@Original articles that live up to the elegance of life. On this night of August 8, the Allies made a series of mistakes. As it turned out to be like the eve of the Pearl Harbor incident, no one realized that the enemy's claws were approaching. The raids from the Eighth Fleet wer

@Original articles that live up to the elegance of life.

On this night of August 8, the Allies made a series of mistakes. As it turned out to be like the eve of the Pearl Harbor incident, no one realized that the enemy's claws were approaching.

Raid from the Eighth Fleet

Two consecutive rounds of air strikes, the losses of the US military were just to extend its own landing operation for several hours.

, and Lieutenant General Hakuyoshi, the commander of the 17th Army who is far away in , Rabaul , did not take the US military's landing seriously. He still believes that this is a " feint attack on ".

But the newly appointed commander of the Eighth Fleet, General Mikawa Jun, insisted on a different view. This person has a clear mind and a gentle voice. In the six months after the war started, he has been the deputy of Nagamoto Tadakaichi .

Sanchuan Army 1

Sanchuan commanded the battleships of the First Air Fleet and the cruiser , and also witnessed the tragedy of Midway . When he learned of the large-scale landing of the US military on August 7, he immediately summoned the naval surface troops to fight back.

However, the 17th Army was unwilling to provide reinforcements for Guadalcanal Island , because the Army staff believed that it could defeat the US military without any effort.

So Mikawa summoned a "small" unit composed of 315 riflemen and " Japanese Marines " to pull them over with a transport ship. (The ship was later sunk by the US S-38 submarine near Cape St. George, New Ireland.)

He refused to stay in Rabaul for long-range command. On the afternoon of the same day, he boarded the heavy cruiser "Bird Sea" with his staff, and set off with the "Tianlong", "Xizhang" and the destroyer "Xizhi".

"Bohai" heavy cruiser

Then, they met the Sixth Cruiser Team "Aoba", "Ika", "Gagu" and " Ancient Eagle " in Cape St. George.

Sanchuan believed that simple formation could reduce the risks of collision and chaos, so he arranged 7 cruisers and 1 destroyer in two rows. He puts heavy cruisers (including the flagship "Bird Sea") in front of the team, leaving the destroyer at the tail of the team.

Sanchuan intends to raid Savo Bay at night and destroy US military transport and cargo ships with weaker resistance. Although the eight ships under Mikawa had never fought in concert before, each of them was well-equipped and trained in overnight combat.

In order to implement night torpedo operations, the Japanese army spent a lot of effort to develop weapons and equipment, formulate combat principles, and cruisers and destroyers troops also conducted a lot of targeted training.

After some effort, the Japanese army had first-class night optical rangefinders and sights, and could skillfully use night lighting tactics (including using flares, searchlights and signal flares dropped by cruise seaplanes), and also recruited a group of lookouts with outstanding vision.

24-foot-long, over 1 ton of 93 oxygen torpedo with a 1,100-pound high-explosive warhead, can travel 21 kilometers at a speed of 50 knots and 40 kilometers at a slower speed. These torpedo will pose a terrible threat to the Allied fleet in the upcoming night combat operations and cause more losses to the Allied fleet in the subsequent Guadalcanal Battle .

Schematic diagram: Japanese raid fleet

Just two months ago, Sanchuan witnessed the scene of four aircraft carriers being completely wiped out by air strikes on Midway. He knew that his plan to break into the waters of Savo Island to Guadalcanal Island may have disastrous consequences.

The Japanese army already knew that there were two or more US aircraft carriers nearby, and if their fleets discovered the Japanese army during the day, they could easily destroy Japanese warships.

Sanchuan needs to use the cover of night to travel the last 200 miles, and then run west before dawn, so as to ensure the plan is successful.

Sanchuan and the navigation consultant spent a lot of time pondering the charts, and finally decided to lurk north of Bougainville Island, which is outside the range of the US carrier-based aircraft. When the next day approached dusk, they led 8 warships through the dangerous waterway of the Solomon Islands (the US military jokingly called it the "trough sea").

If you have good luck, the Japanese ship can hide in the dim twilight and avoid the search of the Allied reconnaissance aircraft . This plan is actually full of risks, but if you don’t take risks, there is no possibility of arriving at , Guadalam for a night attack.

"Bare ass" US fleet

Sanchuan expects to be unaware of it, but he is discovered as soon as he sets off.

