Chapter 19 tokyo express

There is a reason for Kawaguchi's impulsiveness.He angrily said to Tanaka: "Do you know why the entire Ichiki detachment was wiped out? It was because of the destroyer!" The speed of the destroyer is much faster than that of the transport ship. The Ichiki detachment that took the destroyer was still envied by the big guys, thinking that this is a "modern warfare."It was later learned that the troops and weapons that the destroyers could carry were limited, and the food was also insufficient. The "modern tactics" actually held back the landing troops. Tanaka also knew that the destroyer was unprofessional in transporting troops, but there was no other way, otherwise how else could he land on the island?

The two of you talked to each other, and neither of them could convince the other, so they broke up unhappy. Continue the next day.Tanaka has already experienced the temper of the army's stubborn bull. If he still hesitates to speak, hesitating to speak like the day before, there will definitely be no results, so he simply opened the skylight and said the truth: the navy's "KA "The plan has been cancelled, and in the future, don't count on the cover of the carrier-based aircraft anymore. Without the cover of the plane, they could only be bombed in vain. The sinking and injury of the transport ship is a good example of the problem.Fortunately, there were no soldiers on board at that time, otherwise they would all be buried at the bottom of the sea.

This was Tanaka's personal experience, and there was nothing false about it. Kawaguchi listened, his face turned pale, and he immediately agreed to transfer to the destroyer. Unexpectedly, Kawaguchi agreed, and some of his subordinates refused to admit it.The commander of the regiment, Oka Akinosuke, said convincingly: "If you want to talk about danger, isn't the destroyer dangerous? Isn't the 'Mutsuki' sinking?" Gang Ming suggested that it is better to take a small motorboat, the target is small, and you can move secretly between the islands. When did a small motorboat come out again?Kawaguchi's head had just turned the corner when it was blocked again.I don't know how much time will be spent on further argumentation and debate, and it is simply not clear which is safe and which is dangerous.Kawaguchi had no choice but to compromise: "How about this, I will lead the main force on destroyers, Oka Aki will lead the headquarters and the first brigade to land on motorboats from different locations, and outflank Guadalcanal Airport."

At midnight on the 30th, the main force of the Kawaguchi Detachment embarked on eight destroyers and headed for Guadalcanal.This way of transporting troops was later named "Tokyo Express" by the US military, while Japanese soldiers privately called it "ant crawling" or "rat transport". Japanese troop transport fleet.Compared with destroyers, troop carriers can transport more soldiers and supplies. The Japanese army is not satisfied with the "Tokyo Express" transportation method, only considering that without the support of the navy, the army will be like a castrated rooster My son crowed, so I had no choice but to accept it.

When Kawaguchi landed at the place where Kazuki had landed, it was nearly dawn, and swarms of fireflies fell on his legs, illuminating the soldiers with sparkles. The first echelon entered the jungle, where they met several ghost-like people, all of them sallow and emaciated, wearing ragged military uniforms.When I asked, I found out that it was a survivor of the Ichiki detachment. A survivor pointed out to the newcomer: "Shake off those ghost bugs on your body, or you will be spotted by enemy planes. Also, leaving footprints in the sand is tantamount to suicide." The soldier demonstrated by himself, sweeping away the footprints on the ground with a palm leaf, which was quite skillful.

It's hard to say whether surviving on this island is a good thing or a bad thing. The long night, the unbearable hunger, and the boundless fear will make people feel that life is worse than death.Soon, the Kawaguchi detachment enjoyed this kind of "treatment": the road was very difficult, and there were thorns, wild vines and intertwined tree roots everywhere. Walking was like stepping on a soft sponge pad. People were often scared out of their wits by the dangers on the road. . At dawn on the 31st, Kawaguchi led the first echelon to the scheduled assembly point.In a deserted village, the troops waited for the follow-up echelon while eating.

A rumbling sound came from a distance, and then there was a U.S. military plane that made the remaining soldiers of the Ichiki Detachment change their expressions. The officer hurriedly ordered the soldiers to lie down. Airplanes are not here to feed them.At dawn, the pilots who took off from Henderson Airport made a major discovery: there was a Japanese destroyer parked on the shore, and because of the wind and waves, the second echelon of landing craft could not go ashore. The "Cactus Air Force" was immediately dispatched. Under the indiscriminate bombing of the "Wildcat" fighter jets and dive bombers, most of the Japanese soldiers on the landing craft were killed on the spot.The air team did not give up and continued to search along the coast. Throughout the morning, the jungle was shaken and the sound of explosions resounded through the earth.

After finally getting dark, the Kawaguchi detachment found another landing craft on the beach. In view of the fact that the second echelon was over, Kawaguchi judged that it was the U.S. military, and immediately issued a command to fire fiercely. Bullets danced around the landing craft, and someone shouted: "My arm, I'm shot!" Hearing that it was still in Japanese, he quickly stopped the fire, and only then did he realize that the opponent was the Japanese army, the second echelon of the Ichiki Detachment. The gunfire has already alarmed the US military, and the Kawaguchi detachment has been exposed.Someone advised Kawaguchi to quickly move to a new hiding place.Kawaguchi was unwilling. He had an agreement with Akira Oka in advance to attack from both ends of Henderson Airport. He couldn't break his promise!

Kawaguchi's stubbornness made it easier for Vandergrift, and a new member was added to the attack list of the "Cactus Air Force".American planes came to bomb and straf every day, and the area where the Kawaguchi detachment was located became a piece of scorched earth, with bomb craters and smoking tree trunks everywhere.In order not to be discovered by the planes, the Japanese army did not even dare to light a fire, and could only rely on fruits and raw rice to satisfy their hunger.