,443 --> 00:06:03,363 They control a quarter to a third of China's landmass. 112 00:06:03,405 --> 00:06:05,590 And they closed off all the Chinese ports. 113 00:06:07,345 --> 00:06:09,994 Severed from Chinese port cities, 114 00:06:09,995 --> 00:06:13,622 Chiang established a new capital, Chungking, 115 00:06:13,623 --> 00:06:16,251 and constructed a route that connected China 116 00:06:16,293 --> 00:06:19,921 to the port of Rangoon in the British colony of Burma. 117 00:06:21,047 --> 00:06:22,966 Cut through more than 700 miles 118 00:06:23,008 --> 00:06:25,175 of mountainous jungle terrain, 119 00:06:25,176 --> 00:06:29,097 the Burma Road was China's main route for receiving supplies 120 00:06:29,139 --> 00:06:31,433 primarily from the United States. 121 00:06:33,233 --> 00:06:36,421 Until Japan seized Burma too. 122 00:06:42,277 --> 00:06:45,006 The final piece of this Japanese imperial puzzle 123 00:06:45,030 --> 00:06:47,781 was the conquest of Burma in 1942. 124 00:06:47,782 --> 00:06:50,200 The Japanese seized the Burma Road 125 00:06:50,201 --> 00:06:52,578 and make it impossible for the Allies 126 00:06:52,579 --> 00:06:54,896 to supply China's armies. 127 00:06:56,448 --> 00:06:58,560 The Chinese have lost their umbilical, 128 00:06:58,585 --> 00:07:01,306 they've lost their artery, all their supplies flowing in. 129 00:07:01,379 --> 00:07:03,079 Chiang Kai-shek has maybe 130 00:07:03,104 --> 00:07:06,551 4 million men available for military service, 131 00:07:06,635 --> 00:07:08,470 but only a million rifles. 132 00:07:08,511 --> 00:07:12,610 So he's desperate for Western material to flesh out his army 133 00:07:12,635 --> 00:07:15,835 and post some kind of serious obstacle to the Japanese. 134 00:07:22,926 --> 00:07:25,111 In November of 1943, 135 00:07:25,153 --> 00:07:27,280 President Roosevelt confers with Chiang 136 00:07:27,322 --> 00:07:30,241 and British prime minister Winston Churchill in Cairo. 137 00:07:32,669 --> 00:07:34,496 At the top of the agenda, 138 00:07:34,521 --> 00:07:37,165 how to keep the Chinese in the fight. 139 00:07:37,623 --> 00:07:39,007 Franklin Roosevelt is worried 140 00:07:39,032 --> 00:07:40,914 that if China is without resources, 141 00:07:40,939 --> 00:07:43,229 Chiang Kai-shek could make a separate peace with Japan, 142 00:07:43,254 --> 00:07:45,882 which would be hugely problematic for the Americans. 143 00:07:45,924 --> 00:07:47,192 China is where 144 00:07:47,217 --> 00:07:49,319 the vast majority of the Japanese army 145 00:07:49,344 --> 00:07:51,596 is currently being tied up. 146 00:07:51,763 --> 00:07:53,515 And let's not forget that Roosevelt 147 00:07:53,556 --> 00:07:56,643 has this big new weapon, the B-29s. 148 00:07:56,685 --> 00:07:58,853 He wants to base them in Southern China. 149 00:07:58,895 --> 00:08:04,024 So keeping China in the war is absolutely essential to FDR. 150 00:08:04,025 --> 00:08:07,153 Chiang goes to Cairo with a big shopping list. 151 00:08:07,178 --> 00:08:10,896 He needs aircraft, fuel, shells, guns. 152 00:08:10,949 --> 00:08:13,411 He'll take anything that the Allies will give him. 153 00:08:13,436 --> 00:08:14,896 He's pretty desperate. 154 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,204 Winston Churchill, this is a little bit alarming to him. 155 00:08:19,229 --> 00:08:22,636 He just doesn't trust Chiang Kai-shek in his bones. 156 00:08:22,736 --> 00:08:25,922 Chiang Kai-shek has a reputation for being corrupt, 157 00:08:25,964 --> 00:08:28,091 not particularly reliable. 158 00:08:28,217 --> 00:08:32,112 There are valid concerns that instead of using the supplies 159 00:08:32,137 --> 00:08:34,931 that FDR is promising Chiang Kai-shek 160 00:08:34,972 --> 00:08:37,511 for the purposes of fighting Japan, 161 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:39,703 he might instead hoard those supplies 162 00:08:39,728 --> 00:08:41,980 and then use them to fight the communists. 163 00:08:42,272 --> 00:08:45,441 FDR knew he wasn't running a boy scout troupe, 164 00:08:45,442 --> 00:08:48,111 so he didn't examine too closely 165 00:08:48,153 --> 00:08:51,573 the morals of those who shared his interest. 166 00:08:51,614 --> 00:08:54,492 That wasn't how you could fight a global war. 167 00:08:55,418 --> 00:08:59,039 At Cairo, FDR and Chiang agree that the Chinese 168 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:02,000 will build runways for the B-29s 169 00:09:02,025 --> 00:09:05,528 and that the US will send even more supplies to China. 170 00:09:07,113 --> 00:09:08,798 That requires mind-boggling 171 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:10,442 scales of logistics. 172 00:09:10,508 --> 00:09:13,928 For a single bullet to get to a single Chinese rifle, 173 00:09:13,953 --> 00:09:17,015 it's gotta come from a factory, let's say in the Midwest. 174 00:09:17,057 --> 00:09:19,559 So you send it all the way across the Pacific. 175 00:09:19,601 --> 00:09:22,337 The British still hold India, 176 00:09:22,837 --> 00:09:25,465 so it would then get into Calcutta, 177 00:09:26,483 --> 00:09:28,318 then be put onto a train, 178 00:09:28,359 --> 00:09:30,845 then sent up to Northeast India, 179 00:09:31,054 --> 00:09:34,265 and then fly them over the Himalayas 180 00:09:35,182 --> 00:09:37,893 to the nationalists in China. 181 00:09:41,039 --> 00:09:43,082 Flying the India-China ferry 182 00:09:43,083 --> 00:09:45,435 over the highest mountain range in the world 183 00:09:45,460 --> 00:09:47,320 is extremely hazardous. 184 00:09:48,488 --> 00:09:52,117 The men ordered to do it call it the Hump. 185 00:09:53,009 --> 00:09:54,802 Flying supplies into China 186 00:09:54,803 --> 00:09:58,206 is something that's never been attempted on this scale. 