The US military submarine "S-38" ambushed at the entrance of St. George's Strait almost collided with the Sanchuan fleet. Due to the large wave head and the close distance, the "S-38" did not launch a torpedo. Captain H. F. Mumsen Navy Major immediately sent a radio report: 8 nautical miles west of Cape St. George, two destroyers and three unknown types of ships were traveling at a high speed, with a 140° sprint.

At dawn on August 8, Sanchuan's fleet arrived at Bougainville Island. After sending four reconnaissance planes, he dispersed the fleet to deceive the Allied reconnaissance planes.

10:20, an Australian Hudson bomber began to hover over the Bird Sea. Sanchuan immediately changed his course and pretended to return to Rabaul. Unexpectedly, another "Hudson" bomber flew over, and Mikawa decided to take the risk and re-form the fleet into a column and headed towards the narrow channel passing through the Solomon Islands.

Soon, a Japanese reconnaissance plane sent a report back: 18 enemy transport ships, 6 cruisers, 19 destroyers and 1 battleship were found near Savo Island. Sanchuan judged that the enemy ships had been divided into two groups: the main force guarded the transport ships on Guadalcanal Island, and the rest were guarded near Tulaji Island.

The ratio of the number of US ships to Japanese ships is 26:8, but Mikawa believes that it is not impossible to annihilate one of the two US fleets before the rendezvous.

The biggest problem is the US military aircraft carrier , where exactly are they hiding?

Fletcher 's aircraft carrier formation has been withdrawn:

Fletcher had promised to stay here for two days (less than half of Turner's unloading time), and now he will evacuate 8 hours in advance.

Turner was furious. Without aircraft carrier support, his fleet would be like "barbarous" in front of the Japanese army. Without the protection of the carrier-based aircraft, Turner cannot risk another fatal blow from enemy air strikes, and he must evacuate before dawn on August 9.

He ordered van der Grift General and the cruiser-destroyer cover force commander V.A.C. Krachili immediately reported to the flagship "Macauli", which was anchored in the waters near Guadalcanal.

Krachley is a British general. He was awarded the Victoria Cross in the Battle of Jutland. He was blushing and was quite enthusiastic and friendly. He has divided the warship into two teams and deployed around the transport ship and the freight ship.

General Crachley's cruisers and destroyers have entered night deployment positions in the north and south of Savo Island.

They are divided into two teams, each with 3 heavy cruisers as its main force to guard the two entrances on the west side of Savo Bay. The destroyers "Blue" and "Ralph Talbot" are deployed further west as radar sentries.

The US military believes that the main entrance on the east side of Savo Bay, the Sirac Strait, is unlikely to be the Japanese attack route. There are guarded by the "Hobart" and the "San Juan" light cruisers.

At 8 o'clock that night, Turner summoned all the senior commanders at sea and on the shore to the flagship "Macauley" for a late-night meeting.

General Crachley could have taken a boat to the "Macauley", but he chose to take the flagship of the Australian out of the southern line of defense. When he left, he asked Captain Howard D. Bord of the Chicago to command part of the South team.

No one informed the commander of the Northern Team General Krachley had left.

At this time, General Turner, who commanded the amphibious force, still knew nothing about the Sanchuan fleet. Although the "S-38" submarine sent back the report, the description was too vague. Australian reconnaissance aircraft pilots believe that the intelligence is not very important and is not worth breaking the radio silence.

At the late afternoon of August 8, when the US Marine Corps was about to occupy Guadal Islands Airport, Sanchuan's fleet finally sailed into the Solomon Islands channel, sailed southeast on the unbearable blue sea, heading straight for Guadalcanal Island.

Japanese ships should approach the enemy ship around midnight, and the combat plan must be simple and clear, because these eight warships have never been organized into a whole team for training or navigation.

At 4:40 pm, the Bird Sea issued an order through a flash: "We will set out south of Savo Island and launch torpedoes on the main forces of the enemy ships anchored in front of Guadalcanal Island, and then turn to the area in front of Tulaji Island to attack the enemy ships by shelling and launching torpedoes. After the mission is over, withdraw from north of Savo Island." The identification signal is to hang white cloth on both sides of the bridge .

Schematic diagram: The incoming Eighth Fleet. The closer

is to Guadalam, the higher the risk of exposure to the Sanchuan fleet. In the narrow channel, there is not much room for refuge once it is bombed. Before the night comes, every minute is like a year.

