The loss of air supremacy led to a reduction in the range of activities of US military aircraft to the east of Oahu, approximately an elliptical area centered on Maui.

The shorter SBD Dreadnoughts and TBD ravages could not make a detour to attack the Ming army's transport lines, and the U.S. military tried to use B-17 bombers to carry out missions several times, but the efficiency was low and little success was achieved.

The only Ming transport ship that sank was the two B-17 crews who ventured down to a height of 600 meters and carried out low-altitude bombing.

The air force could not be counted on for the time being, and the US military could only rely on the submarine force for the time being to strike at the logistical supply of the Ming army.

On July 11, the sea 210km west of Kauai Island rolled up with dark clouds, lightning and thunder.

The submarine SS-191 scored a hat-trick and successfully ambushed the Ming convoy at the site, marking the third time in the month-and-a-half-month month since the boat went to sea.

The cargo ship Jiyun, which was transporting the Army's 1st Assault Vehicle Battalion, was hit with two torpedoes and capsized a quarter of an hour later.

Dozens of tanks, tractors, off-road vehicles, and trucks from the battalion headquarters, support team, and the third heavy combat convoy sank together.

The destroyer Lotin was also caught off guard and did not escape its fate, as a torpedo hit its stern, causing a violent explosion of depth charges.

In an instant, the destroyer erupted into a series of earth-shattering loud noises, flames rose into the air, and the fragments from the explosion swept in all directions like shrapnels!

The rear hull of the Leting was almost blown to pieces, and the steel plates made of B-shaped structural steel were torn apart like iron sheets, and smoke was emitting from every crevice.

The Ming sailors on the deck suffered heavy casualties, corpses, stumps and broken arms, and broken military uniforms could be seen everywhere, and blood was sprinkled all over the entire deck, splashing everywhere.

The military doctors and medical guards who rushed to the rescue couldn't help but be stunned, some broke their legs, some lost their arms, and some were disemboweled......

Screams and moans were mixed with panic and cries for help, and the wounded screamed, "Give me a shot, give me a shot!" ”

As a result of the disaster, 82 people were killed, 29 were missing, and 112 were wounded, and the Lotting suffered bloody losses, which were staggering in appearance.

The captain also fell down due to the violent vibration just now, and his head hit the rudder helm, and his head broke blood, and after learning that the engine was shut down and the power was interrupted, he immediately ordered the ship to be abandoned.

Surprisingly, however, the stern had been completely submerged, and the Leting miraculously did not sink, and she was still stubbornly floating on the surface of the sea after more than an hour.

The Ming army later towed it to the nearest island of Kauai, and due to the lack of repair conditions, the destroyer was temporarily moored in Hanalei Bay in the north to be used as an air defense platform.

At noon on July 12, it was another sunny day.

The convoy arrived at Naville Willi Bay and anchored into the docks, and the rest of the officers and men of the 4th Marine Brigade set foot on the land of Kauai with rifles and light machine guns; On a freighter carrying heavy weapons, a crane lowers a door howitzer.

Above everyone's heads, two two-plane formations soared in the sky, guarding against a possible air attack by the enemy.

Half of the assault vehicle battalion was killed without a fight, much to the regret of many in the Cavhikini Mountain command.

"Blame? What is there to blame? It's normal to have losses. Zhou Changfeng didn't care, this level of loss was even lower than he expected.

Because of the surge in the results of the US submarines during this period, he expected in his heart to lose a quarter of the technical equipment during the sea voyage.

The remaining two teams still have 28 Type 38 heavy tanks, but after all, they have lost the battalion headquarters and logistics support team, and the combat efficiency will definitely be greatly reduced.

"The 38th Division is already in place, and the 1st Marine Brigade is almost rested, and it will be shipped immediately." A communications staff officer holds his fists.

The chief of staff of the 3rd Marine Brigade next to him sighed: "I have been in that ghost place on Kuah Island for a few months, and I have suffered an old crime." ”

"Judging from the front-line reports, the United States and Australia are not giving up, and they are still playing the idea of Kuah Island."

"It's not a big problem, the main fleet of the US army is now pinned down and can't get through, and the Kuah Island airport is also controlled by our army, and some reinforcements sent by the enemy are useless." Zhou Changfeng was eating a canned orange and said casually.

"What Zhou Beizhao said is extremely true, the poisonous insects, poisonous snakes and miasma of this jungle can kill them."

After the Battle of Kuah, the remnants of the 5th Marine Regiment and the 39th Regiment Combat Team retreated into the dense jungle southeast of Kuah Island.

Considering that the terrain was complex and easy to be ambushed, and that the defeat of these remnants would not pose a threat, the 1st Marine Brigade did not take the initiative to clear it and only stationed around the airfield.

