There were Ming warships blocking the sea, and the high ground to the south continued to fire to interfere with the retreat, and the Ming army that broke through the airport continued to attack eastward.

The critical battle situation no longer allowed the American army to have any extravagance, and Colonel Wadsworth decisively ordered all heavy weapons to be abandoned, and the whole army strictly implemented the retreat plan and retreated southeast into the depths of the jungle.

War correspondent Heyman recorded the devastation in his notebook.

"The enemy's destroyers are firing at us at sea, and it is impossible to retreat along the coastline. Heavy equipment was dropped, anti-tank guns and howitzers were blown up, and sappers hurriedly poured gasoline on trucks and set them on fire......

"As our team headed southeast, explosions and gunfire were heard behind us, and the 'Nightmare Heights' to the southwest flashed with gunfire and bullets whizzing past us. The planes rushed down like vultures, and the soldiers lay on their stomachs, praying that bullets and bombs would not kill themselves......

"The destroyed equipment was burning, their black smoke pooled together, and the sky turned black. The air team set fire to the oil storage station at Richard Airport before retreating, and the flames were at least a hundred feet high, like an erupting volcano......

Together, this is a bleak picture, with the remnants of the defeated army marching on muddy and bumpy paths, retreating into the depths of the jungle in a gloomy atmosphere.

This bloody trail is known as the Hell Road – not only to indicate the difficulty of the retreat, but also to indicate that the U.S. forces on Kuah Island are actually heading to hell from there.

Although the 1st Marine Brigade at the end of the strong crossbow defeated the American troops on Kuah Island, it was really unable to completely annihilate them.

The 2nd Marine Regiment, which followed the pursuit, broke through the resistance of several American troops in succession, and finally the large force had to stop because of the lack of ammunition, and only some scattered infantry detachments were persevering in the pursuit of the remnants of the enemy.

The single-cylinder diesel engine used in some powered trolleys has a more pronounced and distinctive sound than a tank engine, and it sounds particularly heavy.

Because of this, rumors that "more Chinese tanks are coming" quickly spread among American soldiers.

The 39th Regimental Combat Team suffered the greatest losses in the process, with many demoralized companies surrendering en masse, and a third of the combat units being lost in formation.

The situation of the 5th Marine Regiment was much better, but most of the equipment was lost.

Zhou Changfeng was still riding in the iconic British Bren, and he inspected the place where the battle had just ended.

A Type 38 A medium tank was parked diagonally on the side of the road, and the tankmen were busy working together, the hatch of the engine access had been opened, and clouds of smoke were pouring out of the rear of the hull, apparently because the lubrication system had failed.

The fire at the airport oil storage station caused a wave of heat to blow in the face, and in just half an hour, people were scorched and their lips were dry.

Next to a bombed-out P-36 fighter plane, more than a dozen officers and men of the 1st Marine Brigade in open clothes and even shirtless stood together, holding guns and waving hands to take a group photo.

"Junza! Are you going to drink celebratory wine today? Someone shook a bottle of rum that had been seized out of nowhere, and shouted joyfully to the circumference wind in Bren's car.

The latter replied with a smile: "Just don't get drunk!" ”

Along the way, you can see all kinds of equipment and equipment, tents, camp beds, sleeping bags, boots, sapper shovels, rifles, steel helmets, optical rangefinders, and more.

Although the soldiers looked tired and sloppy, they were in high spirits cleaning the battlefield and collecting various trophies as souvenirs.

The ragged and dejected-looking captives lined up and were escorted westward.

The Bren cart moved slowly, passing by the captive procession......

The Ming army stopped pursuing on April 3, and the troops who had been fighting fiercely for many days were tired and sleepy, and the number of non-combat attrition skyrocketed, and they urgently needed to rest and recuperate.

The remnants of the U.S. forces had barely retreated to the central part of the island with minimal order, close to 9,000 men before the start of the battle, and now counted to just over 3,700.

The 39th Regimental Combat Team lost 56 percent of its heavy machine guns, mortars, and various equipment, and the 5th Marine Regiment also lost 40 percent, and the remaining body-barreled artillery of the two units was actually one 37mm anti-tank gun.

From a purely military point of view, the U.S. military on Kuah Island should be characterized as basically annihilated, and such a remnant defeat would not be combat-effective and would not pose a substantial threat to the Ming army except for harassment.

The losses of the 1st Marine Brigade were also significant, the difference was that it was fully formed, and it would not take long for it to be restored after replenishment.

By that day, the number of killed, dead and missing had reached 455, the number of wounded was 1,507, and several thousand non-combat attrition had been added.