187 00:09:58,415 --> 00:10:00,792 These were just transport aircraft, 188 00:10:00,953 --> 00:10:03,101 but the missions were as challenging 189 00:10:03,102 --> 00:10:05,105 as bomber raids over Germany. 190 00:10:08,054 --> 00:10:11,193 These aircraft are taking off with incredibly high weights 191 00:10:11,194 --> 00:10:14,088 because we are trying to get as many supplies in as we can. 192 00:10:15,698 --> 00:10:17,991 The route is only about 500 miles, 193 00:10:17,992 --> 00:10:21,106 but the difficulty is the altitude. 194 00:10:23,068 --> 00:10:26,609 These pilots are flying in un-pressurized aircraft 195 00:10:26,818 --> 00:10:30,071 over peaks that are 16,000 feet high, 196 00:10:30,255 --> 00:10:33,049 and then back down again to their Chinese bases. 197 00:10:35,593 --> 00:10:37,386 We got this hot, moist air 198 00:10:37,387 --> 00:10:39,414 bubbling out of the Indian Ocean, 199 00:10:40,749 --> 00:10:44,102 meeting with this Siberian air blowing down from Tibet, 200 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:50,400 causing some of the most difficult weather conditions on the planet. 201 00:10:53,653 --> 00:10:56,489 You get these incredible changes in air pressure. 202 00:10:58,408 --> 00:11:00,101 And pilots who flew the Hump say 203 00:11:00,126 --> 00:11:02,303 the plane would lurch like a hundred feet in the air, 204 00:11:02,328 --> 00:11:04,830 and then drop 200 feet, and lurch back up a hundred feet. 205 00:11:07,709 --> 00:11:10,586 It's hard to imagine for the pilots who do it. 206 00:11:10,628 --> 00:11:13,630 The aircraft is proven but not in these conditions. 207 00:11:13,631 --> 00:11:16,551 So every time they go up, they're learning. 208 00:11:16,577 --> 00:11:18,954 But there's a cost to learning this real time. 209 00:11:20,031 --> 00:11:23,349 594 aircraft are lost and 1,500 aircrew. 210 00:11:34,399 --> 00:11:38,488 The problem is you have to deliver 18 tons of fuel and other supplies 211 00:11:38,489 --> 00:11:40,991 to get one ton of stuff to the Chinese army. 212 00:11:40,992 --> 00:11:43,440 It was a trickle of what was needed. 213 00:11:43,494 --> 00:11:46,080 But China remains a priority 214 00:11:46,122 --> 00:11:47,664 for President Roosevelt. 215 00:11:47,665 --> 00:11:49,226 There is another option. 216 00:11:49,250 --> 00:11:52,028 The Allies need to reopen the Burma Road. 217 00:11:58,764 --> 00:12:04,332 By late 1943, China has been at war with Japan for six years, 218 00:12:04,585 --> 00:12:07,669 engaging the majority of the Japanese Army. 219 00:12:09,938 --> 00:12:12,630 President Roosevelt and his military leaders 220 00:12:12,655 --> 00:12:14,894 are determined to defend China, 221 00:12:14,919 --> 00:12:19,514 including using B-29s to strike the Japanese home islands. 222 00:12:20,557 --> 00:12:23,993 The US plans to build four air bases around Chengdu 223 00:12:24,035 --> 00:12:26,521 that will accommodate the B-29. 224 00:12:27,313 --> 00:12:32,001 The B-29 Superfortress is a heavy bomber. 225 00:12:32,168 --> 00:12:35,088 And that means it needs a runway 226 00:12:35,129 --> 00:12:37,866 that's strong enough to land on. 227 00:12:38,449 --> 00:12:42,260 But the problem is there's no way to bring in a bulldozer, 228 00:12:42,261 --> 00:12:45,597 or a truck, or heavy equipment into China. 229 00:12:45,598 --> 00:12:48,309 They simply won't fit in the aircraft 230 00:12:48,351 --> 00:12:50,151 that are flying over the Hump. 231 00:12:50,186 --> 00:12:52,479 But the upside for running a bomber campaign 232 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:54,791 out of China is that the Americans know 233 00:12:54,816 --> 00:12:57,043 that they will have access to 234 00:12:57,068 --> 00:12:59,545 all the Chinese labor they could ask for. 235 00:13:06,286 --> 00:13:08,204 Hundreds of thousands of people 236 00:13:08,246 --> 00:13:10,456 grinding out a runway by hand. 237 00:13:11,306 --> 00:13:12,698 No bulldozers 238 00:13:12,723 --> 00:13:14,543 or complicated machinery available. 239 00:13:14,544 --> 00:13:17,046 Only manpower and hard work. 240 00:13:17,088 --> 00:13:20,758 Just the sheer scale of human labor, 241 00:13:20,883 --> 00:13:23,578 it looks like ancient history. 242 00:13:24,287 --> 00:13:28,032 Men, women, children pulling the rollers, 243 00:13:28,057 --> 00:13:30,209 working side by side. 244 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:32,812 Their country in jeopardy, 245 00:13:32,854 --> 00:13:35,564 Chinese civilians defend against the Japanese 246 00:13:35,565 --> 00:13:38,317 any way they can, building roads, 247 00:13:38,401 --> 00:13:42,055 constructing airfields, loading supplies. 248 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:44,083 China's an agrarian economy 249 00:13:44,108 --> 00:13:45,897 in a time period 250 00:13:45,922 --> 00:13:48,660 where industrial warfare has taken over. 251 00:13:48,661 --> 00:13:51,538 So how do they produce all these weapons that you need? 252 00:13:51,539 --> 00:13:53,308 For example, how do you produce tanks? 253 00:13:53,332 --> 00:13:55,787 So part of the problem here for Chiang 254 00:13:55,812 --> 00:13:57,672 is that he needs everything. 255 00:13:57,712 --> 00:14:01,174 The only way to bring the tanks and the artillery 256 00:14:01,215 --> 00:14:03,009 that Chiang needs into China 257 00:14:03,051 --> 00:14:05,194 is to reopen the Burma Road. 258 00:14:06,304 --> 00:14:09,390 The Allies have more than a quarter of a million troops 259 00:14:09,432 --> 00:14:11,309 based in Eastern India, 260 00:14:11,350 --> 00:14:13,962 from Calcutta to Ledo in Assam. 261 00:14:14,170 --> 00:14:16,631 They planned a two-pronged offensive. 262 00:14:16,845 --> 00:14:20,001 The British 14th Army will push into Central Burma 263 00:14:20,026 --> 00:14:22,053 to expel the Japanese. 