The 1st onboard flotilla under the command of Vice Admiral Abe shelled Henderson Airfield lasted about 25 minutes. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

In his field of vision, all objects that appeared to be buildings were flattened, and a cluster of planes parked near the runway erupted in flames, and in the violent explosion, the airplane's body was thrown up in the air and disintegrated, shattering into parts.

The leveled runway has also been brutally murdered, with large and small craters as miserable as the surface of the moon.

When the shelling stopped twenty-five minutes later, Henderson Airport was in shambles.

The battlefield was once again covered in darkness, with only the buildings on the airfield burning in flames.

Seeing that the Japanese fleet had retreated, the US sappers and ground crews hidden in the coconut groves around the airport rushed to the airport one after another and began rescue work.

Sappers were busy filling in the craters on the runway of the airport, and ground crews checked whether the planes damaged in the shelling had any repair value.

Everything worked in good order, and the American troops were not intimidated by the Japanese shelling.

Soon, information about the shelling of Henderson Airport was sent to MacArthur.

Henderson Airport was attacked by Japanese naval guns at night, most of the airfield buildings were destroyed, the runway was damaged, 14 planes were destroyed, and 26 were injured.

MacArthur first had the telegram forwarded to Washington, and then sent orders to the airport.

"Repair the airfield immediately, and wait for the enemy fleet to be hunted down after dawn, and the South Pacific Fleet will support you."

MacArthur had already received a report from the US transport fleet that there were two Japanese fleets operating near Kuah Island, and it was likely that they were fleets that used the night to forcibly deliver supplies to the Japanese troops on the island, and they would not stay near Kuah Island for too long.

Manning the Henderson airfield in Kuah was the Cactus Air Force, which had already been stationed on Kuah Island with 90 warplanes of various types before the shelling.

Aircraft on regular combat readiness duty parked on the runway of the airport suffered heavy losses due to shelling, and those fighters hidden in the coconut groves near the airport could still attack.

It will soon be dawn, and by the time dawn comes, the doom of the Japanese fleet will come.

However, when dawn came, MacArthur received a different piece of news.

The Japanese fleet disappeared for about half an hour before returning and carried out a second round of shelling of Henderson airfield, which was forced to halt emergency repair work.

It was already dawn, and the Japanese fleet did not retreat, what was the situation.

Are they going to launch a decisive attack on Kuah?

MacArthur panicked.

Since the Japanese offensive approached Australia, US President Roosevelt urgently transferred the 32nd and 41st Divisions of the US Army from the mainland to Australia, as well as air defense detachments, engineering detachments, and support units, totaling 100,000 people, in order to defend Australia.

Chief of the General Staff Marshall also ordered the rapid establishment of an Australian-based air force with a total of eight brigades, so that the number of bombers and fighters on the front line would remain at 535.

The U.S. Navy has established the South Pacific Fleet, based in Nouméatu, northeast of Australia.

As the war progressed, the 1st Marine Division and part of the 2nd Marine Division were transferred to Australia and thrown into the battle for Guadalcanal.

When the battle for Guadalcanal was in a stalemate, Roosevelt urgently transferred the rest of the 2nd Marine Division and the 25th Infantry Division from the continental United States to Kuah.

In late September, the NB-25 flotilla, which was transporting the forward units of the 14th Infantry Division, was completely annihilated, and the rest of the convoy was forced to suspend transportation, and the American forces in Australia were briefly cut off from supplies.

Food and light weapons can be obtained from Australia temporarily, as can aviation fuel, but the Cactus Air Force stationed on Kuah Island uses all American-made aircraft, which are in short supply and their spare parts.

Australia, with a population of 7.2 million, can only maintain a small shipbuilding and aircraft industry, and cannot provide enough aircraft for high-intensity warfare.

If the Japanese really take advantage of this opportunity to take a decisive battle on Kuah Island, we will be in big trouble.

MacArthur was worried.

While Vice Admiral Abe's 1st Squadron was carrying out continuous shelling of Kuah Island under the cover of the 2nd Squadron, the 3rd Squadron under the personal command of Isoroku Yamamoto was rushing towards Kuah Island in the waters northwest of Kuah Island.

The 3rd Plate Flotilla, with the battleships Yamato and Musashi as the core, surrounded by two heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and twelve destroyers, protected twenty troop carriers and transports, and slaughtered Bengua Island in a mighty manner.

When the 3rd Aircraft Fleet sailed over Savo Island in the northwest of Kuah Island, a powerful noise fell from the sky, swept over the fleet, and headed straight for Kuah Island.

The noise came from the Japanese aircraft group attacking Kuah Island, and the group of planes came from the support fleet under the personal command of Tamon Yamaguchi.

The support fleet is mainly composed of five aircraft carriers, the Zuihe Xianghe, the Xiangfeng, and the Flying Eagle Falcon.

The first group of attack aircraft consisted of 12 Zero fighters and thirty Type 99 dive bombers.

The aircraft group, together with the naval guns of the 1st onboard fleet, carried out a joint naval and air suppression of Henderson Airport.

Under heavy fire, Henderson Airport became even more dilapidated.

