The Japanese had lost at least 6,000 troops, and the Twenty-Seventh Tank Regiment had only six remaining medium tanks. The Japanese artillery battalions had lost many guns and also had expended a great deal of their remaining ammunition. In a tearful encounter in the Shuri bunker, Ushijima told Colonel Yahara that he had been right, and pledged to stick to defensive attrition tactics for the remainder of the battle on Okinawa. However, as Colonel Yahara said, “There was no miracle medicine to heal the critical wounds of the May 4 debacle.”10 A feeling of despair spread through the Japanese
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