U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Willis, with the USS Washington as his flagship, commanded this spectacular battleship showdown. When the two American battleships suddenly came out, Kondo's artillery fleet was somewhat caught off guard. In a few moments, 406-mm shells smashed on the head of the Kondo shelling fleet, and a fierce battle began. The four U.S. destroyers bravely took the lead in the attack, but the Kirishima was not dry, and its naval guns bombarded fiercely, and three U.S. destroyers were sunk and buried in the sea.

After the Kirishima was shot, the deck superstructure was completely destroyed. Due to the narrow bay of the steel-bottomed cemetery, the fact that both sides had nowhere to hide was one of the reasons why every naval battle was particularly brutal. The Kirishima could not take advantage of the darkness to return home, and at dawn they were afraid of being bombed by American fighters and torpedoes, so the Japanese sailors were so grief-stricken that they had to open the valve and sink themselves. In the end, like its sister ship Hiei, it fed the fish and shrimp in the bay, became the last member of the steel-bottomed cemetery to settle down, and drew a successful end to the final battle of the Solomon Islands.

The brutal naval battle of three days and three nights, collectively known as the Third Battle of Solomon, staged the climax of the two sides, which can be described as thrilling and tragic. He was the fiercest battle of the Kuah Islands. After several consecutive nights of terrifying fighting between the warships of the two sides, the Japanese navy no longer dared to easily throw the Grand Fleet into the battle on Kuah Island, and thus the battle for Kuah Island for several months came to an end. But the ground battle was not over, and given that the Japanese were no longer able to attack, Vandergrift excitedly sent a report to Halsey: The battle of Kuah Island has been won.

In the entire battle of Kuah Island, a total of 26 large and small naval battles were fought. The US army lost two aircraft carriers, 6 battleships, 16 light cruisers and destroyers, with a total tonnage of 126240 tons. The losses of Japanese ships were roughly equivalent to 24 warships and 134839 tons. The Battle of Kuah Island was of great significance to both the United States and Japan. At this point, the US Navy began a full-scale counteroffensive, and the Japanese Navy entered a full-scale passive defense, and began to sunset, which was worse day by day.

After a few days of rest, division commander Vandergrift ordered the American units to launch a counterattack. The Eighth Route Army's Tiger Special Combat Team assisted in the attack, and its mission was to cover the US soldiers to break through the Japanese defense line, clear the Japanese machine gun positions and hunt the Japanese secret fire points. At this time, all the Japanese troops retreated to the northwest of Kuah Island and built fortifications in the Mara River valley to hold on. Before the start of the war, Jie Zhenbang mobilized before the battle: "Comrades, the battle of Kuah Island has given us a glimpse of what modern three-dimensional warfare is. The US military was able to gain sea and air supremacy entirely as a result of its powerful logistical support. ”

"The strong firepower of the US military makes up for the lack of combat effectiveness. At present, the Japanese army is already meat on the board, and it is allowed to be ravaged by the US military. I suspect that the powerful three-dimensional offensive of the US army will advance to the northwest coast of Kuah Island in half a month, and the Japanese army will be driven into the sea or completely wiped out. I ask you to be clear about your mission and not to make unnecessary sacrifices, you know? "Understood!" The team members replied loudly. Due to the continuous operation, the number of combat losses of the special combat team is increasing and cannot be replaced. The defensive operations and Japanese artillery bombardment were ravaged, and the leader of the 2nd Squadron, including 30 members, was killed.

In addition, 26 people were killed and 29 wounded in the dense forest, bringing the total number of dead to 56. Another 21 people were wounded in this defensive operation, and only 44 special combat personnel are currently able to participate in the operation, so Jie Zhenbang must strictly discipline the members to avoid their heads becoming hot-headed. At present, the captain of the 3rd squadron is also injured, so Jie Zhenbang reorganized 44 people from 4 detachments, and Li Gang was promoted to deputy captain. However, the first day of the US military launched an offensive that shocked Jie Zhenbang. The U.S. military's defensive operations have matured, but the offensive has made Jie Zhenbang cry and laugh.

The first combat mission was to assist a battalion of the U.S. Army in taking an unnamed high ground on the outskirts of the Japanese army. Before the attack, Jie Zhenbang observed the nameless heights, and said to Baker beside him: "I observe the deployment of Japanese troops on the heights, about a squadron. The Japanese fortifications were very rudimentary, and there was basically no problem in taking them under fire cover at one time. Baker didn't know if he could do it, he knew what American soldiers were capable of, and he had a lot of problems. Especially since the Japanese army has become the last of its strong crossbows, the American soldiers will become more careful. Of course, he can't tell Jie Zhenbang about this. Next, the luxurious and extravagant offensive of the US army was staged, first of all, four dive bombers, a wild bombardment, Jie Zhenbang could even see the scene of Japanese soldiers being thrown into the air by the air waves.

The Japanese held their positions very tenaciously, and then the American artillery shook the ground and covered it, and the artillery fire almost plowed the nameless heights. The U.S. commander thought it was time to attack, and a company of U.S. soldiers cautiously launched an attack on the high ground. However, when the Japanese sparse fire fired, the American soldiers quickly lay on the ground to dodge, and the American soldiers refused to attack at the command of the officers. The U.S. commander had no way to request artillery support again. It was not until 4 p.m. that the U.S. forces captured the unnamed heights.

