The air battle in the morning once again proved that the Cactus Air Force on Kuah Island still has a strong fighting power, and the sky of Kuah Island is still ruled by them. But the victory didn't bring Ron and Van der Graft all joy. Ron was worried that after this blow, the Japanese would use battleships again to do so. Vandergraft, on the other hand, was concerned about the marks left by wheels on the beach that Ron mentioned in the aerial reconnaissance report, because of the analysis of the photographs. They determined that it was a 150mm heavy gun. In the first few night battles, the Marines were able to defeat the Japanese in a big way, and the overwhelming artillery superiority played a key role. If the Japanese army had been supported by artillery fire when they charged, this battle would have been really difficult to fight. And the truth was more terrible than he knew, the Japanese brought to the island not only the cannons that he knew by the traces of tires, but even an unknown number of tanks.

Ron vaguely remembered that after the artillery bombardment of the battleships, the Japanese organized several shelling of heavy cruisers in a row, which also brought huge losses to the airfield. If the Japanese continue to do this, I am afraid that life will become more and more difficult. However, for the Navy to come out and engage the Japanese again at night, to be honest, as long as the head coach Nimitz has not replaced Gormley and replaced Halsey, it is estimated that there is no hope at all.

Vandergrif had a little 5-inch gun in his hand. But to use that thing to fight the Japanese fleet, without Vandergrift objecting, Ron himself felt that it was a brain-dead approach. And what about the night bombing of enemy fleets? As soon as this plan was proposed, it was unanimously opposed. There are several reasons for this:

First of all, it is too dangerous to take off and land at night. In particular, the runway cannot be turned on yet. Secondly, there are also difficulties in finding targets. In addition, even if the flare is used to illuminate the target, at night, the pilot's judgment of the distance is prone to major deviations, whether it is dive bombing or ultra-low-altitude ricochet bombing, it is extremely dangerous.

However, Ron did not intend to risk such an effective attack, he had his own considerations: even an inefficient counterattack, or even an ineffective counterattack, would cause interference to the enemy. His method was simple: using seaplanes, he dropped flares over the Japanese fleet and bluffed.

Sure enough, during the artillery bombardment led by Mikawa that night, US planes dropped flares over the fleet. Mikawa was shocked, and he was very worried that it was the Americans who were indicating targets for the submarine. (Kurita returned yesterday and swore that he had indeed spotted the U.S. submarine and had been attacked.) He immediately made the fleet change formations and prepare them to deal with submarines. At this time, several B-17s flying from nearby islands flew over Kuah Island. The sound of the plane's engine made Mikawa worry about the air attack again. The ships were also ordered to prepare for air defense. When that's all done, look at the time, well, it's time to go back. So he fired a few shots indiscriminately, and then left.

Although the night attack of the heavy cruisers in the rear was far less effective than the shelling of the previous battleship, the Japanese still took advantage of the weakness that the airfield was not completely normal and the ability to dispatch was limited, and brought in more weapons and equipment. 15 150mm guns have been ashore, 2 100mm cannons, 4 field guns, 8 mountain guns, 12 anti-aircraft guns, and more than a dozen Type 95 light tanks. But the most important thing is that the famous evil spirit Masanobu Tsuji has also come to the island. Masanobu Tsuji came to oversee this decisive battle. According to the plan of him and the commander of the 17th Army, Hyakutake Haruyoshi, the peripheral strongholds of the US army were gradually cleared from the 16th, and a general attack was launched in three ways on the 22nd, in which Lieutenant General Maruyama personally led the main force of the 2nd Division to attack the "Blood Ridge" (the main position of the US army, where the Ichiki detachment was finished last time). In order to achieve the suddenness of the attack, Masanobu Tsuji advised Maruyama to sneak his men through the dense jungle and quietly approach his target.