When the US troops on the island saw the arrival of the Japanese planes, they immediately used anti-aircraft guns to return fire.

By this time, the sky had already brightened, and the visibility became favorable to the Japanese fleet, and in addition to improving the accuracy of the shelling, the Japanese fleet also suppressed the exposed American anti-aircraft fire points and destroyed them one by one.

Two seaplanes that ventured to the northern waters of Kuah Island to look for the Japanese fleet were unfortunately discovered by Japanese fighters and were immediately chased and killed.

Approaching eight o'clock in the morning, enduring the slow speed of the transport ship, Yamamoto Fifty-six finally patiently led the fleet to its destination.

The 3rd Plate Fleet was then divided into three parts, the first, a heavy cruiser with two destroyers and a light cruiser, escorting a troop carrier and two supply ships, arrived in the Cacarbona area in the northwest corner of Kuah Island, and sent a company of infantry and various supplies to the Japanese there.

The second part was the main force of the fleet led by Yamamoto 56 and two transport ships, which sent more high-explosive shells to the 1st Plate Fleet, and when the 1st Plate Fleet was resupplying, the fleet under the command of Yamamoto took over from the 1st Plate Fleet and continued to carry out the shelling of Henderson Airport.

The third part of Yamamoto's fleet sailed to the village of Tarsingberg in the northeast corner of Kuah Island to deliver reinforcements and supplies to the Kawaguchi detachment there.

On the sea north of the village of Taczingberg, a light cruiser lowered its speedboat, and a lieutenant general in a straight uniform entered the speedboat, surrounded by five or six officers, and the speedboat then sailed towards the village of Taczingberg.

The Japanese Army was deeply stimulated by the notice of the Combined Fleet's joint land-sea operations and the fact that the Combined Fleet Commander, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, would personally lead the Yamato to escort the convoy to Kuah Island.

The commander of the 17th Army, Lieutenant General Hyakutake Haruyoshi, immediately decided to personally lead the main forces of the army headquarters and the 2nd Division to attack and go to Kuah Island for a decisive battle with the American army.

As Yamaguchi Tarumi had assured, the combined fleet's overwhelming naval and air forces suppressed the activities of the U.S. forces at Henderson Field, and sent reinforcements and supplies to Kuah Island in a fair and honest manner.

In the waters southeast of Kuah Island, when it was learned that a Japanese plane group had appeared on Kuah Island, the US fleet hovering on the southeast side of Kuah Island turned its bow and fled Kuah Island at maximum speed.

This fleet originally wanted to wait until dawn, with the cooperation of the Cactus Air Force on Kuah Island, to counterattack the Japanese fleet, and then replenish the American troops on Kuah Island, but the appearance of the Japanese aircraft group dispelled their thoughts.

There are Japanese aircraft carrier formations operating nearby, and their presence has already been known to the Japanese, so there is no doubt that the Japanese attack aircraft group will soon arrive.

If it does not escape to a safe area in time, the fate of the NB-14 fleet is its own fate.

However, the support fleet under the command of Tamon Yamaguchi did not forget the existence of this fleet, and 18 Zero seaplanes and Type 97 torpedo planes were dispatched to search the waters near Kuah Island in two sectors, and soon found the trace of this American fleet.

On the two aircraft carriers, 64 planes took off one after another.

Upon learning that the attack aircraft group had taken off, the Second Plate Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Mikawa immediately advanced at full speed to pursue and kill the US fleet, which was dragged down by transport ships and could not run fast・・・・・・

On Kuah Island, Lieutenant General Hyakutake Haruyoshi's speedboat landed safely, and soon saw a shocking scene.

Countless scrawny soldiers, barely covered with a human skin wrapped around a skeleton, rushed to the beach with green eyes, looting supplies unloaded from landing craft.

A soldier wielded a bayonet, cut through the bag of rice, grabbed the raw rice and put it in his mouth.

A young man hurriedly walked up to Hyakutake Haruyoshi and reported to Hyakutake Haruyoshi.

"General, we can only eat one meal a day for the past half a month, and we can't eat enough, many soldiers are hungry to drink seawater to satisfy their hunger, please forgive them for their rudeness."

Baiwu Haruyoshi looked at Shao Zuo, who was thin and became a "human god", stepped forward with tears in his eyes, patted Shao Zuo's shoulder and said: "You have suffered, this is all the fault of my army commander, you ・・・・・・"

Before Hyakutake Haruyoshi finished speaking, he saw that Shaozuo's body shook back and forth twice, and he fell to the ground on his back.

Hyakutake Haruyoshi's hand stopped in mid-air, and after being stunned for a few seconds, he hurriedly shouted, "Hurry up and rescue." ”

The adjutant beside him and Major General Kawaguchi rushed forward and helped the young man up.

After eating half a compressed biscuit and drinking a few sips of the seized Coca-Cola of American origin, Shozo lay in the arms of Major General Kawaguchi and burst into tears・・・・・・

Hyakutake Haruyoshi said to Kawaguchi: "Give the soldiers three days to acclimatize and recuperate, and after three days, we will attack, seize Henderson Airport in one fell swoop, and then send these soldiers home by plane." ”