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In late May 43, the U.S. Army's operational sequence on Kuah Island was the Army's 6th Infantry Division, 25th Infantry Division, 32nd Infantry Division, 41st Infantry Division, plus the 1st Marine Division, with a total of about 75,000 men in five divisions.

Although these units were nominally infantry divisions, each division had a tank battalion equipped with at least seventy or more M4 Sherman medium tanks and M3 Stuart light tanks.

The supreme commander of Kuah Island was the commander of the First Army, Robert ? Lieutenant General Eichelberg, commander of the 1st Marine Division, Alexander? Brigadier General Vandergrafft is temporarily under his command to fight together.

Counting the army aviation and logistics personnel, the total strength of the US military fighting in this "green hell" is nearly 100,000.

Even if only ten kilograms of supplies were consumed per person per day, the total consumption would be as high as 1,000 tons, including ammunition.

But in wartime, the rate and scale of attrition are much higher, which is the main reason why Washington wants the Kuah troops to fight quickly.

In order to ensure the normal operation of the troops on Kuah Island, a convoy of transport ships sailed to the "Green Hell" every week.

Even though the U.S. Navy and the convoy suffered heavy losses in the Second Battle of the Solomon Sea, this did not shake Washington's determination and plan to support the forces on Kuah Island.

"If one fleet doesn't work, we use two, and if two doesn't work, we use three until we can meet the combat mission!"

There is no doubt that Director Luo's cruel words are based on the incomparably strong industrial aggregate and financial strength of the United States.

Therefore, even though one Liberty ship after another, together with hundreds of "Shermans" and more than 100,000 tons of war materiel, sank to the bottom of the southwest Pacific one after another, the United States could fully afford it.

Both the White House and the Pentagon believe that as long as they are fully supplied, the US military on Kuah Island will never suffer from a shortage of supplies or even starvation like the Japanese army.

What's more, victory in the Battle of Kuah Island was in sight, and the Japanese 17th Army had been driven to a small area in the northwest corner of the island to survive.

Even if the base camp carried out a large-scale reinforcement of troops here, it would only quickly consume the small amount of supplies and hasten their defeat.

It's just that a large amount of new equipment suddenly appeared on the opposite side of the army and navy, which made Washington really puzzled.

During the war, naval aviation conducted close-up aerial photographs of the main combat ships of the Combined Fleet, which were presented to the Pacific Fleet Command.

After the analysis of the intelligence staff officers, these were basically German-style warships.

For example, aircraft carriers of the "Zeppelin" class, battleship cruisers of the "Scharnhorst" class, heavy cruisers of the "Admiral Hipper" class.

The evil battleship that ravaged the seas, which the Pentagon suspects is an H-class battleship secretly built by Germany, has not yet been confirmed.

It is not yet known what other undetected collusion between Japan and Germany has been found in private.

But for sure, things will never be as simple as they seem, and there must be something else going on.

The Japanese army was equipped with new fighters, including single-propeller (Ta-152), twin-propeller (Do-335) and jet (Me-262).

Through the experience of the US pilots, everyone believes that their combat performance surpasses that of the F-4U "Corsair" and P-38 "Lightning" fighters in service with the US military.

Only the latest F-6F "Hellcat" in service can fight against it, but it will also be inferior in actual air combat.

Because the opponent's flight speed, firepower, and climb performance are superior to those of US fighters, only with thick armor can US pilots have a chance to save their lives.

To shoot down a new fighter plane, the U.S. military usually loses as much as three or four, and if it is unlucky, the battle loss ratio will exceed five.

For this reason, the US Army and Navy air units have strongly urged local aircraft companies to develop similar products that can crush Japanese fighters as soon as possible.

The Pentagon also believes that this is a reasonable thing, and it is not difficult to narrow the gap between the propeller aircraft of the two countries.

But Japan's technological leadership in jet fighters has alarmed American aviation experts.

For this completely new field, American companies are still in the drawing design stage, and there is still a long way to go before finalization and even mass production.

Japan-made jet fighters are already in actual combat, and Japan has a lead of at least three years or so in terms of time.

During this period, Japan was able to accumulate a great deal of actual combat experience to develop more advanced second-generation jet fighters.

That's what keeps Washington up to sleep.

If Japan had always maintained its technological superiority, the US military would have been able to seize air supremacy through the number of fighters and even the lives of its pilots.

Otherwise, the desire to bomb the Japanese mainland by air may always remain in the planning stage.

