An American infantry unit moved up Mount Suribachi, crushing the entrance to the cave position. The Japanese troops were not seen on the ground, but unexpectedly popped out of the underground cave entrance and repeatedly made thinly veiled attacks, scattering numerous corpses.

　　An American infantry unit moved up Mount Suribachi, crushing the entrance to the cave position. The Japanese troops were not seen on the ground, but unexpectedly burst out of the underground cave entrances and repeatedly made thinly veiled attacks, scattering many corpses. As the Japanese troops hid in their underground positions, the Americans attacked the cave with firebombs and blew up and blocked the entrance. The bodies of many slain Japanese soldiers littered Iwo Jima. The Japanese attack soon turned to guerrilla tactics, body slamming tanks with each explosive.

　In the early morning of February 19, 1945, the U.S. forces surrounded Iwo Jima with some 450 ships of various sizes and began bombarding the island simultaneously. Then about 120 ship-borne aircraft dropped napalm bombs over a period of about 10 minutes, and the bombardment resumed. About 8,000 rounds were fired in about 30 minutes just prior to the landing on Iwo Jima.

  Japanese losses on Iwo Jima from the air strikes were limited to about 75 killed in action, 53 seriously wounded, and 63 slightly wounded. About 21,000 Japanese troops were hidden in compound positions they had constructed underground and were connected by cave-in traffic routes.

  The Japanese began their attack by drawing in the American landing force. The coastal bridgeheads were in chaos, and the eight battalions of the first wave of landings had lost about one-fifth to one-fourth of their men to casualties by noon. 31,000 men landed during February 19, with overall casualties of about 8%. On February 21, the third day of the landing on Mount Suribachi, which is entirely made of rocks, the ship-borne aircraft repeatedly bombed the mountain, and artillery fire was poured into the mountain without a break. Condemnation of the high number of casualties erupted throughout the United States.

　Mount Suribachi was occupied on February 23, and the entire United States was thrilled by a photograph of the Stars and Stripes on the summit of Mount Suribachi on February 23. The Japanese Army continued to fight a thorough battle, and the U.S. Army was invaded by infantry units. On February 24, a white-knuckle battle broke out over Motoyama Airfield, and the Japanese temporarily repulsed the Americans. The U.S. forces increased their strength and occupied Wonsan Airfield on February 27. On March 14, a farewell telegram was sent to the Imperial Japanese Army headquarters, and on March 24, about 400 soldiers ended their organized resistance with a banzai charge. The surviving soldiers continued to hide underground, and the final number of prisoners of war after the war was about 1,000.