For the first time, in the midst of tension and unease, Lieutenant Mahon, with his men, accompanied the whole company, defended at the crossing of the Rewa River, east of Suva. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

However, a day passed, and apart from the Japanese fighters, Lieutenant Ma Hong and his subordinates did not see any more Japanese.

In the evening, the survivors of the airfield on the east bank of the Rewa River crossed the Rewa River by ferry and arrived on the west bank of the Rewa River, completely abandoning the airfield and defense on the east bank of the Rewa River.

The Rewa River is more than 500 meters wide, and there are no bridges on it, so as long as the Japanese cannot fly, it is impossible to force a cross under the defense of the US military.

The most likely way for the Japanese to appear is on the road north of Suva City, where there is no need to cross the Rewa River to enter Suva City.

The 6th Marine Regiment placed the main two companies of the 1st Battalion on both sides of the junction to the north to resist a possible Japanese attack.

After nightfall, Lieutenant Mahon kept peeking into the east bank of the Rewa River with binoculars, and could vaguely see some figures shaking, but he could not confirm whether they were Japanese or local residents.

Nervous and uneasy, Lieutenant Mahomon fell into a deep sleep until he was awakened by the sound of gunfire.

Grabbing the steel helmet and fastening it to his head, Lieutenant Makhon hurried out of the cabin and looked in the direction where the shots rang out, which was the northern part of Suva.

"The Japanese arrived, and they were so fast, but judging by the gunshots, there were not many of them." The second class elder T didn't know when he walked behind him, looked north and said.

"The gunfire is not dense, but it is possible that they are testing our defenses, and they will launch a general attack after dawn." Schofield, the first squad leader, said.

Behind Schofield flashed a tall, menacing figure.

"I agree with Michael, the real battle is after dawn." John Abruzz, the third class leader, said.

The sporadic gunfire rang out intermittently throughout the night, and Lieutenant Mahon stayed up until dawn in a half-asleep and half-awake state.

At dawn, the gunfire stopped and did not ring again for a long time.

At the intersection of the north of the city, which Lieutenant Ma Hong could not see, two people cautiously came out, both of whom looked like South Asians, and they were two of the leading parties found by the Japanese army.

Holding white flags, two men cautiously walked to the positions of the marines under the gaze of the marines.

"The Imperial Army of Japan has asked us to bring news, and I want to meet your Supreme Commander."

Soon, the commander of the first battalion, Major Thomas, walked up to two messengers.

"If you have anything to say, you can tell me and I will pass it on to our commander."

"The Imperial Army said, let you surrender your guns, and the Imperial Army promises to treat the prisoners preferentially. If you decide to resist to the end, you will not be treated as prisoners of war after the Imperial Army captures you. ”

Major Thomas laughed contemptuously and said to the two messengers: "Preferential treatment of prisoners? How do you get preferential treatment? Do you enjoy hellish perks like in Rabe's Diary? ”

The two envoys had bewildered expressions on their faces, living in a poor rural area, and they didn't know what the connotation of "Rabe's Diary" was, let alone what race they were working with.

"I'll inform our division commander that you're waiting here." Major Thomas said and turned away, and the moment he turned around, the Major showed a sly smile.

There is no division commander on Viti Levu at all, the supreme commander is only a regimental commander, and the division commander Yunyun is just a psychological fraud.

Major Thomas disappeared for about fifteen minutes, and soon reappeared before the two messengers, and said in a haughty voice:

"Master Macaulay Kim said, let you get out."

Seeing the fierce and vicious appearance of the American soldiers, the two envoys stepped back in a gloomy manner.

Seeing the two messengers disappear into the dense forest in the distance, Major Thomas's arrogant expression disappeared, replaced by seriousness and prudence.

Major Thomas's fraud did have a disastrous effect on the Japanese troops outside the city, but it was a disaster that befell the American troops.

Hearing the news brought back by the two messengers, the Japanese captain outside the city was shocked by the title of division commander.

The defenders of Suva, even if they were not a reorganized division, even if they were half a division, were not something that they and their allies could deal with.

In a panic, the Japanese captain made a decisive decision to seek operational guidance from the navy.

Language is also an art, and the same thing can be described in different words.

For example, retreat can not be called retreat, but transfer.

Reduction can also not be called reduction, but negative growth.

In the Japanese Army's lexicon, it is very shameful to ask for support from other branches of the military, such as the Army Aviation Corps or the Navy, and the term combat guidance was born.

At the strong request of the Japanese troops on the island, the three battleships Hiei, Haruna, and Kirishima, with the coordination of six destroyers, appeared in the sea outside the port of Suva in a grand manner.

Three battleships crossed the hull and flanked the port of Suva, and 24 356-mm guns turned their muzzles and pointed at the port of Suva.

A thunderous cannon roared, and black smoke and dazzling flames erupted from the thick muzzle.

Cannonballs whistled down into the harbor of Suva with a strong wind, bringing the devastation to the defenders of the harbor.

On the isolated Pacific islands, not to mention reinforced concrete buildings, even brick and stone buildings are rare, and wood is the mainstream material of construction, which is destined to cause more serious damage by Japanese shelling.