This situation is somewhat similar to a law and order war, in which the US military constantly sends small groups of men and horses to attack and harass, firing cold guns and firing cold artillery, but the 1st Marine Brigade has always stuck to its position and refused to attack.

The Americans and Australians did not abandon these troops either, PBY Katerina and B-17 flying from New Caledonia had been airdropping supplies to them, otherwise these stragglers would have been swallowed up by the hellish cannibal jungle.

More than a month ago, under the planning of Douglas MacArthur, the US-Australian coalition forces gathered 600 aircraft and five divisions to launch the largest counterattack on the Ming army at the 20th parallel of the south parallel.

The fierce fighting between the two sides did not end until late June, and lasted a total of 22 days.

At first, the 10th and 12th Divisions were suddenly attacked in a major manner, and the 10th Division misjudged the number of invading enemies, and was flanked by the 8th Infantry Division of the Australian Army and the 1st Red Division of the American Army, and the situation was not clear until a day after the battle began.

In the process of shifting positions, the headquarters of the 10th Division was bombed by the Royal Australian Air Force, and the division commander Zou Chengsong was hit in the torso by multiple fragments, and died of his wounds two days later.

The outnumbered 10th Division retreated quickly during the night, abandoning a large number of heavy weapons along the way, and the 12th Division of the adjacent front was also forced to retreat due to the exposed flanks.

The two armies retreated 40 kilometers before setting up their defensive lines, and then waited for reinforcements from the 4th Division to regain stability.

After that, the 38th Division, which had planned to go to Kuah Island, had to temporarily cancel its trip and hurriedly landed in Townsville to rush to the front line for reinforcements, and finally completely stopped the offensive of the United States and Australia.

During the battle, which lasted more than half a month, the United States and Australia lost 1,329 killed, 6,221 wounded, and 5,250 non-combat losses; The loss of technical equipment was also relatively large, with a total of 107 tanks, 143 artillery pieces of various types, 562 vehicles of various types, 18 trains, and 262 aircraft of various types.

In contrast, although the Ming army as the defender was repelled dozens of kilometers away in the early stage of the campaign, because the air supremacy never fell to the United States and Australia, the actual battle losses of the Ming army were smaller, with a total casualties of 5,808 and a non-combat attrition of 4,242; In addition, 66 tanks, 135 artillery pieces, 680 automobiles, 25 trains and 204 aircraft were lost.

It is difficult to judge who won and who lost this battle, and both sides claimed to have won verbally, and Mak even held a sizable press conference in Melbourne, releasing bold words to promote a glorious victory.

However, from a purely military point of view, the brilliant victory that Mak's boast of is actually very dry.

The U.S.-Australian coalition squandered most of its months-long build-up, firing 593,000 artillery shells and dropping 13,000 tons of aerial bombs, but the final result was to regain 34 miles of open field, and no real progress was made.

Zhou Changfeng felt that it was a pity that he had folded a veteran, Zou Chengsong was a typical old-school officer, strict with himself and strict with others, and his popularity was not very good.

Now that the battle has come to an end, the two sides have entered a dull period of confrontation.

The 38th Infantry Division rested for a moment and prepared to continue its previous mission of going to Guadalcanal to replace the 1st Marine Brigade stationed there.

On the evening of July 12, the Cavhikini Hill Command in Kauai.

It will take a long time for the troops to be unloaded and brought ashore, but this does not prevent the convening of a meeting of all officers.

The exhaust fan whirred and swirled, and several light bulbs lit up the place.

"It's all here, right?" Zhou Changfeng glanced at the people present, "Okay, don't talk nonsense, let's look at the landing strategy." ”

He took the slender wooden stick and nodded, and said: "A frontal landing on Pearl Harbor is notoriously unrealistic, and the large-caliber shore defense guns in many permanent fortifications are blocking the circle south of Oahu. ”

The Williston Battery, the Crosson Battery, the Hatch Battery, and so on were all built in exceptional strength, some of which were built directly into the cliffs, protected by reinforced concrete up to ten feet (three meters) thick, and several meters thick with a layer of earth several meters thick.

These batteries used 305mm, 356mm, and 406mm shore defense guns, which came from the redundant battleship main guns of the year, such as the Lexington-class battlecruiser after it was converted into an aircraft carrier, and the idle main guns were used to exert residual heat.

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"The goal at this stage is to seize the Mokapu Peninsula, expand the landing ground, gain a foothold, and ideally take full control of the area east of the Koorao Ridge, with this mountain range as a cover, the enemy will not be able to counterattack."