264 00:14:22,261 --> 00:14:25,907 An American-led force will cross into Northern Burma 265 00:14:25,948 --> 00:14:30,228 and fight their way through to reestablish the Burma Road. 266 00:14:31,354 --> 00:14:35,832 General Joseph Stilwell commands the American forces. 267 00:14:35,833 --> 00:14:38,794 His personal and professional connection to China 268 00:14:38,795 --> 00:14:40,754 spans three decades. 269 00:14:40,755 --> 00:14:42,398 Joseph Stilwell, 270 00:14:42,423 --> 00:14:44,674 well known as Vinegar Joe, 271 00:14:44,675 --> 00:14:48,454 he's cranky, and acerbic, and sarcastic. 272 00:14:48,513 --> 00:14:50,807 But Stilwell speaks and reads Mandarin. 273 00:14:50,848 --> 00:14:52,307 He's a great lover of China 274 00:14:52,308 --> 00:14:55,143 and he has nothing but good things to say about the Chinese. 275 00:14:59,241 --> 00:15:00,997 A respected Commander, 276 00:15:01,022 --> 00:15:02,693 Stilwell has trained 277 00:15:02,718 --> 00:15:05,403 thousands of soldiers in his long career. 278 00:15:05,404 --> 00:15:06,739 Stilwell's task 279 00:15:06,764 --> 00:15:09,282 is to take a handful of Chinese divisions, 280 00:15:09,283 --> 00:15:12,270 30,000 of Chiang Kai-shek's troops, 281 00:15:12,453 --> 00:15:14,913 and train them up to Western standards. 282 00:15:18,526 --> 00:15:22,113 He takes over an old British POW camp in India 283 00:15:22,363 --> 00:15:25,408 and he's able to give them the training, the weaponry, 284 00:15:28,127 --> 00:15:32,415 so that they turn themselves into relatively solid units. 285 00:15:35,226 --> 00:15:39,589 General William Slim, Uncle Bill to his troops, 286 00:15:39,926 --> 00:15:43,638 leads the British 14th Army, a multinational force 287 00:15:43,693 --> 00:15:47,346 comprised of units from Britain, India, and Africa. 288 00:15:47,572 --> 00:15:49,824 Many have been battling the Japanese 289 00:15:49,866 --> 00:15:51,976 since the invasion of Burma. 290 00:15:53,811 --> 00:15:56,998 Slim says, look, we got beaten in Burma 291 00:15:57,039 --> 00:15:58,958 because we couldn't fight in the jungle 292 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:00,209 like the Japanese can. 293 00:16:00,251 --> 00:16:02,771 They're not superhuman. We just have to learn how to do it. 294 00:16:02,795 --> 00:16:06,381 The Japanese were considered to be these amazing jungle fighters. 295 00:16:06,382 --> 00:16:09,302 But we should remember, Japan's not a jungle country. 296 00:16:09,336 --> 00:16:12,113 They're not great jungle fighters 'cause they grew up in it. 297 00:16:12,138 --> 00:16:14,014 This is about training. 298 00:16:14,015 --> 00:16:16,492 A complete rethink is needed. 299 00:16:16,517 --> 00:16:18,786 Slim starts training everybody, 300 00:16:18,811 --> 00:16:21,439 not just frontline infantrymen. 301 00:16:21,464 --> 00:16:24,608 Everyone needs to be able to handle themselves with their weapons, 302 00:16:24,609 --> 00:16:27,612 the bottle washers, and the cooks, and the truck drivers. 303 00:16:27,653 --> 00:16:29,714 And everyone needs to know that the Japanese 304 00:16:29,739 --> 00:16:31,948 are not these supermen. They're not bogey men. 305 00:16:31,949 --> 00:16:34,227 Actually, they are completely defeatable. 306 00:16:41,766 --> 00:16:44,646 So I think by this point, the war's going very badly for Japan. 307 00:16:44,670 --> 00:16:47,506 You've had the Battle of Midway in 1942, 308 00:16:49,575 --> 00:16:51,385 which Japan lost. 309 00:16:52,637 --> 00:16:56,097 Now, as a result, Japanese shipping is struggling to get through. 310 00:16:56,098 --> 00:16:58,851 So you've got rationing tightening in Japan. 311 00:16:59,559 --> 00:17:00,852 And then back in Europe, 312 00:17:00,853 --> 00:17:03,506 you've had the German loss at Stalingrad. 313 00:17:04,048 --> 00:17:06,108 You've had the toppling of Mussolini. 314 00:17:07,422 --> 00:17:09,879 So I think at this point, Japan doesn't expect 315 00:17:09,917 --> 00:17:12,465 it's gonna get any help really from the Axis powers. 316 00:17:13,754 --> 00:17:18,120 Hideki Tojo, who has been Prime Minister since 1941, 317 00:17:18,204 --> 00:17:19,747 is the dominant force 318 00:17:19,789 --> 00:17:22,942 in the Japanese government and military. 319 00:17:23,756 --> 00:17:27,302 By early 1944, there's a feeling for Tojo 320 00:17:27,338 --> 00:17:28,856 and for others at the high command 321 00:17:28,881 --> 00:17:30,758 that something can be done elsewhere in the war 322 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,218 to try and offer Japan a little bit of progress. 323 00:17:33,219 --> 00:17:35,637 And some kind of dramatic success for the Japanese 324 00:17:35,638 --> 00:17:39,474 might force the Americans to come to the negotiating table. 325 00:17:39,475 --> 00:17:41,786 One idea is to put some pressure on the Allies 326 00:17:41,811 --> 00:17:45,840 in Northeast India and on Chiang Kai-shek in China. 327 00:17:47,758 --> 00:17:51,429 Prime Minister Tojo approves Operation U-Go, 328 00:17:51,721 --> 00:17:53,848 an invasion into India. 329 00:17:54,198 --> 00:17:56,372 His generals prepare to attack 330 00:17:56,397 --> 00:17:58,603 the British bases of the 14th Army 331 00:17:59,103 --> 00:18:02,857 and to capture the American Hump airfields. 332 00:18:03,816 --> 00:18:06,376 Tojo understands that at this point, 333 00:18:06,377 --> 00:18:08,187 these flights across the Hump 334 00:18:08,212 --> 00:18:11,715 are the last remaining connection point with the West 335 00:18:11,716 --> 00:18:14,051 that the Chinese national government has. 336 00:18:14,176 --> 00:18:17,013 And if you can cut those air bases off, 337 00:18:17,054 --> 00:18:18,779 that will then be the straw 338 00:18:18,804 --> 00:18:20,599 that breaks the nationalist back. 339 00:18:22,059 --> 00:18:26,606 For the Allies, this is rife with portents of disaster. 340 00:18:37,283 --> 00:18:41,662 March, 1944, Operation U-Go begins. 