Wood chips flew from the shells, houses of all sizes collapsed like building blocks, and the residential area soon burst into flames.

On the west bank of the Rewa River, Lieutenant Mahon and his men watched in amazement as they watched the city ravaged by artillery fire.

"The Japanese artillery fire is extending to the north, and the major will not last long. Damn, the Japanese turned out to be using naval guns against us. Don't the Japanese worship the spirit of the samurai? There's a duel! I'm going to get their brains out. Abruz, the third squad leader, shouted angrily.

Schofield, the leader of the first squad, glanced at the irascible Abruzz with his usual calm expression, and said lightly: "The Japanese naval guns will not give you a chance to duel, but will only give you the opportunity to be a prisoner of war." ”

Elder T of the second class said, "This time, I am on Michael's side. ”

Schofield's prophecy was unfortunate that after the three battleships swept away the "American division" in the city with ferocious artillery fire, they turned their artillery fire to the north of the city, and the positions of the two companies were thrown into a mess, and the regimental headquarters of the 6th Marine Regiment was directly hit by artillery fire, leaving only a few craters of flesh and blood.

After the naval artillery sweep, twelve bean chariots were the first to rush out of the woods, guiding the infantry to rush to the American position.

At around 9:40 a.m., the gunfire in Suva gradually subsided.

Lieutenant Mahon, with his three squad leaders, and the only twelve soldiers left in the platoon in the battle, sat down on the grass by the Rewa River with their heads down.

Under the escort of the Japanese army, prisoners of war left the city in a loose line one after another to meet Lieutenant Ma Hong and others.

Among the new POWs, Lieutenant Mahon saw Major Thomas.

The major was not injured, but looked a little lonely, an expression that a prisoner of war should have.

When Major Thomas's prisoner of war team was about to reach the prisoner of war camp, a wounded man with a bloody face and walking supported by his comrades suddenly slipped and fell to the ground softly, and no matter how much his comrades helped him, he could not stop it.

Major Thomas walked a few steps to the wounded, crouched down to test the wounded's pulse and breathing, and then stood up and walked over to a Japanese soldier.

"He was seriously injured and needed medical treatment."

After repeating this several times, the Japanese soldier walked over to the wounded man to check on his condition, dragged the wounded man by the foot of the roadside under the gaze of the American prisoners around him, brandished his rifle, and pierced the wounded man's neck with a slender bayonet.

"Come, you guys, dig a pit and bury him." The Japanese soldier said in unfamiliar English.

Major Thomas was first shocked by the brutality of the Japanese soldier, then came to his senses and rushed to the Japanese soldier in a few steps.

"By doing so, you are mistreating the prisoners and violating the Geneva Conventions."

The Japanese soldiers were first shocked by Major Thomas's momentum, and took a few steps back unnaturally, and then angrily picked up their rifles and wanted to stab Major Thomas, but they remembered that Major Thomas was an officer, and his superiors might need this officer's confession, so they hesitated for a while.

The deadlock was broken by the arrival of a Japanese officer, who approached Major Thomas, first glanced at the corpse on the ground, and then had two of his men drag Major Thomas to Suva.

Lieutenant Mahon took the scene in his eyes, and the movement of the Japanese soldier wielding his bayonet coincided with some of the scenes he had seen in the "Rabe's Diary" in the past.

Licking his dry lips, Lieutenant Mahon whispered to Schofield, who was sitting next to him, "Michael, did you see everything just now?" ”

"Yes, I saw it all."

"Do you feel anything?" Mahon said.

"Yes."

"What do you think?"

"I want to break from prison."

・・・・・・

Melbourne, Australia, in the headquarters of MacArthur, commander-in-chief of the Allied Southwest Pacific Theater.

An intelligence staff officer hurried up to MacArthur and whispered, "We have lost contact with the 6th Marine Regiment on Viti Levu, and Viti Levu may have been lost." ”

MacArthur spat out his pipe, puffed out a puff of white smoke, and said worriedly:

"Their target now is the Fiji Islands, where is the next target? New Caledonia, or Samoa? ”

When MacArthur first received the warning from the Fiji Islands, he did not think of sending reinforcements, but in that vast sea, from west to east, there were three islands: New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa.

The distance between the three islands was more than 1,000 kilometers, and the Japanese fleet was moving south from the north, so he had no way of judging which archipelago the Japanese were targeting.

Even if he could judge that the Japanese fleet was targeting the Fiji Islands, it would not have been too late in time, because the Fiji Islands were about 2,500 kilometers away from the Australian mainland in the southwest and about 1,800 kilometers away from New Zealand in the south, so it was too late to send reinforcements.

What's more, now that the competition between the two sides for Guadalcanal has entered a white-hot stage, there is really no extra force to use.

"Immediately send a submarine force to reconnoiter near the Fiji Islands and closely monitor the movements of the Japanese fleet. If we try to figure out the number of Japanese troops on the island, we will have to formulate a counteroffensive plan and recapture the Fiji Islands after the Japanese fleet retreats. ”