Any naval personnel can see that the "Trough Sea" is a convenient channel connecting Guadalcanal Island and Rabaul, which is of great strategic significance.

General Turner is no exception. He has already sent a "Catrina" seaplane to patrol the upper reaches of the channel, which is the waters that the Sanchuan fleet sailed at dawn. But Turner didn't know that because of the bad weather, the "Catrina" seaplane did not take off at all.

, and General McCain did not inform Turner that the reconnaissance work had not been completed. Perhaps for this reason, Turner did not order Parklachley's cruise seaplane to reconnaissance in the area.

Due to the lack of sufficient communication, the reconnaissance reports are contradictory and wrong, Turner has a feeling that it should not have appeared at all. He thought the US military's defense was arranged, and it would be safe at least until the enemy launched an air strike at dawn the next day.

That night, the air was warm and humid, and the mist was filled with the sea. There were showers in the north of Savo Island, so the guard ships in the north and south could not see each other.

Australian Navy's "Canberra".

In the cover force, no one expected that a sea battle was about to break out, and the ships were still on level 2 alert. Captain Chicago, Colonel Howard D. Bord, believed that he had the sister ship of Australia, Canberra, and it was not his turn to be the temporary command of the South Team.

And the commander of the North Team, Captain Frederick L. Rivecole, Captain of the heavy cruiser "Vincent", has now become the highest-ranking officer of the two north and south teams guarding the "slits", but no one thought of notifying him.

Sanchuan's fleet sailed towards Savo Island at a speed of 26 knots, leaving a rippling trajectory behind the ship.

is the flagship "Bird Sea". Next were four heavy cruisers and two light cruisers, each of which was 1,200 meters apart from each other, and the only destroyer was responsible for the rear.

The decks of each ship were cleaned up in preparation for combat. Flammable materials were thrown into the sea, and deep-water bomb and other non-essential equipment were moved to the lower floor.

The captains of each ship conveyed Sanchuan's last instructions to their subordinates: "Carry forward the imperial naval tradition of night battles, and hope to win. All personnel should be calm and calm and do their own responsibilities."

In the night ahead, the cruiser cover troops under Krachley were slowly sailing in the waters near Savo Island, carrying out a monotonous patrol mission. The 48-hour alert state made the sentinel exhausted, and the captains of all cruisers were already asleep.

Sanchuan saw the volcano protruding on Savo Island on the sea. Everyone on the bridge remained silent. Time passed slowly minute by minute. Japanese Navy does not have the radar of the US military, and it all depends on a pair of sharp naked eyes trained from night combat.

html Between 09 and 0:54, the Japanese lookout reported for the first time that the USS Blue destroyer about 5 miles away was visually observed. A few minutes later, the lookout discovered the Ralph Talbot.

These two warships (they should have played the role of the "eyes" of the Allied fleet) just reached the north and south ends of their respective patrol lines, and were almost at the farthest distance from the approaching enemies. Their lookouts did not detect Sanchuan's fleet, and the radar devices on the ship were obviously disturbed by the radar blind spots of the Savo volcanic cone.

"Prepare for battle," to avoid the enemy's eyes and ears, Mikawa ordered, "Left rudder, slow down to 22 knots." The Japanese fleet turned quietly, aiming the starboard muzzle at the "Blue" and preparing to open fire.

"Blue" was completely unaware of it, but just turned the head of the ship and slowly sailed towards "Ralph Talbot" at a speed of 12 knots. The latter also turned around, and the two alert destroyers passed by, leaving a wide hole for the oncoming enemy troops.

On this night of August 8, everything was like the eve of the Pearl Harbor incident. No one realized that the enemy's claws were near.

The First Battle of Savo Island.

attack begins! All warships opened fire!

"Bird Sea" covers the flash signal lamp, controls the brightness of the light, and only allows the Japanese fleet to see clearly: "Prepare to launch a torpedo." With the burning flames of the "George F. Elliott", the port side observation post found a warship 10 nautical miles away. "Cruiser, 7 degrees on the port!"

At 1:36 am, the starboard observation post shouted: "Three cruisers, 9 degrees on the starboard, move to the right!" In fact, those three are the core forces of the Krachlinan team - the heavy cruiser Canberra, the Chicago, and the destroyer "Patterson".

"The attack began." Sankawa issued a calm order, and the order was transmitted to the torpedo launch group. With Sanchuan's second order - "all warships opened fire", a series of long-range torpedoes with a range of 20 kilometers and carrying 1,000 pounds of explosives ran towards the Canberra and Chicago at a speed of 49 knots.