341 00:18:42,467 --> 00:18:46,442 Japanese troops move across the Burmese jungle into India, 342 00:18:46,847 --> 00:18:50,613 toward British bases and the American airfields. 343 00:18:52,006 --> 00:18:56,010 The Japanese commander is General Renya Mutaguchi. 344 00:18:56,052 --> 00:18:59,305 Mutaguchi thinks he is a creature of destiny. 345 00:18:59,358 --> 00:19:00,859 And he's got a plan. 346 00:19:00,884 --> 00:19:02,766 He believes that right there, 347 00:19:02,767 --> 00:19:06,771 on the very, very western frontier of the Japanese Empire, 348 00:19:06,812 --> 00:19:10,675 he could strike a blow that could save the war for Japan. 349 00:19:10,777 --> 00:19:12,777 Mutaguchi hopes his invasion 350 00:19:12,818 --> 00:19:16,572 will inspire the Indians to overthrow the British 351 00:19:16,614 --> 00:19:18,824 and join Japan in the war. 352 00:19:18,866 --> 00:19:21,868 The Japanese are banking on speed and surprise, 353 00:19:21,869 --> 00:19:23,766 that they're gonna move three divisions 354 00:19:23,791 --> 00:19:26,415 across these 8,000 foot high mountains 355 00:19:26,457 --> 00:19:28,750 in the space of just a few days. 356 00:19:28,751 --> 00:19:33,713 As such, he cuts the rations for all of his attack soldiers 357 00:19:33,714 --> 00:19:36,008 to just 20 days worth of food. 358 00:19:36,533 --> 00:19:38,343 The Japanese soldiers 359 00:19:38,344 --> 00:19:43,641 carry very small amount of food supply, like dried rice. 360 00:19:43,666 --> 00:19:47,862 And they do not carry many heavy weapons. 361 00:19:48,136 --> 00:19:50,530 So the Japanese cannot get locked 362 00:19:50,564 --> 00:19:52,399 into an attritional battle. 363 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:53,858 'Cause they're traveling light, 364 00:19:53,859 --> 00:19:56,946 they're gonna have to rely on capturing British supply dumps 365 00:19:56,987 --> 00:19:58,197 as they go along. 366 00:19:58,239 --> 00:19:59,432 It's a gamble. 367 00:20:01,183 --> 00:20:03,452 To get to the air bases in India, 368 00:20:03,510 --> 00:20:06,731 Mutaguchi will need to cross the Imphal Plain, 369 00:20:07,023 --> 00:20:09,942 site of a large British forward base. 370 00:20:10,943 --> 00:20:14,796 The Imphal Plain, it's got like a big river valley, 371 00:20:14,797 --> 00:20:17,715 surrounded by mountainous jungley terrain. 372 00:20:17,716 --> 00:20:20,260 The Brits have used this sort of like a bread basket. 373 00:20:20,261 --> 00:20:23,430 They've got airfield there, they've got supply dumps, food, 374 00:20:23,431 --> 00:20:25,416 everything the Japanese need. 375 00:20:26,792 --> 00:20:30,438 Based in Imphal are three British-Indian divisions 376 00:20:30,479 --> 00:20:33,174 from General Slim's 14th Army. 377 00:20:33,424 --> 00:20:36,109 They're about to push into enemy territory 378 00:20:36,110 --> 00:20:39,779 when they receive reports that Mutaguchi's Japanese troops 379 00:20:39,780 --> 00:20:41,349 are moving towards them. 380 00:20:45,202 --> 00:20:48,522 Bill Slim's new plan is to withdraw slightly, 381 00:20:48,773 --> 00:20:50,733 create a killing zone, 382 00:20:50,983 --> 00:20:54,153 let the Japanese attack through this difficult terrain, 383 00:20:54,653 --> 00:20:58,199 and pound them with artillery and aircraft. 384 00:20:58,366 --> 00:21:00,868 He's going to relinquish ground, 385 00:21:01,135 --> 00:21:03,554 but all the time he's going to attrit, 386 00:21:03,596 --> 00:21:05,848 grind down the Japanese. 387 00:21:05,890 --> 00:21:08,642 This is a high risk strategy 388 00:21:08,684 --> 00:21:12,145 and you can only do that if you're extremely confident 389 00:21:12,146 --> 00:21:14,498 that your men are sufficiently trained. 390 00:21:16,066 --> 00:21:18,636 But Mutaguchi's force arrives quickly 391 00:21:19,428 --> 00:21:22,306 and is far larger than Slim was expecting. 392 00:21:24,266 --> 00:21:26,827 So when these Japanese divisions 393 00:21:26,869 --> 00:21:29,397 start sort of materializing out of the jungle, 394 00:21:30,356 --> 00:21:32,708 it's a real pucker moment for the British. 395 00:21:44,565 --> 00:21:47,081 The Japanese encircle Imphal 396 00:21:47,289 --> 00:21:49,750 and cut off its supply roads. 397 00:21:50,918 --> 00:21:53,354 There is this just brutal battle. 398 00:21:53,379 --> 00:21:56,271 The fighting is incredibly close quarter. 399 00:22:00,444 --> 00:22:02,805 And it is absolutely touch and go. 400 00:22:09,203 --> 00:22:12,248 But Mutaguchi is mired in 401 00:22:12,273 --> 00:22:15,226 mental models that were applicable in 1942 402 00:22:15,251 --> 00:22:18,087 that are no longer applicable in '44. 403 00:22:18,212 --> 00:22:21,335 Back then, if you hit an Indian division 404 00:22:21,382 --> 00:22:23,150 in the face with a frontal attack, 405 00:22:23,175 --> 00:22:25,161 a lot of the time it fell apart. 406 00:22:25,845 --> 00:22:29,415 But Slim's army is better trained, it is more resilient, 407 00:22:29,623 --> 00:22:33,519 and from a morale standpoint, they believe in themselves. 408 00:22:33,561 --> 00:22:36,355 They think that they can fight the Japanese toe to toe. 409 00:22:38,449 --> 00:22:41,062 Fighting is relentless around Imphal, 410 00:22:41,151 --> 00:22:43,361 but General Slim has a plan 411 00:22:43,362 --> 00:22:45,531 to bring in reinforcements and supplies. 412 00:22:48,117 --> 00:22:51,870 All this time, Imphal itself is completely cut off. 413 00:22:52,246 --> 00:22:53,747 And if you're gonna make a stand, 414 00:22:53,789 --> 00:22:55,499 you're gonna need supplies. 415 00:22:55,847 --> 00:22:59,085 What Slim recognizes with his American colleagues 416 00:22:59,086 --> 00:23:01,704 is that air power is key to the whole thing. 