Even more problematic was the case on the ground battlefield, when U.S. soldiers discovered a heavy tank that was even more formidable than their own M4 Sherman.

MacArthur learned the name of the "Leopard" through the released captives, but nothing was known about its specific properties.

Because the new tanks of the Japanese army on Kuah Island all appeared in clusters, about fifty (a tank brigade) as a combat group.

With the loss of most of the air supremacy, it is difficult for the US tank battalion (about 70 M3 and M4) to take advantage of such combat units.

American tank crews found that at a distance of 1,000 yards (about 1,000 meters), 75mm guns were unable to destroy the new Japanese tanks, especially their frontal armor.

Only when it is shortened to 300-400 meters, there is a chance (and even then there is still a half probability of not wearing it), or simply outflank it from the flank and attack its side armor.

Sam's tank crews frustrated that engaging each other's new tanks head-on would be tantamount to death if both sides were outnumbered.

The M4 "Sherman" was praised by the U.S. military units on Kuah Island as the mobile scrap metal off the assembly line of the Detroit Automobile Plant, nicknamed "Langson Lighter".

Because the advertising slogan of this brand of lighter is: a dozen will be on, every dozen must be on!

As long as the Japanese "Leopard" hits the target, it will not only penetrate the frontal armor of the "Sherman", but also cause a martyrdom accident.

This stems from the fact that the M4 tank was designed to have insufficient armor protection around the gas-oil engine, which often burned when hit by enemy fire, and detonated ammunition, killing all tank members.

Therefore, it is not surprising that a "Sherman" tank battalion of the US army was repeatedly routed head-on by the other side when it faced a "Leopard" tank brigade of the Japanese army.

Tankers complained that the Pentagon had let them attack the Japanese in toy cars, and many of them would not survive this Christmas.

The advantages of this tank are simple design, easy production, easy transportation, easy maintenance, smooth driving, high mobility, few breakdowns, and extremely durable.

However, if the enemy cannot form a scale advantage of more than twice as much, and the two sides want to be steel head-on, these advantages can be ignored.

German, Soviet, and British-made tanks all emphasized armor and firepower, while American tanks emphasized firepower and mobility.

Under the premise of insufficient firepower, the mobility of the tank was completely offset by the weak armor, forming a huge disadvantage.

This was true of the M4 Sherman medium tank, and the M3 Stuart light tank, which was even more skinny.

Since the two "Leopards" of the Japanese army destroyed as many as ten "Stuart" and retreated, the front-line troops of the US army have never let this product appear on the scene.

The Pentagon believes that the Japanese army's "Leopard" and the German army's "Black Panther" are in the same line, and they are from the same family, and it is very likely that they are two models derived from the same prototype.

Considering the size of the heavy tank, it is almost impossible to transport it long distances by submarines, so it should be that Japan purchased technology from Germany and made it on its own soil.

Aerial reconnaissance showed that the Japanese army on Kuah Island had at least 600-800 such tanks, posing a great threat to the American infantry divisions attacking westward.

To eradicate these rough-skinned "ground crawlers", more than 3,000 M4 Shermans are theoretically needed.

It would be much easier to deal with them if air supremacy were to be seized, but this was less likely than a large number of tanks to Kuah.

The Japanese built a field airfield on Savo Island, opposite Kuah Island, to support the 17th Army in the northwest corner at any time.

The airfields of the US military on Kuah Island and on Florida Island to the north have been destroyed by the Combined Fleet and warplanes.

Although the engineering unit carried out emergency repairs, it could not withstand the Japanese army's wanton and indiscriminate bombing day and night.

It is difficult to keep the airport up and running, and even if it is available.

In the face of the encirclement and interception of the Japanese air forces, it was difficult for US fighters to fly over the enemy's positions and destroy the targets.

So far, the aviation units of Kuah are in a semi-paralyzed state and have long been unable to fully support ground operations.

This also led directly to the commander of the 1st Army, Robert? The five divisions under Lieutenant General Eckerberg could not eat the remnants of the 17th Army of Lieutenant General Hyakutake Haroyoshi.

After receiving reinforcements from two divisions, the Japanese troops on the island developed the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" tactic, which made the attacking American troops helpless.

"Whoosh......"

"Be careful!"

Hearing the roaring sound of shells, Lieutenant General Maruyama Masao, commander of the 2nd Division, hurriedly threw the envoy to the ground so that he would not be injured by the shells.

If something really happened in his own headquarters, the division commander would have to apologize.

"Boom ......"