"Captain, the Americans are really rich and almost solve the battle with shells and bombs. There were only a few dozen wounded Japanese soldiers in a pit, and the American soldiers burned them with flamethrowers for more than ten minutes before they dared to go in and search them. Jie Zhenbang walked up to the position to check Li Gang's somewhat depressed report. On that day, the U.S. military's extravagant offensive only captured a few outlying heights of the Japanese army in the Mara River Valley. The next few days of attacking were more tedious, but Jie Zhenbang and his players got used to it. Major Baker explained: Due to the continuous operation of the 1st Marine Division on Kuah Island, the battle loss rate reached more than 8,000 people.

In particular, the soldiers have contracted tropical diseases on a large scale due to their lack of adaptation to water and soil, so it is already the greatest limit that soldiers can be engaged in offensive operations. Major Baker's words were fulfilled, and the first U.S. counteroffensive was forced to stop. The Allied Command issued an order: the 2nd Marine Division and the 25th Infantry Division of the United States Marine Division landed on Kuah Island in late November to replace the 1st Marine Division. Since the special combat team of the Eighth Route Army was in the sequence of the 1st Marine Division, it was evacuated to Australia with the officers and men of the 1st Division to recuperate.

In fact, the situation of the Sendai Division of the Japanese Army, including the Kawaguchi Division, was even worse, because the US military had gained sea and air supremacy in the waters around Kuah Island, and the Japanese army's logistical supply had serious problems. The U.S. military took advantage of the advantages of fighters and submarines on Kuah Island to prevent the Japanese army from continuing to support and deliver military supplies to the Japanese troops on Kuah Island, and then the nightmare of the Japanese army really began. Then the Japanese began to stage desperate aid and survivability in the wild, but all this exacerbated the chemical changes of the nightmare.

After the U.S. military gained sea and air supremacy, the next step was to destroy the Japanese troops on Kuah Island as the main combat mission. The U.S. military continued to increase its air power, and the Kuah Cactus Air Force continued to strengthen, and according to the operational orders of the Allied Command, five army aviation squadrons and four naval air squadrons entered the Kuah Island airfield. While firmly controlling air supremacy, the US military also dispatched warplanes from other Solomon Islands and aircraft carriers, and carried out large-scale air raids on Shortland Island, the Japanese supply base, causing serious losses to Japanese ships and supplies.

Since the Japanese destroyer cover formation was attacked by the wolf-like submarine of the US army, the Japanese Navy has not sent supplies to the Japanese army on Kuah Island for nearly three weeks. During this period, the Japanese army used submarines to deliver a small number of supplies to the Japanese army on Kuah Island, which could not meet the needs of tens of thousands of Japanese troops. The Japanese officers and soldiers fed their hunger with wild fruits, wild vegetables, and fish and mussels, and in addition, dysentery and plague began to spread wildly, and the wounded were left to rot and sit for death. In this case, the commander of the Japanese forces on Kuah Island, Lieutenant General Hyakutake, proposed a plan for the entire jade crush.

Rather than starve to death in the trenches, it is better to fight to the death, and maybe there will be a glimmer of life. However, the Japanese base camp did not approve his plan for jade crushing, but formulated a plan to retreat to Kuah Island. In view of the insufficient ground offensive capability of the US army, the Japanese army openly declared a full-scale counteroffensive to cover people's eyes. The Japanese deceived the Americans, and in the end, the remnants of the Japanese army, about 16,000 people, successfully evacuated Kuah Island on various warships and submarines. The retreat of the Japanese army was comparable to the Dunkirk retreat.

When the Japanese officers and soldiers left the sad place of Kuah Island, it is unforgettable that 50,000 comrades-in-arms remained on this nightmarish and beautiful island forever. At the beginning of December, Shinobu Kukai, the commander of the Japanese special operations group, went ashore at the Japanese naval base in Tokyo Bay. The cold wind in Tokyo Bay made Shinobu Kui smell the smell of his hometown, and the gloomy mood seemed to be more relaxed. However, when he saw several of his subordinates, his mood fell to the freezing point again, and he looked at the sky in the depths of the ocean, and he was deeply worried about the future of Japan.

On 9 December, when Rear Admiral Patch led the 2nd Marine Division to Kuah Island and launched an attack on the Japanese, the officers and men of the 1st Marine Division began to march towards Australia on transport ships. A transport ship slowly left the dock, and on the deck, Jie Zhenbang, Li Gang, Baker and others looked at Kuah Island. "This is a beautiful island, and since it was on the island, it has been engaged in brutal battles, and I have not had time to pay attention to the charming scenery of Kuah Island!" Jie Zhenbang sighed. "Captain, I feel the same way!" Li Gang agreed.

The transport ships sailed in the clear blue waters, and the sea was full of warships, and white seagulls flew up and down, looking for fish and shrimp on the sea. Perhaps inspired by some inspiration, Major Baker said affectionately: "It is not a place name, but an emotion that recalls those desperate battles in the air, the fierce naval battles of the night, the frenzied efforts to supply and build." Brutal fighting in the hot jungle and the deafening sound of bombs and shelling of ships piercing the night. ”

"Major Baker, your comments are very incisive, you can publish a book!" Jie Zhenbang praised. "The days and nights of Kuah Island are the most unforgettable of my life, and I will record it, including you, the true warriors!"

The small Eighth Route Army special combat team, at the most critical moment, almost saved the 1st Marine Division. President Roosevelt personally awarded the Eighth Route Army's special combat team, the highest medal of honor, and at the same time decided to provide an additional one-third of military aid to the Chinese theater and at the same time open up the northwest air transport route as soon as possible.