Due to the lack of support from hospital ships this time, the level of medical support has decreased, and the most difficult battle took place in the dense jungle at Dawangling, which has increased the proportion of casualties of the 1st Marine Brigade.

It can be said that the Ming side poured very few war resources into Guadalcanal, and the main energy was concentrated in the Central Pacific region to attack Hawaii.

The result was the exact opposite of what the Metropolitan Governor's Office had predicted—a fierce battle broke out on Kuah Island, which was thought to be an easy solution, and Midway and Wake Island, which were expected to be fought in a big way, became the equivalent of a real combat exercise.

At this moment, looking at the overall situation, the US military's strategic defense in the Pacific theater has reached a more critical stage.

The defeat in the Battle of Tarawa caused heavy losses to the aircraft carrier formation, which meant that the Pacific Fleet lost the ability to fight a decisive battle with the main fleet of the Ming army.

The non-confrontation between Midway and Wake Island opened the door to Hawaii, and the Ming army could use it as a base for attacking Oahu once it was ready.

The Battle of Guadalcanal declared the U.S. military's offensive and defensive attempts largely bankrupt, and did not attract too much attention and resources from the Ming army.

Chester-Nimitz, however, believed that the operation on Kuah had been entirely hopeful of success, simply because of the insufficient number of U.S. ground forces deployed on Kuah and the weak TF-27 task force, which was constrained by the lack of aircraft carriers.

During the three-day period from April 2 to April 5, the telecommunications between Pearl Harbor and Washington were particularly frequent, and Presidents Chester and Franklin re-analyzed the current situation.

More and more people are now pessimistic about the war, as if the fall of Hawaii would be an immutable fact.

In a telegram sent to the president, Chester made it clear that there must be no passive defense, and that it is necessary to defend Hawaii while launching counterattacks on other fronts to disperse the enemy's forces and war resources.

He intends to continue the Hasben Kimmel strategy and continue to make a fuss around Kuah.

But if the plan is to succeed, at least one aircraft carrier must be sent to strengthen the TF-27, otherwise it is almost impossible to seize sea supremacy in the Solomon Sea.

The naval battle in the Kuah-Tulagi Strait proved that even if the night raid was more successful, the U.S. fleet would at best achieve a tactical victory, and after dawn it would pay a heavy price under the blows of the Ming air force.

Because of this, Chester solemnly made a request to the president - send the Saratoga or Enterprise to the southwest Pacific to strengthen the TF-27 and continue to increase troops on Kuah Island.

Do you have to divide your forces when you only have two aircraft carriers left?

The reason Chester dared to do so was because of the good news that came a few days ago.

Because of the reduction of anti-submarine pressure, and the fact that the Royal Navy found the carriers to be extremely risky in carrying out air raids against the Germans, the British found that several of their fleet carriers seemed to be of little use.

When the Germans attacked Bordeaux last year, the Glory was sent to help the field, but it was attacked by the German Air Force, although it escaped, but because the damage was too heavy to be repaired, it was dismantled at the Rosace shipyard, which converted her into an aircraft carrier that year.

After deliberation with the Captains of the Zhengmi Banner in London, Winston agreed that the Royal Navy would lease the Brave and the Radiance to the United States for a tentative period of six months.

The two aircraft carriers will soon depart for the Pacific Ocean via the Panama Canal to join the Pacific Fleet and are expected to arrive in a month.

Among them, the Guanghui armored aircraft carrier was only completed and put into service in February, and the sailors had just become familiar with this brand-new warship, and the carrier-based aircraft squadron had not conducted many take-off and landing trainings, but the situation was urgent, and it was not allowed to continue to slowly build up combat effectiveness in a step-by-step manner.

The British knew very well that the manifestation of war potential would not be achieved overnight, that the shipbuilding cycle was too long, and that everything would be fine if they could help the Americans and help them through the most difficult times of the moment.

Because of the British's help, Chester had the confidence to continue its active defensive strategy.

On April 5, President Franklin called back to approve his plan.

Two days later, the Enterprise, ready to sail, sailed south, along with the battleships USS Colorado, the USS Portland, and the heavy cruisers USS New Orleans, as well as several destroyers and supply ships.

On the same day, the 1st Marine Division was established in Houston, with the 1st Marine Regiment, the 5th Marine Regiment, the 7th Marine Regiment, the 11th Marine Artillery Regiment, and various divisional units.

Maj. Gen. Alexander Vandergrift flew from Philadelphia to Houston to take up his post and presided over the inauguration ceremony.