The cannonballs fell into the forest not far away, which made Maruyama Masao and Hyakutake Haruyoshi next to him breathe a sigh of relief.

"You can rest assured, this envoy has the divine light protection given by the great god, and it will be fine!"

The young man of the second cargo thought to himself: Lao Tzu had already calculated the trajectory of the fall with the system, and if he was really going to fall under his feet, he would have slipped away a long time ago!

“…… Oh, I see! If you have sinned a lot, I hope God will make you magnanimous! ”

Maruyama Masao didn't want to provoke the great god's imperial history, and he was counting on his family to move to the Divine Domain.

Ruo Yuexin waved his hand, indicating that he would not count the small things that were bigger than this sesame seed.

I was thinking in my heart: MLGBD, actually dare to shell the deity, and live impatiently?

"You guys continue to hold on here, I'll go back and discuss with the top brass a plan to inflict heavy damage on the U.S. troops on the island!"

Don't all evil beautiful animals like to play with shelling?

Then the deity will be accompanied to the end, and see who has more fun!

“…… God has kept Your Excellency safe, right? ”

When the gambler general at the Rabaul base heard this, he was immediately frightened, and this VIP must not be harmed in any way.

"It's okay, but I want to teach the American troops on the island a lesson!"

Regardless of whether it is fought or not, it must be returned to color, and the US military must know that the things here are also very long, thick, and ......

"What do you mean ......"

"Shelling Kuah Island!"

“……！”

The oracle had previously said that he would hold the enemy hostage, but now he had completely reversed his plan.

But in the future, the supply of the empire, and even the war, will depend on others, and the gambler general will not dare to make any obstruction at this time.

The Chief of the Army General Staff, General Sugiyama Moto, is even more eager for this kid to use his divine power to deal with all the American troops on Kuah Island.

Moreover, after fighting the American army for more than half a year, the empire urgently needed a big victory to boost the somewhat low morale.

Therefore, soon, under the collective wisdom of everyone, the "Xiang No. 1" battle plan was drawn up.

In addition to the "Izumi", the ship of the divine envoy, the Eighth Fleet led by Mikawa Gunichi and the Seventh Fleet commanded by Nagumo Tadaichi will be accompanied as bodyguards.

The task of the fleet is to destroy the living forces and fortifications of the US troops on Kuah Island, and to eliminate as much as possible the US artillery positions and supply facilities.

Yamamoto, on the other hand, will send the 1st Task Force to support the rear 80 to 100 nautical miles, and if he finds the shadow of the US Navy task force, he will deal a fatal blow.

Just looking at the arrangement, it is simply "Midway" version 2.0.

But this time, the Combined Fleet was supported by land-based aircraft, and the anti-aircraft firepower was not what it used to be.

After Mikawa Junichi lost two "Kongo"-class battlecruisers, the gambler's general supplemented him with two faster "Scharnhorst"-class battlecruisers.

This class is faster than its predecessor, has a longer range of main guns, and is more accurate, making it more suitable for hunting US convoys.

Although the "Scharnhorst" class battlecruisers had somewhat inferior ocean-going seaworthiness, in the Pacific Ocean, where the sea conditions were relatively good, this shortcoming was negligible.

Moreover, now it is basically carrying out inshore support missions, and the combat intensity is not so high, even if the crew is not very familiar with the essentials of the new ship, it does not matter.

The lineup of the Eighth Fleet includes two battle cruisers of the Scharnhorst class, four heavy cruisers of the Kaohsiung class, four light cruisers of the Leipzig class, and twelve destroyers.

Nagumo Tadaichi's Seventh Fleet lost the aircraft carrier Zuiho in the Second Battle of Kuah.

Previously, the "Cloud Eagle" (20,000 tons) and "Chongying" (20,000 tons) aircraft carriers converted from cruise ships, plus the four "Myoko" class heavy cruisers, four "Leipzig" class light cruisers and 12 destroyers of the team, can be regarded as a full blood resurrection.

Of course, HNA's elite pilots were concentrated on Yamamoto's side of Task Force 1.

You can't expect the two aircraft carriers of the Seventh Fleet to do anything, it would be good if they could protect themselves and not be sunk by US fighters.

In order to strengthen the strength of the artillery fleet, the gambler general transferred two H41 super battleships of the same class as the "Izumi" - "Omi" and "Mino"!

If all are counted, the privileged second-cargo youth can command two aircraft carriers, five battle/battle cruisers, eight heavy cruisers, eight light cruisers, and twenty-four destroyers.