"According to the results of aerial photography and the intelligence of the prisoners' confessions, there are not many defenders in the Mokapu area, the core is two battalions of army troops, more than 1,000 people, and the rest are airport guards and service troops, and the threat is not great."

"This landing is different from the past, it must be fast, as fast as possible, the fleet only makes a small amount of firepower preparations, and the landing force will make a surprise landing in the early morning, and there may be aircraft support, but it will mainly have to rely on itself."

"The three brigades came out with a regiment, landed in Kailua Bay, and captured the town; The 1st Brigade of the 4th Brigade landed in the northern part of the peninsula and was responsible for seizing the airfield; Another unit of the 4th Brigade landed at Kaneoh Bay and captured the town of Kaneoh. ”

"There is another key, four kilometers south of the town of Kaneohe is the Nuanaupari Pass, which is a precipitous and good place, easy to defend and difficult to attack, if you can take it down, it is equivalent to stuck in the choke point, and you can't open it."

Everyone listened intently, imagining the whole process in their minds.

Pan Mingbiao, commander of the 4th Marine Brigade, pondered for a moment and asked, "Chief soldier, is this mountain pass going to send a partial division to attack directly?" Do you have any arrangements? ”

Zhou Changfeng took a sip of the kettle and replied: "The enemy's defense here is not very tight, your reconnaissance battalion should be competent, organize a reinforcement team, and go straight there when you go ashore." ”

"Understood."

"Again, if you ask them to bring a few anti-aircraft machine guns, how many bullets can they carry."

The meeting lasted for another hour, mainly to assign tasks and draw up detailed plans together with the air force and navy warships.

The convoy was accompanied by a fleet of landing craft, which were easily destroyed for a variety of reasons, including the loss of dozens during the attack on Kauai in May.

The newly arrived officers and men of the 4th Marine Brigade undoubtedly had mixed feelings, both depressed and excited.

I was depressed that I had been on a boat for so long, and I had been running around at sea for a month, but I was about to go to war not long after I came ashore; I am excited that I will be the first to land on Oahu.

A day and two nights later, on the afternoon of July 14, the various units that had planned to participate in the battle began to board the ship.

Although the Ming army had already seized air supremacy, the early warning and coordination of the air situation in this era was very backward, and the risk of a surprise attack by the US air force could not be ruled out.

The three landing ships will be tasked with transporting heavy weapons and technical equipment, while the rest of the troops will be loaded by destroyers.

A total of ten destroyers, each with two infantry squadrons and a small amount of supplies, were ordered to carry out the delivery mission, unloading depth charges and torpedoes to lighten the load.

By sunset, the participating units had boarded the ships, and the destroyers slowly sailed away from Naviley Waili Bay.

The naval forces escorting the landing force included 12 destroyers, 2 super destroyers, 3 minesweepers, 1 light cruiser, 1 heavy cruiser Kunlunshan.

After leaving the port, the fleet completed the battle formation, and then gradually increased its speed, and finally broke the waves at a speed of 27 knots.

They galloped northeast in the busy night, then turned southeast in the waters north of Oahu.

As for the three landing ships transporting heavy weapons, they did not follow the action because they could only reach a top speed of 12 knots, but followed behind with five merchant ships and several destroyers as a second wave.

For the U.S. forces on the Mokapu Peninsula, what they witnessed was too bizarre - how could a large number of incoming enemy ships appear on the sea overnight?

The first wave of landing forces suddenly appeared in Kaneohe Bay like a ghost fleet, and the command of the Pacific Fleet was taken by surprise.

At 5:50 a.m. on July 15, more than a dozen Ming warships began to violently shell the beachhead and shallow depth of the Mokapu Peninsula.

The US troops on the shore were blown up by the rain of shells, the hangar of the naval air station in Kaneohe Bay was shattered by a 208mm anti-explosive bomb, and the iron corrugated plates flew into the sky.

The 10 destroyers came to the beachhead for which they were responsible, and the officers and men of the Marine Corps on top lowered their landing craft and rope nets on both sides of the board to the sound of rumbling gunfire, and began to climb down one after another into the landing craft.

Because the minesweeper was too slow, it fell behind early, and it was expected that it would take two and a half hours to arrive, so it was impossible to wait for them for the time being.

However, Zhou Changfeng and other generals are optimistic that the US military did not lay mines here, because it is responsible for the take-off and landing of seaplanes, and the US military has also carefully blasted coral reefs and dredged shipping lanes.

On the platform outside the bridge of the Kunlun Mountain, Zhou Changfeng held a telescope and ordered: "Concentrate your firepower to suppress the place of 1,000 to 3,000 meters, let the landing craft retract its formation and rush along this road." ”

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(End of chapter)