At this time, the 1st Marine Division was actually scattered all over the country, with the 1st Marine Regiment in Los Angeles, the 7th Marine Regiment in Seattle, and the remnants of the 5th Marine Regiment even in the jungle of Kuah Island.

But such a chowder division that had not yet been put together received an order to immediately go to San Francisco to prepare reinforcements for the Southwest Pacific.

After the Battle of Tarawa, the Gilbert Islands were under the control of the Ming army, and the regular route between the United States and Australia no longer existed, and the journey to Australia would now be even more difficult.

Knowing that the Southwest Pacific will not be abandoned because of a small setback in Kuah Island, Mak Dashuai can be described as quite happy.

He sent a telegram to the General Headquarters, claiming that the defensive line on the Australian mainland was already "unquestionably strong" and that the Australian Army and two American divisions were sufficient to contain a possible future offensive by the Ming Army.

He even confidently said that Australia does not need the 1st Red Division at all, and can send the 1st Red Division to Kuah Island, and he can guide their operations on Kuah Island, and it only takes two to three months to consider counterattacking Rabaul.

George Marshall saw at a glance that this guy wanted to meddle in the affairs of Kuah Island, and he also made a lot of nonsense about counterattacking New Britain Island, and he was immediately angry.

He then telegraphed back that if the situation allowed in the future, he might be able to try to counterattack Queensland and drive the Chinese away from Cairns.

The implication is that Mai Dashuai should take care of Australia's affairs, and not fight other places' ideas.

After the defeat of the American troops on Kuah Island, the Ming army engineers and American prisoners quickly completed the repair of Richard's airfield.

Subsequently, the Daming Air Force in Rabaul successively sent a number of units to station, and the Second Patrol Detachment, which was equipped with Type 39 gunboat aircraft, was not absent and was ordered to attack any exposed remnants of the American army.

So far, the Air Force has set up a total of seven independent patrol units, each of which has three gunboats.

This is a small force that can only be said to be inconspicuous in the sequence of the air force with thousands of aircraft, but it has played an important role in many low-intensity operations, after all, only these gunboats can hover over the target for hours or even more than a dozen hours.

The Ming monarchs, including Zhou Changfeng, did not know what the Americans were planning, and everyone took it for granted that after the failure of the active defense strategy, the Americans should choose a conservative strategy to defend Hawaii.

What alerted Zhou Changfeng was that the Battle of Kuah Island exposed the shortcomings of the Ming Navy's elaborate Marine Brigade formation.

At that time, the Marine Brigade was designed for "convenient delivery and landing" and indeed had a good advantage in ocean projection, and its combat effectiveness also achieved the expected goal -- its short-term combat strength was close to that of division-level units.

It only takes 110,000 tons of standard shipping to deploy such a force to the target, which is simply not too cost-effective!

However, there are pros and cons to everything, and the Marine Brigade does not have the ability to fight for a long time, and as long as the engagement time is longer, the combat effectiveness will be significantly reduced.

On the one hand, there are only two regiments in the main force, and on the other hand, the logistical support capability is far inferior to that of standard division-level units.

Such a force should be the vanguard of the amphibious offensive, not the main force responsible for the entire operation.

This was the case in the battle of Kuah Island, because it was found that there were no troops to adjust around for the time being, and the 1st Marine Brigade had to take over the task of pacifying Kuah Island alone, and fought quite reluctantly.

In fact, at the end of March, Zhou Changfeng even considered stopping the offensive and asked the Australian Corps to send reinforcements to replace him.

In view of the fact that there will only be many similar battles for the islands in the future, the adjustment of the strength of the Marine Corps is already imminent.

"If it is expanded into a division, won't Brother Zhou become the youngest division commander? I'm going to do the first one again. Zhu Lishuo sighed.

"It's a good thing, it's time for a change, it's going to take three years." Xie Wancheng on the side said with a smile: "As soon as Junzuo is promoted, we will also be stained." ”

The establishment of the 1st Marine Brigade has been fixed for two or three years, and the main team is still the old people of the 1st Marine Regiment, but they are not saints and sages, and they are more or less selfish.

Remembering the old feelings is only one aspect, on the other hand, the 1st Marine Brigade has won many battles and has a wonderful resume that is conducive to promotion.

The company's employees are looking forward to promotions and salary increases, and if their military ranks and positions remain unchanged for a long time, it is inevitable that they will be dissatisfied.

"Expand into a division? I have a different idea. Zhou Changfeng glanced at the officers present, and said thoughtfully: "Build a new marine group at the higher level, including the Marine Brigade, plus other infantry, combat vehicles, and heavy artillery units. ”

(End of chapter)