417 00:23:03,532 --> 00:23:06,509 There's only one way to supply this Allied pocket, 418 00:23:06,510 --> 00:23:08,454 and that is by air. 419 00:23:09,134 --> 00:23:10,823 The Americans have already got 420 00:23:10,848 --> 00:23:14,852 a very efficient, well-trained transport air force 421 00:23:14,894 --> 00:23:17,394 in the north of India, the Hump. 422 00:23:17,438 --> 00:23:21,233 And they turn that airlift 90 degrees aside 423 00:23:21,275 --> 00:23:25,638 and aim it towards Imphal and the British troops there. 424 00:23:28,574 --> 00:23:31,034 When you're flying low and slow, 425 00:23:31,035 --> 00:23:34,146 you are one big fat target. 426 00:23:34,605 --> 00:23:38,042 These cargo planes have no defensive armament, 427 00:23:38,083 --> 00:23:39,652 they don't have any guns. 428 00:23:40,528 --> 00:23:43,546 And if you push the cargo out four seconds late, 429 00:23:43,547 --> 00:23:45,824 it's gonna end up into Japanese hands. 430 00:23:46,367 --> 00:23:49,344 But astonishingly it works. 431 00:23:51,347 --> 00:23:53,681 These transports airdrop and land 432 00:23:53,682 --> 00:23:57,686 about 14 million pounds of food, ammunition, 433 00:23:57,728 --> 00:24:01,002 heavy equipment, and thousands of fresh troops. 434 00:24:01,065 --> 00:24:05,486 And that means that Slim can keep his forces fighting. 435 00:24:08,035 --> 00:24:11,491 Mutaguchi had hoped to take Imphal within days, 436 00:24:11,492 --> 00:24:12,952 right off the march. 437 00:24:12,993 --> 00:24:15,143 Instead, what he gets is a meat grinder. 438 00:24:22,403 --> 00:24:26,214 For weeks, divisions of General Slim's 14th Army 439 00:24:26,215 --> 00:24:28,284 have been receiving supplies by air, 440 00:24:30,010 --> 00:24:33,914 there, the frontline resisting Japan's invasion of India. 441 00:24:41,897 --> 00:24:44,758 But Mutaguchi's men are running out of time. 442 00:24:45,222 --> 00:24:47,360 The Japanese have gone into the offensive 443 00:24:47,361 --> 00:24:49,113 without much equipment. 444 00:24:49,154 --> 00:24:51,448 They don't have an established supply line. 445 00:24:51,473 --> 00:24:54,451 So every day that they don't achieve success, 446 00:24:54,493 --> 00:24:56,328 it becomes more and more desperate. 447 00:24:56,370 --> 00:24:59,456 Of course the big problem they face is rations. 448 00:24:59,491 --> 00:25:02,835 These start to run out, hunger starts to become a big issue. 449 00:25:02,879 --> 00:25:06,030 They're picking up snakes, they're trying to eat monkeys. 450 00:25:06,255 --> 00:25:08,157 They are literally starving. 451 00:25:10,050 --> 00:25:15,556 General Tojo famously issued instructions 452 00:25:15,616 --> 00:25:18,336 for the soldiers in the battlefield 453 00:25:18,392 --> 00:25:23,772 that to be taken by enemy as a prisoner of war 454 00:25:23,868 --> 00:25:25,924 is unacceptable. 455 00:25:26,189 --> 00:25:29,041 Facing defeat, they should 456 00:25:29,123 --> 00:25:32,252 make a final suicidal charge and die 457 00:25:33,615 --> 00:25:35,908 or commit suicide. 458 00:25:38,812 --> 00:25:41,665 The survivors are forced to retreat. 459 00:25:43,083 --> 00:25:46,544 Japanese soldiers are dropping dead along the route. 460 00:25:46,545 --> 00:25:48,864 The retreats becomes hellish. 461 00:25:49,531 --> 00:25:53,468 The Japanese words were translated as the road of bones. 462 00:25:53,469 --> 00:25:56,388 The survivors' accounts are of mass suicides 463 00:25:56,430 --> 00:25:58,207 all along the way. 464 00:25:58,807 --> 00:26:02,803 There are stories of Japanese buddies getting together and 465 00:26:02,895 --> 00:26:07,249 hugging each other and then detonating a grenade between the two of them. 466 00:26:09,735 --> 00:26:12,195 Up to this point in the war, 467 00:26:12,196 --> 00:26:14,860 this is the largest defeat the Japanese Army 468 00:26:14,885 --> 00:26:19,103 has ever suffered on the ground, around 60,000 casualties. 469 00:26:19,478 --> 00:26:22,121 Mutaguchi had a vision of this operation 470 00:26:22,122 --> 00:26:25,184 to destroy the Allied efforts in Northeastern India 471 00:26:25,209 --> 00:26:27,585 and foment an insurrection. 472 00:26:27,586 --> 00:26:30,739 All of those dreams are shattered at the end of this. 473 00:26:36,428 --> 00:26:38,405 In the spring of 1944, 474 00:26:38,430 --> 00:26:41,725 President Roosevelt is focused on Operation Overlord, 475 00:26:41,767 --> 00:26:44,086 the upcoming invasion of Normandy. 476 00:26:44,728 --> 00:26:48,674 But he's frustrated by the delays in East Asia 477 00:26:49,007 --> 00:26:53,095 and the fact that the B-29s are still not in action. 478 00:26:53,403 --> 00:26:56,657 America is in Burma and in this theater 479 00:26:56,682 --> 00:26:58,950 to supply China with weapons 480 00:26:58,951 --> 00:27:02,246 and to supply their B-29 bases in Southern China. 481 00:27:02,271 --> 00:27:06,791 Roosevelt has been told time and again by his military men 482 00:27:06,792 --> 00:27:08,835 that they're devoting precious resources 483 00:27:08,836 --> 00:27:12,147 on an effort that looks increasingly futile. 484 00:27:13,882 --> 00:27:18,620 And yet Roosevelt simply doesn't see another horse to back. 485 00:27:18,804 --> 00:27:22,908 In May of 1944, there is no alternate place 486 00:27:22,933 --> 00:27:26,203 from which B-29 bombers can operate. 487 00:27:28,438 --> 00:27:32,066 In Northern Burma, General Vinegar Joe Stilwell 488 00:27:32,067 --> 00:27:35,471 is preparing troops to push to the Burma Road. 489 00:27:37,014 --> 00:27:40,158 If the Americans can reopen that road, 490 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:41,910 it's gonna completely transform 491 00:27:41,952 --> 00:27:44,872 not only the ground campaign in China for Chiang 492 00:27:44,913 --> 00:27:48,851 but also the aerial campaign for the American B-29s 493 00:27:48,876 --> 00:27:50,532 that are gonna be based in China, 494 00:27:50,557 --> 00:27:53,560 because they will be able to drive over the heavy equipment 495 00:27:53,585 --> 00:27:55,757 that they can't fly across the Hump, 496 00:27:55,799 --> 00:27:58,026 like steam shovels and steam rollers. 