The Japanese are using new tactics at Okinawa by staying in the interior and using a mixture of kamikaze planes and normal bombers to take down as many American soldiers as possible, especially as they near the Japanese homeland.
In November 1943, the US Navy launches an island hopping campaign through the central Pacific during the Pacific War. Marines face challenging situations that will teach important lessons but cost many lives, leading the Navy towards iconic assaults in places like Iwo Jima.
The story of the Battle of Wake Island highlights the intense fighting that occurred during the first Japanese Blitzkrieg period, with the Marines requesting reinforcements but ultimately being overrun by the Japanese.
In the 19th and 20th century, the government of Japan attempted to impose a single national language and culture on a diverse group of people which annihilated all the local non-Shinto religions, resulting in the mass destruction and looting of thousands of these local shrines.
In this episode, the hosts discuss the violent period in Japan's history during which their nationalism and imperialism arose, beginning with their victory in the Sino-Japanese war in 1894 and the Russo-Japanese war 10 years later.