Schematic diagram: Lightning strike!

At this time, two heavy cruisers were slowly sailing towards the northwest, with destroyers on both sides. On the starboard side is the Bagley and on the port side is the Patterson. At 1:43 am, the "Patterson" finally discovered several warships in the distance and quickly issued a radio alarm: Warning - Warning - Unfamiliar Army Ship entered the port!

warning is too late. Behind the Allied warships, flares hanging on parachutes exploded in the night sky, illuminating each ship as obvious as a target in a shooting range. The one who dropped the flares was the three seaplanes sent by Sanchuan that were mistakenly regarded as "friendly forces" by the Allies.

At 1:44 on August 9, Sanchuan's warship guns fired volleys, firing a round of 8-inch and 6-inch devastating armor-piercing bombs.

On the bridge of the Canberra, a sentry reminded an officer to pay attention to the blurred ship shadows in the heavy rain ahead. It was a strange warship, and it began to spit out its tongue of flames.

Just as the two Australians instinctively retreated, two torpedoes hit the head of the ship "Canberra", and shells fell from above, killing the captain and the gun captain. Soon, the main gun of the Canberra was dumb, and the ship began to tilt, unable to move on the sea.

The fire burned along the gangway, and the linoleum on the deck fueled the fire. The fire spread to the paint of the bulkhead and ignited the furniture in the officer's living room. The officers and soldiers tried their best to throw gasoline and ammunition into the sea, but it was too late. After a series of explosions, the Canberra was finally scrapped.

August 9, the USS Blu (left) and the USS Patterson (right) are rescuing the sailors on the Canberra.

The escort destroyers on both sides of the Canberra launched a blind counterattack. However, the Patterson was quickly caught by a searchlight and was quickly shot and lost its combat effectiveness. The "Bagley" rushed towards the enemy ship, adjusting its position to prepare to launch a torpedo, but found that there was no bottom fire .

"Chicago" is next to the stern of the "Canberra", and quickly turn the rudder and avoid it. Captain Bode ordered the launch of flares in the direction of the enemy's attack, but the shells either failed to launch or dud .

Seeing that the Canberra had become a purgatory on earth, the Sanchuan fleet turned to the Chicago.

Two torpedoes passed by the Chicago, but the third torpedo hit it, exploding its starboard bow. The Chicago lost its combat effectiveness. The hull lost power, the cruising aircraft fuel splashed freeboard, and the front compartment was rapidly flooding.

The commander of the ship is Colonel Bode, the interim commander of the South Team. The colonel woke up from his dream and as soon as he stepped onto the bridge, a torpedo hit the head of the ship. The Chicago was blown up a hole of 16 feet in diameter and was also hit by a shell, but it was still looking for a target and found a ship shadow to the west, so it chased after it. It was the only destroyer in Sanchuan, and the Chicago was taken away from the main battlefield without realizing it.

schematic

What's worse is that Captain Bode did not seem to have tried to use radio to alert other ships special-mix fleet , a fault that made him later reprimanded.

General Turner was on the "Macauley". Seeing the flash of artillery fire, he heard the loud rumbling sound, and realized that the battle had already broken out.

What worries Turner is that the Marines officers and soldiers on Guadalcanal and Tulaji, as well as the sailors on the isolated transport ships, are now hanging on the line.

The transport ship's armor was very weak, and it had already pulled up its anchor and splashed around the dark sea.

At this time, General Krachley was still on the "Australia" far away from the battlefield. He issued an order to the seven destroyers: If the seven ships have not yet fought with the Japanese ship, go to the designated location to join the "Australia".

However, in the chaos, the order was misunderstood, and the four destroyers immediately left the battle.

Stills: Naval battle

Abrupt bloody battle

Sanchuan only took six minutes to solve the Southern team, but he was unscathed. So he ordered the ships to continue to drive around Savo Island in the counterclockwise direction to find new targets. Three heavy cruisers followed closely behind the flagship "Bird Sea", while the fourth cruiser "Aunt Eagle" mistakenly turned to starboard because it was too far behind. The two ships in the rear were misled and followed the "Aunt Eagle" in the wrong direction.

"Ancient Eagle"

This move divided the Sanchuan fleet into two, but by chance, the Sanchuan fleet obtained an excellent tactical position: the seven cruisers in Sanchuan, now four are west of the northern team and three are east of the northern team, which just surrounded three heavy cruisers and two destroyers of the US military.