497 00:27:58,051 --> 00:28:00,821 And so it transformed these bases into the sort of bases 498 00:28:00,846 --> 00:28:02,388 that Americans like to build, 499 00:28:02,389 --> 00:28:05,559 big, sprawling, and full of warehouses. 500 00:28:08,406 --> 00:28:11,799 Stilwell's plan is to move across Northern Burma, 501 00:28:12,925 --> 00:28:16,386 attack the Japanese military base at Myitkyina, 502 00:28:16,737 --> 00:28:21,058 then push forward to create a new route to the Burma Road. 503 00:28:25,068 --> 00:28:28,790 He sent 7,000 men, including Chinese troops 504 00:28:28,815 --> 00:28:31,777 and a veteran American deep penetration force 505 00:28:31,802 --> 00:28:34,138 nicknamed Merrill's Marauders, 506 00:28:34,212 --> 00:28:38,534 on a three week march through the jungle towards Myitkyina. 507 00:28:39,221 --> 00:28:41,111 Certain fighting environments kill you 508 00:28:41,136 --> 00:28:42,637 all by themselves. 509 00:28:42,638 --> 00:28:45,097 You don't need bullets, you don't need shells. 510 00:28:45,098 --> 00:28:46,682 The jungle kills you. 511 00:28:46,683 --> 00:28:49,002 It destroys armies day by day. 512 00:28:49,595 --> 00:28:51,246 The American and Chinese troops 513 00:28:51,271 --> 00:28:52,764 that are inserted there, 514 00:28:52,814 --> 00:28:55,484 they're just absolutely devastated by illness. 515 00:28:55,525 --> 00:28:58,862 They've all got amoebic dysentery, severe diarrhea. 516 00:28:58,911 --> 00:29:02,532 They've all got, you know, dengue and other tropical fevers. 517 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:04,451 There was nowhere to rest, 518 00:29:04,493 --> 00:29:06,328 there was nowhere to recuperate, 519 00:29:06,370 --> 00:29:08,847 and nowhere to get the resources for war. 520 00:29:15,895 --> 00:29:17,562 On May 17th, 521 00:29:17,587 --> 00:29:20,264 Stilwell's troops launched the attack on Myitkyina. 522 00:29:26,556 --> 00:29:27,932 It's a really hard-fought battle. 523 00:29:27,933 --> 00:29:29,786 There's more Japanese there than they expected. 524 00:29:29,810 --> 00:29:31,687 And the Japanese fight doggedly for it. 525 00:29:33,438 --> 00:29:35,315 The Americans call in air support 526 00:29:35,357 --> 00:29:36,967 from their bases in India. 527 00:29:46,076 --> 00:29:48,061 And take Myitkyina Airfield. 528 00:29:52,190 --> 00:29:54,109 US gliders land, 529 00:29:57,009 --> 00:29:58,672 bringing reinforcements 530 00:30:04,970 --> 00:30:07,664 and General Stilwell. 531 00:30:09,937 --> 00:30:11,807 So with the fall of Myitkyina, 532 00:30:11,852 --> 00:30:13,770 that now enables 533 00:30:13,817 --> 00:30:17,083 the Americans to play their strong suit, which is construction. 534 00:30:21,276 --> 00:30:23,837 Army engineers and local laborers 535 00:30:23,864 --> 00:30:28,602 start to build a new route from India to the Burma Road. 536 00:30:28,810 --> 00:30:30,703 It's hundreds of miles long, 537 00:30:30,704 --> 00:30:32,663 scraped out of the jungle, 538 00:30:32,664 --> 00:30:35,916 and it's a major construction program. 539 00:30:35,917 --> 00:30:37,643 It's gonna take months. 540 00:30:42,648 --> 00:30:45,844 From the British and American standpoint, it's all looking good. 541 00:30:47,548 --> 00:30:49,973 It's gonna take a while to rebuild that road, 542 00:30:50,015 --> 00:30:52,433 but we can rebuild it now. 543 00:30:52,434 --> 00:30:56,188 And it seems that the tea leaves are now propitious 544 00:30:56,229 --> 00:30:59,132 for a B-29 offensive out of China. 545 00:31:00,258 --> 00:31:03,028 The problem is that the Allies don't know 546 00:31:03,070 --> 00:31:05,864 that the Japanese have an even bigger land operation 547 00:31:05,904 --> 00:31:07,180 up their sleeve. 548 00:31:14,124 --> 00:31:16,666 General Stilwell's victory at Myitkyina 549 00:31:16,708 --> 00:31:20,570 will enable the Americans to reconnect to the Burma Road. 550 00:31:21,196 --> 00:31:23,923 But it's a slow and arduous process 551 00:31:23,924 --> 00:31:27,259 and the road won't be operational for months. 552 00:31:33,698 --> 00:31:35,669 In June, 1944, 553 00:31:36,461 --> 00:31:40,549 B-29s begin to arrive at the air fields in China. 554 00:31:44,091 --> 00:31:46,421 The Army Air Forces have been waiting 555 00:31:46,446 --> 00:31:49,282 for the B-29 for years. 556 00:31:49,433 --> 00:31:51,326 Finally, here they are, 557 00:31:51,374 --> 00:31:54,485 ready to fly their first missions out of China. 558 00:31:58,416 --> 00:32:00,268 The idea is to put up 559 00:32:00,293 --> 00:32:03,838 a sustained bombing campaign over Japan. 560 00:32:03,839 --> 00:32:06,841 And the key is being able to fly missions 561 00:32:06,842 --> 00:32:09,077 over and over and over again. 562 00:32:10,095 --> 00:32:12,748 The problem is logistics. 563 00:32:13,373 --> 00:32:16,752 The B-29 is an enormous fuel hog. 564 00:32:17,377 --> 00:32:21,923 It runs on about 9,000 gallons of gasoline per sortie. 565 00:32:22,215 --> 00:32:24,679 They also need a lot of bombs. 566 00:32:24,746 --> 00:32:27,505 And the only way you're gonna get bombs and fuel to those air fields 567 00:32:27,529 --> 00:32:29,199 is they gotta fly over the Hump, 568 00:32:29,239 --> 00:32:32,100 until they open up a new Burma Road. 569 00:32:33,380 --> 00:32:35,704 It takes eight airlift missions 570 00:32:35,729 --> 00:32:37,139 flying over the Hump 571 00:32:37,164 --> 00:32:39,808 for every B-29 combat mission 572 00:32:39,833 --> 00:32:42,235 just to bring in the bombs and the fuel. 573 00:32:52,158 --> 00:32:56,474 In mid-June, the first B-29 combat mission to Japan 574 00:32:56,507 --> 00:32:58,451 sets off from Chengdu. 