Someone asked: "Can those 150-mm cannons also be brought over?" ”

Masanobu Tsuji replied, "Of course you have to bring it over, otherwise what are you going to do with it?" ”

"But a 150mm heavy cannon can pass through such a dense jungle?" This man still has questions.

"Dense what? Don't you see there's an opening over there? Masanobu Tsuji was already a little impatient, "Why don't we go to the engineer corps and ask?" ”

How will the commander of the engineer unit answer? In fact, you don't need to ask Masanobu Tsuji to know. Because the rule of the imperial army is not to talk about difficulties. No matter how difficult it is, you have to say: Promise to complete the task! Otherwise, prepare to seppuku yourself. Obviously, the commander of the engineering unit, although he was also hungry, did not plan to cut his own stomach. So he gave a satisfactory answer to Masanobu Tsuji. Masanobu Tsuji also asked, "Can you arrive on time?" But people think that since they have already bragged, they don't do it, they don't stop, and then they blow it to the big one:

"No problem!" Another typical imperial army-style categorical answer.

Well, all the problems have been solved, and the imperial soldiers who have been hungry for almost half a month have eaten half of the long-awaited rice balls, and they are all "there is a way".

The problem is that although Masanobu Tsuji is very good, from the Guan (that) Eastern Army to the General Staff Headquarters, there are very few guys who he can't handle. But this time he really met someone who didn't give face at all. This more bullish buddy is called Tropical Jungle.

When the Maruyama Division opened the way, it was discovered a very low-level, very humiliating, and absolutely fatal problem: there was no map! Not long after the navy came to the island, it was overturned by the American animals, and before it could draw a map of Kuah Island. Later, when I called back and forth, they were all near the coast, and there was nothing without a map, anyway, the navy had nautical charts.

But now, when you have to walk through the dense jungle, there are mountains, rivers, cliffs, and swamps all in the dark, and it's a fart battle. But the order has been given, so don't care about thirty-seven twenty-one, let's go. Decades later, the head coach of the national pig team of a large East Asian country once taught his players this way: "I don't know where to kick the ball? Then kick it into the goal! "The Imperial Japanese Army understood this knowledge much earlier - didn't know how to go? Let's move forward!

In this way, the Maruyama division plunged headlong into the dense jungle.

At first, the trees were sparse and the ground was normal, but as the team got deeper, the jungle began to thicken. The tropical jungle is completely different from the temperate broad-leaved forest and subarctic coniferous forest that the Japanese are accustomed to. In that kind of woods, there are mainly tall trees, and it is not too much trouble for people to walk through them. But the rainforest is a different story, with a variety of vines growing among the lush trees. Their vines were intertwined, weaving a huge web that the Japanese had to use machetes to cut their way if they wanted to advance. These rattans, which have grown for an unknown number of years, are unusually thick and tough, and sometimes they encounter a rattan as thick as an arm, and it takes a long time to split it, and after taking less than two steps forward, they meet a guy as thick as a thigh. Poor soldiers of the 2nd Division, who had only eaten half a rice ball, had to do such heavy physical labor. Many of the guys who were already hungry and weak fainted and could not stand up again. And the rainforest ground is covered with a thick, soft layer of humus. These layers of humus formed by the accumulated fallen leaves** over the years are very thick, and sometimes if you are not careful, you go to the wrong place, and the whole person can fall into it.

However, there is a squadron of soldiers who don't have to worry about cutting rattan for the time being. Because their vice-captain is a super slashing god. This vice-captain is called Sharu, who was originally a kendo master, but after the outbreak of the war, he took the initiative to join the imperial army, so he was also sent here.

Saru carried a good knife that was coveted by both the army commander Hyakutake and the division commander Maruyama, and said that it was a treasure knife that could cut off eight bamboos wrapped in straw mats. It is said that Shogun Hyakwu had kept him in Rabaul in exchange for the sword, but Sharu refused. Legend has it that Shalu impassionedly said, "The honor of a samurai is to serve on the battlefield and serve the country in seven lives." It was really not my intention to stay behind. General Baiwu was also very moved, and entrusted him with the glorious and arduous task of opening the way for the large army.

