Eighty years ago today, on February 19, 1945 (January 7, 1945 in the lunar calendar), the Battle of Iwo Jima in the Pacific began. This photo has become a symbol of the American spirit. Luhuangdao is the largest island in the Pacific volcanic island group, located between Tokyo and the Mariana Islands in Japan, about 1,200 kilometers away from Tokyo. The island's entire area is less than 21 square kilometers, but it is in a dangerous position. It is the only relay base for Japan's air contact with the Mariana Islands. Once the Allies occupy the island, the aircraft on the base in the island can directly attack Japanese soil. Luhuangdao and Okinawa form the southern barrier of the Japanese mainland. With the loss of the Pacific War, Japan paid more attention to the defense of Luhuangdao. In June 1944, the Japanese decided to form the Ogasawara Corps, which increased the garrison on Luhuangdao from 1,500 to 23,000, with 7,000 Marines and more than 30 aircraft. Lieutenant General Kuribayashi Nakamoto, the garrison commander, organized the Japanese army on the island to build a core position on Mount Suribachi in the south. The central highlands and two airfields and the Wonsan area form the main defense zone on the island. The positions are composed of concrete fortifications and natural caves, and are connected by underground transportation trenches. The Japanese army is determined to use strong positions to conduct lasting defensive operations. In order to remove obstacles to attacking the Japanese mainland and effectively use the three airfields on the island as forward bases and relay stations for bombing the Japanese mainland, the US Army is determined to carry out the Luhuangdao landing operation. The US Army appointed Admiral Spruance, commander of the 5th Fleet, to command the landing battle. The troops participating in the battle are: the 3rd, 4th and 5th divisions of the 5th Amphibious Army under the jurisdiction of land warfare, more than 800 combat ships of various types, more than 2,000 aircraft, and a total strength of about 220,000 people. Before the landing operation, from mid-August 1944, the US military carried out a 6-month bombing of Liuhuang Island, dumping more than 1,300 tons of bombs. However, due to the strong tunnel protection of the Japanese army, the effect of the US bombing was not obvious. After the war, the Japanese army revealed that in the pre-war bombing, the Japanese army only suffered 95 casualties. On the morning of February 19, 1945, the US military landed on the eastern shore of Liuhuang Island. The Japanese army held tight and sniped the US troops who were rushing to the beach. In less than half a day, the US landing force suffered more than 2,400 casualties, and the troops were once blocked on the beachhead. At sunset that day, the US landing force reached more than 30,000. On the 20th, the US military occupied the No. 1 airfield, cutting off the island's north-south connection. On the 24th, the US military captured Mount Suribachi, and the reserve troops landed at this time. On March 1st, the US military captured the second airfield in the middle of the island. By March 9th, the US military had captured the third airfield under construction in the north and two highlands, squeezing the Japanese army into a narrow strip at the northern tip of the island and the northeast. The Japanese army ran out of ammunition. On March 17th, the remaining 800 Japanese troops were surrounded by the US military. On the night of the 25th, Kuribayashi led the remnants to break through, but most of them were annihilated by the US military, and Lieutenant-General Kuribayashi escaped death. On the 26th, the US military announced the end of the battle, but the clearance operation was not completed until the end of April. In this battle, about 21,000 US casualties, about 25,000 of the 30,000 Japanese island guards were killed, and more than 1,000 were captured. The victory of the Battle of Luhuangdao enabled the US military to seize a key forward base for the attack on the Japanese mainland. The US used flamethrowers in the Battle of Iwo