allonlinenovel Chapter 131 Battle of Guadalcanal (1)
Chapter 131 Battle of Guadalcanal (1)
历史上瓜岛战役发生在1942年8月至1943年2月，因为美日海军中途岛战役变化的缘故，瓜岛战役推迟到1943年5月之后，包括参战的兵力都有了变化。
盟军强大的炮火将登陆区域的每一寸土地都犁了过遍，王成武准将亲自带领新4团登陆瓜岛。这里要说明一下，盟军第一、第二集团军扩编后，为了便于统一番号，112、113、114师下辖的3个团统一按新1至新9团编号，新28师恢复了82、83、84团番号。
Guadalcanal, also known as Guadalcanal, is located at the southeastern tip of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, at 930°S latitude and 160°E longitude. It is the largest and most important island in the Solomon Islands, covering an area of 5302 square kilometers. The Battle of Guadalcanal took place on Guadalcanal and its surrounding islands. The Battle was sparked by the Japanese attempt to establish an airfield on Guadalcanal as a base for bombing Australia. Subsequently, the Allies began to seize the island, leading to a series of island-grabbing battles.
The landing point of the new 4th Regiment was in Area E, and the landing point of the 2rd Regiment of the 3nd Division of the US Army was in Area A. According to the plan, the Chinese and US armies would cut the island in half from the east and west, occupy the airport under construction by the Japanese army, and then expand from north to south, and finally completely occupy the entire island.
After the New 4th Regiment landed, the Japanese, German and Italian light armor and tanks it used left the beach and easily penetrated hundreds of meters into the interior of the island, establishing effective defensive positions.
The 2rd Regiment of the 3nd Division of the US Army was stuck in the quagmire of the island's terrain. The jeeps could not move on the rugged island, and the M4 tanks were too heavy and easily got stuck in some soft potholes. As a last resort, they had to transport several bulldozers from the engineering battalion. After much trouble, they had only established an area with a depth of less than 200 meters by dark, and the construction of the defensive positions was also a mess.
Fletcher was displeased by the report. Were these Marines unable to fight without the naval guns? Remembering General Nimitz's request for him to pay more attention to the Chinese, he immediately consulted his deputy, who reported that the Chinese had penetrated nearly a thousand meters into the island and had established various defensive positions. In particular, the Chinese were highly skilled in the use of Japanese and German light armor and tanks. These seemingly antique weapons played a significant role on islands like Guadalcanal.
Fletcher was very worried that these rookies in the 2nd Division might encounter problems in the dark. Thinking that there were still two Chinese regiments that had not landed, he immediately called General Cai Yong, the commander of the 2th Division on the landing ship, hoping that he could provide some help to the vanguard troops of the US 113nd Division.
Soon, an engineering battalion of the 113th Division landed in Area A. To the astonishment of the US 3rd Regiment, they advanced their position 200 meters. Considering that it was dark, they began to dig trenches. The arrangement of various machines was very in place, and a complete position defense battle gradually took shape!
Japanese scouts observed all this grimly from a distance. The Japanese had long received intelligence of the Allied attack on Guadalcanal, and just before the naval defeat, they had gradually dispatched reinforcements from New Guinea. The Japanese forces currently on the island were not a small, mixed force of infantry and engineers, but rather five regiments: the 124th and 4th Infantry Regiments commanded by Kawaguchi Kiyokane; the 16th and 29th Infantry Regiments commanded by Aoba Shigeru; and the 28th Infantry Regiment under Colonel Ikki Kiyonao. The commander was Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano. Part of his 5th Division had already arrived on the island, while the main force was stationed on other islands in the Solomon Islands, ready to reinforce Guadalcanal.
The Japanese army deliberately stockpiled a large amount of supplies, which was basically enough for the troops on the island to use for half a year. The Japanese army had established a secret supply port on the east side of the island, and the supplies would be brought into the island under the cover of night.
The highest-ranking Japanese commander on the island is Major General Kawaguchi Kiyokatsu. After discussing with Aoba Shigeru, he decided to avoid the powerful US naval guns, lure the Allied forces deep into the island, and wipe out their manpower in one fell swoop.
Japanese scouts reported the situation of the US and Chinese landing points to Colonel Ikki. According to Kawaguchi's instructions, the main force of the Japanese army exposed to the Allies was the Ikki Regiment, so as to paralyze the Chinese and American landing forces. When the time was right, they would launch a surprise attack on them, encircle them, and use them as a threat to force the Allies to be cautious.
After Ikki understood the situation of the first landing troops, he decided to launch a surprise attack on the US positions tonight, catching the enemy off guard, and then attracting them to move towards the airport and finally fall into Kawaguchi's trap.
The 3rd Regiment, supported by the 113th Division's Engineer Battalion, completed its deep defense. However, the American soldiers' inferiority was quickly exposed. They lit bonfires in groups of three or four and laid out various foods, as if this were not a battlefield but a field trip. Some soldiers provided the engineer battalion with food they believed the Chinese had never enjoyed, and their defense was crude and perfunctory.
The commander of the 113th Division's engineering battalion was a veteran. Unable to dissuade the American soldiers from coming, he had no choice but to order the entire battalion to be on alert. The engineers picked up rifles and other self-defense weapons and entered the first-line defense positions.
"Boom!" With a resounding bang, a small-caliber Japanese grenade exploded in a US campfire. The massive blast ignited a raging fire, instantly engulfing several US soldiers who were barbecuing. Their fate remained unknown. Immediately afterwards, a large number of grenades rained down, engulfing the entire camp in flames.
In the darkness, dozens of Japanese machine guns emitted a dazzling flame, tongues of flame licking the air, ruthlessly mowing down, killing and wounding the chaotic American soldiers. The American soldiers were terrified and fled in all directions, looking for a safe place to hide.
Fierce gunfire, deafening artillery fire, and repeated explosions intertwined and resounded throughout the sky. American commanders and sergeants did their best to maintain order, constantly shouting, "Get down, spread out, get into position!" However, in this chaotic situation, everything became so difficult.
In the chaos, the American army had completely lost its organization. Sergeants could not find their men, and company and platoon leaders had no idea of their men's exact situation. Those American soldiers who had taken refuge in trenches and positions were in a state of extreme panic. They fired blindly, their M2 machine guns blasting wildly, their fire hitting no targets at all. Even the few M4 Sherman tanks that came to support them fired indiscriminately, their artillery not only failing to hit the enemy but also accurately revealing their positions to the Japanese.
Yi Mu, who was in charge of commanding the sneak attack, had a bright eye and immediately ordered all artillery fire to strike accurately. Soon, the heavy firepower of the US 3rd Regiment was defeated one by one. Seeing that the situation was not good, several tanks quickly reversed and hid in the positions behind.
Seeing that the enemy's resistance was getting weaker and weaker, Ikki estimated that it was almost over, and immediately ordered two battalions of Japanese troops to surround them from the left and right. The other battalion had already secretly made a detour, preparing to ambush the retreating American troops in the beach area.