These five American warships did not receive any warning from Colonel Bode.

At 1:48 am, the observation post of the heavy cruiser "Astoria" found a torpedo approaching. Those torpedoes came from the "Bird Sea" and passed by the US ship.

Captain William Greenman was awakened by the alarm and rushed to the bridge to see who sounded the alarm and why the main gun was firing.

It turned out that Greenman had never expected the possibility of the enemy's night attack. He thought it must be a firefight between friendly ships. "Stop shooting. Don't be too nervous."

However, when he found water splashing around the cruiser "Vincent", he quickly changed his mind, ordered "Start shooting" loudly, and made the ship turn slightly to the port side. "Don't worry about being friendly forces or not, fight back first, and you can't let it continue to fire!"

"Bird Sea" launched one round after another at the Astoria. The rear of the "Astoria" was hit by 5-inch and 8-inch shells fired on both sides, and was violently fired by the enemy's 25mm machine gun from beginning to end.

A heavy shell hit the cannon seat of Turret No. 1, blowing up the naval gun , and killing all the soldiers around. Another shell hit the boiler cabin of No. 1, and another hit a kerosene tank on the starboard side of the ship, splashing the burning fuel on the well deck.

The ship was soon "from the foremast to the back bulkhead of the hangar, and the soldiers eventually had to give up the boiler and engine compartment due to the high temperature and thick smoke.The steering control on the bridge failed and soon the ship lost power. The heavy cruiser "Quncy" near

ignited a fire due to a reconnaissance aircraft and oil depot being shot, becoming an excellent target and was hit hard by the crossfire of Japanese ships.

"Backed by them," Captain S.N. Moore ordered the gunner by phone, "Blow me hard!"

"Quincy" caught by Japanese searchlights.

The Quincy bravely fought back and sent an 8-inch shell into the combat command room behind the Bird Sea bridge. The No. 1 turret of the "Bird Sea" was hit and failed, and a seaplane fixed on the catapult ignited a fire.

The captain of the Quincy, Moore, ordered a right turn to avoid collision with the Vincent. However, another devastating series of shelling fire broke the transmission rigging, causing the rudder to get stuck, and the ship could only spin on the spot until it was hit by two torpedoes near the port side boiler compartment, losing thrust completely.

As the Japanese fleet hit the firepower to attack the Quincy, Moore was unable to support himself and had to order the signal soldiers to inform the warship to sail to Savo Island, 4 nautical miles away from the port side, intending to strand the island.

2:10, the bridge of the "Kunxi" was hit by two shells, Moore and most senior officers were killed, and the body flew into the air like a doll. A deputy gunman rushed over and "found the scene everywhere, with only three or four people standing."

"Quncy" tilts seriously to the left. The sea water poured into the ship through the bullet holes, the hull tilted, and the upper deck was quickly flooded by the sea water. The survivor threw the dinghy and other floating objects into the sea and then jumped down. Navy Major Baian Biller is a logistics supply officer. He jumped into the sea, swam a hundred meters away, then stepped on the water, turned to look at the last look: "The bow of the ship sank almost vertically, and the hind of the ship propeller and rudder reflected a clear outline in the flame-lit sky."

American newspapers depicted the sinking of "Quncy"

" Northern team commander and captain "Vincent" captain Rivkoll was not aware that the battle had begun.

Before midnight, the Ralph Talbot reported that a plane was discovered, but Rivkoll, like the rest, thought it was just a friend plane, and then went to bed and rest.

As for the sound of cannons, Revkoll speculated that perhaps some small Japanese fleets tried to bypass the southern team, but were found and bombarded. Regarding the two underwater explosions felt on the bridge and the flash of the naval guns in the distance, Revkoll made another false guess: the southern team was firing at the enemy planes.

At 1:50 am, the searchlight shone on the three cruisers of the North Team. Reevcole was not nervous, but was quite unhappy and used the radio to ask the South team to turn off the lights.

The other party did not turn off the searchlight, and several water columns suddenly exploded on the sea 500 yards away, as if to give him a reply.

It was not until this time that Revkoll realized that the battle had begun. The 8-inch caliber gun of the "Vincent" launched a fire and hit the Japanese ship "Yika" in a round of volleys. Unexpectedly, a reconnaissance plane at the stern was hit and caught fire. Just like the Quincy, the Vincent became an excellent target for the enemy ship.