575 00:32:59,091 --> 00:33:01,395 68 Superfortresses 576 00:33:01,396 --> 00:33:04,481 attack the Imperial Iron and steelworks 577 00:33:04,482 --> 00:33:06,660 at Yawata in Southern Japan. 578 00:33:12,786 --> 00:33:15,117 But because they don't have enough supplies 579 00:33:15,118 --> 00:33:16,577 coming into China, 580 00:33:16,578 --> 00:33:19,773 they're only flying a few missions at a time. 581 00:33:21,625 --> 00:33:24,127 It's just not going to add up 582 00:33:24,169 --> 00:33:29,241 to the sustained pounding campaign that Roosevelt wants. 583 00:33:32,798 --> 00:33:34,970 Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tojo 584 00:33:34,971 --> 00:33:37,541 has launched an offensive in China. 585 00:33:39,334 --> 00:33:41,287 It's called Operation Ichi-Go, 586 00:33:41,311 --> 00:33:43,646 which means Operation Number One. 587 00:33:43,647 --> 00:33:45,649 And this is the largest operation 588 00:33:45,690 --> 00:33:48,093 that the Japanese undertake during the war. 589 00:33:49,177 --> 00:33:51,555 The offensive has two goals, 590 00:33:51,738 --> 00:33:56,893 secure land access to Japan's occupied possessions in Southeast Asia 591 00:33:57,561 --> 00:34:00,981 and capture US air bases in China. 592 00:34:06,086 --> 00:34:07,711 The Japanese attack 593 00:34:07,712 --> 00:34:09,713 with about a half a million troops, 594 00:34:09,714 --> 00:34:11,715 several thousand artillery pieces, 595 00:34:11,716 --> 00:34:14,970 hundreds of tanks, a lot of aircraft as well. 596 00:34:17,849 --> 00:34:19,849 But the big surprise of this campaign 597 00:34:19,882 --> 00:34:22,811 is how poor Chiang Kai-shek's forces are. 598 00:34:23,353 --> 00:34:25,562 At this point, some of them are starving. 599 00:34:25,563 --> 00:34:27,732 There've been lots of deserters from their army. 600 00:34:27,774 --> 00:34:29,359 And with that level of morale, 601 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:31,643 some of these forces, under Japanese pressure, 602 00:34:31,668 --> 00:34:33,011 simply melt away. 603 00:34:34,948 --> 00:34:37,117 The Japanese push south, 604 00:34:37,148 --> 00:34:39,603 overpowering Chinese forces. 605 00:34:40,245 --> 00:34:42,939 Millions of Chinese attempt to flee, 606 00:34:43,081 --> 00:34:45,499 caught between a foreign invader 607 00:34:45,500 --> 00:34:47,819 and their own corrupt leaders. 608 00:34:50,088 --> 00:34:53,617 The US is forced to abandon bases and airfields. 609 00:34:54,178 --> 00:34:56,695 It's a huge embarrassment for Chiang Kai-shek, 610 00:34:56,720 --> 00:34:59,680 particularly in the face of his allies. 611 00:34:59,681 --> 00:35:00,931 All this time, 612 00:35:00,932 --> 00:35:03,410 he's been trying to talk up what he's capable of 613 00:35:03,435 --> 00:35:05,936 if only the Americans give him what he needs. 614 00:35:05,937 --> 00:35:08,023 And yet in the face of Operation Ichi-Go, 615 00:35:08,064 --> 00:35:10,008 his forces just seem to crumble. 616 00:35:11,718 --> 00:35:14,236 For the Americans looking at the wreckage 617 00:35:14,237 --> 00:35:17,349 of the aftermath of Ichi-Go, 618 00:35:17,476 --> 00:35:21,044 they recognized that the Chinese can't defend American bases 619 00:35:21,077 --> 00:35:22,995 no matter where they are. 620 00:35:22,996 --> 00:35:26,875 On top of that, the increasing logistical headaches 621 00:35:26,916 --> 00:35:28,752 of trying to get supplies over the Hump 622 00:35:28,793 --> 00:35:32,948 means that they decide to just cut their losses. 623 00:35:33,657 --> 00:35:36,343 And they packed up those B-29s. 624 00:35:37,163 --> 00:35:39,636 The Army Air Forces have put everything 625 00:35:39,637 --> 00:35:42,306 into making these Chinese bases work, 626 00:35:42,307 --> 00:35:44,376 but they're done with China. 627 00:35:45,226 --> 00:35:47,870 And the Americans may now have a new option 628 00:35:47,895 --> 00:35:49,965 for basing B-29s, 629 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:52,441 which is a better option. 630 00:35:54,653 --> 00:35:56,655 Since 1943, 631 00:35:56,696 --> 00:35:59,351 American forces have been fighting their way 632 00:35:59,376 --> 00:36:01,184 across the Central Pacific. 633 00:36:01,768 --> 00:36:04,663 Now a combined Marine and Army force 634 00:36:04,704 --> 00:36:08,191 is on the verge of invading the Mariana Islands, 635 00:36:08,358 --> 00:36:13,947 Tinian, Guam, and Saipan, only 1,600 miles from Japan. 636 00:36:15,732 --> 00:36:19,010 So if the Americans can capture the Marianas, 637 00:36:19,052 --> 00:36:21,846 the B-29 bomber will now be within range 638 00:36:21,888 --> 00:36:23,931 of almost all of Japan. 639 00:36:23,932 --> 00:36:27,602 The expectation for the Americans is that this should be 640 00:36:27,644 --> 00:36:30,338 a relatively easy operation, 641 00:36:31,631 --> 00:36:34,259 but the reality is gonna be utterly different. 642 00:36:41,699 --> 00:36:45,453 Just after D-Day, the Allied invasion of Europe, 643 00:36:45,861 --> 00:36:50,708 American forces attack Saipan in the middle of the Pacific. 644 00:36:59,175 --> 00:37:02,303 This is really an unprecedented display 645 00:37:02,345 --> 00:37:04,763 of American power projection, 646 00:37:04,764 --> 00:37:06,682 that the Americans are able to launch 647 00:37:06,683 --> 00:37:09,561 these two massive operations, 648 00:37:09,602 --> 00:37:13,773 Overlord first in Europe and then Saipan. 649 00:37:13,815 --> 00:37:15,734 They're separated by half a planet. 650 00:37:15,759 --> 00:37:17,752 They're thousands of miles apart. 651 00:37:22,407 --> 00:37:25,076 The expectation is that this is gonna take three days 652 00:37:25,118 --> 00:37:27,912 for two Marine divisions and an Army division 653 00:37:27,954 --> 00:37:29,706 to be able to conquer Saipan. 