However, Sharu, who had been cutting rattan bushes for everyone in front, did not use his sword, which he had originally hung on his waist, but after being caught by the branches several times, he cherished it on his back. And in his hand, there is a very ordinary machete. "Katana should not be used to chop wood." This is what he thinks.

Although he didn't use a sword, Sharu's efficiency was still unmatched by others. A thinner rattan can be split into two pieces with a single knife. Even a rattan as thick as a thigh, Sharu could cut it into two pieces with a single knife after carefully observing the texture of its growth.

From morning to noon, Sharu didn't know how many knives he had unleashed. Now, all he felt was that his tongue and nose were a little numb, and his stomach was growling. After splitting a thick rattan stick, Sharu suddenly felt a limp under his feet, and he almost fell to the ground. Sharu knew that his physical strength had reached its limit.

A pair of hands held him, "Shalu-kun, take a rest." Saru didn't have to look back to know that the person who helped her was Big Rock. A samurai should be sensitive to all senses at all times.

"Thanks, I think I do need a break." Shalu said.

Sharu stepped aside, found a slightly flat spot and sat down. Whenever you sit down to rest, you must sit in a proper posture.

Sharu and the others opened the road in front, and they were half tired to death, but the ones behind were not necessarily easy. Private Fujita Hiromichi was struggling to push the wheels of a Type 96 15-centimeter howitzer. This cannon weighed 4,140 kg. Of course, this is not heavy relative to its caliber. You must know that the American M1 (Long Range Tom) 155mm howitzer of the same caliber weighs 13.87 tons, and it is almost impossible to move it without vehicles and manpower. Hey, it's still the advanced technology of the Great Japanese Empire.

However, even if the Japanese artillery is relatively light, more than 4 tons, it is pushed and pulled by manpower, and it is still in the jungle, it is still a very, very difficult, even against the sky. What the? Tractor? On this kind of terrain, it needs to be towed on its own. What, horses? If there were fucking horses, the Great Japanese Imperial Army would have starved to death so many people?

A large group of visibly malnourished people lined up in a long line, tug-of-war with the cannon with a thick rope. The ground of the rainforest is full of fallen leaves, these things are very soft, and when something like a cannon is pressed up, it will immediately sink. In order for the cannon to advance on such terrain, the sappers cut down a large number of tree trunks and put them under the wheels to prevent the cannon from sinking. But all sorts of surprises continue to emerge. On the way uphill, a rope used to pull the cannon suddenly broke, and the cannon immediately slid downward, and the seventeen or eighteen soldiers who were pushing the cannon behind did not have time to react at all, except for two people, the others were mercilessly knocked to the ground by the cannon, and then the cannon ran over them.

Private Hiromichi Fujita saw with his own eyes that the non-commissioned officer Taro Yoshino was knocked down by a cannon and crushed over. Just now, Yoshino was pushing the wheels of the cannon with his head down, just like himself. He didn't have time to react when the rope broke, and he was knocked down on the log he had laid down a short time ago, and then the wheel ran over his waist, and the narrow spokes directly crushed him into two pieces, and only some of the flesh of his lower body was barely connected to his upper body.

Yoshino howled miserably, and Senior Private Fujita Hiromichi only felt the hair on his whole body stand up, and almost wanted to drop the wheel and run away immediately. However, he did not move, and he saw an officer walk up to Yoshino, say something to him, and then pull out a pistol......

The cannon deflected to the left as it rolled down, and its revolver first sank into the decay formed by years of fallen leaves, then the entire cannon body turned sharply to the left, and both wheels fell into the decay, and then the entire cannon took off and flipped under the action of huge inertia, and then fell again...... Several officers went up to check it and came to the conclusion that the gun was completely damaged and unusable. And this is only the beginning of suffering.