The Japanese army fired the torpedo again, and then fired a round of precise devastating shells before the first torpedo reached its target.

All turrets of the "Vincent" were directly hit or bombed by shells falling nearby, losing their function.

Fires ignited in these places, and the planes in the hangar started to catch like powder barrels. The enemy's firepower did not stop for a moment. From the head to the tail of the ship, shells hit the hull one after another. To make matters worse, two torpedoes were hit by the port side of the "Vincent" near the ammunition depot in front. The fire lost control and spread along the hull, and the series of explosions caused large clusters of flames to rush into the sky.

In an analysis published later, the U.S. Navy Shipping Bureau concluded: "No light-clad ship [a ship other than a battleship] could withstand such a blow."

Livkoll ordered the sailor to abandon the ship at 2:14, and the "Vincent" sank 30 minutes later.

Sanchuan sent a signal: "The whole ship retreats. "The burning wreckage of the US ship on both sides reminded Mikawa of the Water Lantern Festival on Hakone Lake.

In fact, Mikawa wanted to turn around and launch an attack on the Allied transport ships, but the flagship "Bohai" also had three shells, and the ships were too scattered. It would take at least an hour to reorganize the combat formation.

If you insist on sinking the transport ship, then it would be bright when you evacuate. On the long road back to Rabaul, you would inevitably be hit by the US carrier-based aircraft.

Mikawa recalled that when he left the land, Navy General Navy reminded himself: "The Japanese Navy is no better than the US Navy. It will take many years to make up for it if you lose a ship. "

At the same time, Mikawa also remembered the contemptuous attitude of the 17th Army stationed in Zabaul when talking about the US Army. They claimed that it was vulnerable. Since the transport ships were full of weak enemies, it was not enough to risk the precious naval fleet. So Mikawa ordered the return to Rabauer.

2:16, the Japanese fleet still sailed at 30 knots, left Savo Bay, and headed northwest along the "Trough Sea". "Ralph Talbot" tried to come to support, but directly hit Sankawa's fleet.

Under the illumination of searchlights, it was hit by five rounds of artillery, and radar, radio equipment and fire equipment were destroyed. The hull was A hole was torn open near the waterline and tilted 20 degrees to the right. Fortunately, a timely rain fell from the sky, blocking it from the enemy's sight, otherwise it would probably become part of " Iron Bottom Bay ".

ended

Manchuan chose to retreat northwest at high speed instead of returning to Savo Bay to fight the XRAY and YOKE transport brigades. This was a major decision and a very lucky decision for US fleet .

Fortunately, this Japanese general did not have some The officers urged to adopt a more radical combat plan, otherwise Turner's fleet might be wiped out. If that happens, the entire Watchtower operation will be completely defeated, and Van der Grift's Marines can only face extremely tragic consequences.

Stills: Abandoned Marine Division.

The US Navy suffered the most humiliating defeat in maritime operations at Mikawa. The Quincy was destroyed and sank to the bottom of the sea. The Vincent also declared sinking. In the cold rainstorm, the Astoria The Canberra burned and was buried one after another. This sea area was later called the "Iron-under Bay".

At dawn, an oil layer floated in the waters around Savo Island, with warship wreckage, and the dying sailors hugged the floating objects on the sea.

This defeat was even more tragic than the failure of Java Sea : four new heavy cruisers of the US military were sunk, 1,023 people were killed, 709 were injured, but one of the Japanese ships was not damaged.

Fatal mistakes and bad luck were intertwined. The defeat was caused. Any senior naval commander in the "Watch Tower" operation can't be blamed. The Navy's investigation report believes that the defeat cannot be attributed to a single reason.

The captain of the "Chicago" Bode became the only officer who was formally punished because he did not issue an alarm when the attack was attacked. Colonel Bode later killed himself.

Although Mikawa did not attack the transport ship, after this battle, all large and small ships of allied forces including transport ships, cargo ships and minesweeper fled to Noumea in a hurry.

until sunset At that time, the sea was empty. A logistics supply officer estimated that less than half of all the supplies loaded on the transport ship in New Zealand were unloaded on the shore.

Now, there is only this abandoned Marine Corps left on Gua Island. They are seriously lacking in food, ammunition, heavy artillery , anti-aircraft gun , communication equipment , wire mesh, fuel and spare parts and other essentials.

and they still don’t know where the Japanese army is, nor when and where they will appear.

to be continued...

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