654 00:37:34,127 --> 00:37:36,171 But the Japanese had fortified it 655 00:37:36,212 --> 00:37:38,653 and built D-Day style fortifications, 656 00:37:38,678 --> 00:37:40,955 not only bunkers and pillboxes, but they had 657 00:37:40,980 --> 00:37:42,760 dummy bunkers and pillboxes 658 00:37:42,761 --> 00:37:45,398 so that they could waste some of the naval bombardment on 659 00:37:45,423 --> 00:37:46,944 fake targets. 660 00:37:48,808 --> 00:37:51,603 In fact, there's actually 32,000 Japanese there. 661 00:37:54,522 --> 00:37:56,649 Saipan is part of the Japanese defenses 662 00:37:56,691 --> 00:37:59,110 that they would consider to be the inner ring 663 00:37:59,152 --> 00:38:01,279 that must be defended, 664 00:38:01,321 --> 00:38:03,322 that they will sacrifice the most for. 665 00:38:06,201 --> 00:38:08,161 Because if they lose Saipan, 666 00:38:08,203 --> 00:38:10,455 then Tokyo is in danger, 667 00:38:10,497 --> 00:38:11,790 and that's where the emperor is. 668 00:38:13,666 --> 00:38:15,585 The resistance is ferocious. 669 00:38:18,171 --> 00:38:19,774 The Americans successfully get 670 00:38:19,798 --> 00:38:21,591 a full division's worth of troops on there 671 00:38:21,633 --> 00:38:23,635 within the space of just a few hours. 672 00:38:24,256 --> 00:38:27,138 In the initial assault, 8,000 Marines land. 673 00:38:28,294 --> 00:38:30,863 Over 2,000 of them become casualties. 674 00:38:32,149 --> 00:38:35,104 This is a bloodletting beyond what anybody had expected. 675 00:38:36,606 --> 00:38:39,359 Anytime a Japanese formation 676 00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:41,736 attempts to put in a counter-attack, 677 00:38:41,778 --> 00:38:43,838 they are immediately met with 678 00:38:43,863 --> 00:38:47,767 inordinate amounts of naval gunfire that just crushed them. 679 00:38:51,634 --> 00:38:54,749 The Japanese retreat into the hills in the interior, 680 00:38:54,774 --> 00:38:58,478 along with several thousand Japanese settlers living in Saipan. 681 00:38:58,503 --> 00:39:00,939 And they forced the Marines and the Army troops 682 00:39:00,964 --> 00:39:03,024 to root them out of caves in these hills. 683 00:39:13,315 --> 00:39:16,921 The battle for Saipan lasts almost a month. 684 00:39:18,131 --> 00:39:22,927 Thousands of civilians die, caught in the crossfire. 685 00:39:28,241 --> 00:39:30,785 The final climax of this battle 686 00:39:30,827 --> 00:39:33,079 happens at a set of cliffs 687 00:39:33,121 --> 00:39:35,030 on the northern part of the island. 688 00:39:36,540 --> 00:39:39,751 At Marpi Point, advancing US troops 689 00:39:39,752 --> 00:39:42,171 trap civilians and Japanese soldiers 690 00:39:42,213 --> 00:39:45,283 between the frontline and the sea. 691 00:39:46,493 --> 00:39:48,152 The Japanese propaganda 692 00:39:48,177 --> 00:39:50,305 that's been fed to these people 693 00:39:50,430 --> 00:39:54,224 tells them that the Americans are going to kill all the men, 694 00:39:54,225 --> 00:39:56,893 rape all the women, and it's effective. 695 00:39:56,894 --> 00:39:58,479 They don't surrender. 696 00:40:01,543 --> 00:40:04,052 And then as the Marines close in, 697 00:40:05,011 --> 00:40:06,589 some of them leap to their deaths, 698 00:40:06,613 --> 00:40:08,172 some of them clutching their children. 699 00:40:13,935 --> 00:40:17,774 Marines and soldiers confront the inconceivable. 700 00:40:19,692 --> 00:40:24,881 For Japan, the loss of Saipan is a disaster. 701 00:40:26,116 --> 00:40:27,675 They've now had the heart 702 00:40:27,700 --> 00:40:30,119 ripped out of their defensive line. 703 00:40:30,870 --> 00:40:34,723 And they know that the Americans now 704 00:40:34,724 --> 00:40:37,517 are gonna have perfect operating conditions 705 00:40:37,518 --> 00:40:41,673 to launch this bomber offensive against Japan itself. 706 00:40:45,987 --> 00:40:47,720 The casualties are high, 707 00:40:48,024 --> 00:40:49,624 for both sides. 708 00:40:50,054 --> 00:40:52,375 But the terrible loss of life 709 00:40:52,408 --> 00:40:54,494 finally gives the B -29s 710 00:40:54,535 --> 00:40:57,647 the air bases they need to bomb Japan. 711 00:40:58,189 --> 00:41:01,209 Instead of having hand-built runways in China 712 00:41:01,250 --> 00:41:04,253 that require airlift just to bring in the gas, 713 00:41:04,295 --> 00:41:08,883 now in the Mariana's islands, you have huge runways 714 00:41:08,925 --> 00:41:13,079 built by the Seabees using brilliant white coral, 715 00:41:13,104 --> 00:41:15,582 as hard and durable as you can want. 716 00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:17,660 On these three islands, 717 00:41:17,684 --> 00:41:20,018 Saipan, Tinian, and Guam, 718 00:41:20,019 --> 00:41:23,523 the Americans build five long runway complexes, 719 00:41:23,548 --> 00:41:28,276 each to be supported by a bomber group of 180 B-29s. 720 00:41:28,277 --> 00:41:30,362 And suddenly the Marianas 721 00:41:30,363 --> 00:41:32,423 are the world's biggest air base. 722 00:41:39,621 --> 00:41:42,349 FDR's objective, the B-29, 723 00:41:42,375 --> 00:41:44,835 finally gets its optimum opportunity 724 00:41:44,836 --> 00:41:46,170 to achieve the mission 725 00:41:46,212 --> 00:41:48,506 for which it was developed in the first place. 726 00:41:50,518 --> 00:41:53,161 November, 1944, 727 00:41:53,636 --> 00:41:56,039 B-29 Superfortresses 728 00:41:57,040 --> 00:42:00,184 take off for the first of many missions 729 00:42:00,257 --> 00:42:02,593 to bomb the home islands of Japan. 730 00:42:09,999 --> 00:42:12,447 With the capture of the Mariana island chain, 731 00:42:12,488 --> 00:42:16,742 the United States is capable of regularly striking Japan, 732 00:42:16,743 --> 00:42:19,119 just as it's been able to hit Germany 733 00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:20,813 for the past two years. 734 00:42:21,356 --> 00:42:24,859 As the tide turns for these Axis partners, 735 00:42:25,068 --> 00:42:28,921 each country tightens its grip on its people.