Chapter 20 charlie washing machine

On this deserted island, no one really feels good, and neither does the US Marine Corps as the defender. After the Battle of Hell Point, Vandergrift sent a telegram to the Pacific Fleet Command. The content of the telegram made the officer on duty at the headquarters suspect that someone had a brain problem—either the sender’s brain or the receiver’s. human brain. It turned out that Vandergrift demanded: "14,400 condoms, as quickly as possible!" The women on Guadalcanal Island are all natives, and they are not allowed to enter the Marine Corps defense area during wartime. Besides, fighting all day long and the smoke filled the air, do you have any leisure to engage in extra "entertainment activities"?Let’s just say it’s a joke, but Vandergrift’s tone doesn’t sound like it at all, at least he didn’t feel embarrassed when he made the request, it was really firm and straightforward.

The officer on duty couldn't handle it, so he had to take a telegram to ask Nimitz for instructions.Nimitz was well-informed, and he wasn't surprised at all, so he sent all the orders, and said with a smile: "Vandergrift wants a condom, it must be for the Marine Corps to protect the barrel of the gun from the rain." .” Sure enough, Vandergrift meant exactly that.The island was cloudy and rainy, and the Marine Corps' rifles had no holsters on their muzzles, forcing Vandergrift to come up with this "unprecedented strategy." The people who live here suffer as much as the guns.Due to insufficient supplies transported to the island, the Marine Corps was forced to halve the ration and reduce meals to two meals a day, thanks to the "negligent generosity" of the Japanese army.Without the seized food when they landed, it is hard to say whether the two meals can be maintained.

Among the seized food, beer and rice wine are naturally the most popular, but not necessarily others.Eating "fish and rice, fish and rice, fish and rice" all day long turned off the appetite of the marines.Occasionally, the Marine Corps will also improve the diet and change the taste for the officers and soldiers, such as a plate of peas, a canned salmon, or a piece of beef. Beef is a good thing, but too little. It appears almost as often as destroyers at sea. American destroyers will venture to come under the cover of night, but they also try to transport ammunition and aviation fuel as much as possible without Bring in the beef.

It is not unbearable to eat a little bit, what is unbearable is the long wait between attacks, two words-boring. Private Lecky suffered from it, and he could feel it, that boredom sucked the water out of a person's body and soul, just as the aborigines squeezed sugar cane juice, leaving only shriveled cane. The outer shell has become waste, and has no other use except as firewood. In addition to boredom and fear, Japanese warships would bombard and planes would bomb. The Japanese who do things are particularly regular in bombing, usually three times a day, and I don’t know if it was affected by the attack on Pearl Harbor. Every Sunday morning, I have to blow it up every Sunday morning.

Once, when the U.S. military was working at the airport and returning to the bunker tunnel, Japanese bombs suddenly fell from the sky.Lakey jumped into a freshly dug foxhole, and he and his labor team survived unharmed.But another group was hit by a bomb, and all the members were killed, and Lecky almost got into that labor team... The bombed Henderson Airport, the metal plate on the ground is used to pave the temporary runway during the rainy season. Days passed and Lecky saw almost as many shells and bombs as there were flies around him.He has experienced the Battle of Hellpoint. Compared with that kind of face-to-face combat, this kind of you can't hit it, it can hit you, which is called real fear.

Both boredom and fear can shake people's willpower and make people more vulnerable.Under the bombardment of Japanese warships, one team member huddled in the tunnel of the bunker and committed suicide by aiming a pistol at his head; another person had a mental breakdown, shouting and shaking when he heard the sound of the Japanese plane diving. In addition, the Japanese army adopted various harassment tactics.For example, the Japanese army had a twin-engine aircraft. The sound from the aircraft motor was very irregular, which sounded similar to a washing machine. It was called "Charlie Washing Machine" by the Marine Corps.

The "Charlie Washing Machine" has great endurance and can fly over the US military positions in the middle of the night, throwing bombs or something at intervals.It's not about how threatening it is. How many people can be killed by bombing at night without seeing the target?The problem is that it's very annoying, you're going to sleep, it's buzzing around in the air and you can't get rid of it - it's like having a fly, sorry, not one, but a bunch of flies around you! Only at dawn, when the "Cactus Air Force" can take off, or the anti-aircraft guns can see its position, the "Charlie Washer" will leave automatically.

Vandergrift and his men, who were in a difficult situation, kept one thing firmly in mind: Only by holding and keeping the airport clear can they last long enough. After the Cactus Air Force, Vandergrift got another unit.The main weapons of this force are not guns and ammunition, but picks, hammers, and shovels, but their roles are not inferior to those of the Marine Corps. In the early days of the Pacific War, the U.S. military stationed a group of supplementary construction personnel on Wake Island and its overseas bases.They are non-combatants. No matter in accordance with the express provisions of the "Geneva Convention" or the norms of modern civilization, their personal safety should be guaranteed during war.

The problem is that Japan has never acceded to the "Geneva Convention" and is not bound by public constraints. Moreover, although it has a civilized appearance on the surface, it is still a medieval nation in essence.One of its characteristics is that most Japanese men may abide by the laws and regulations in their own country, but when they engage in aggressive wars abroad, they often disregard basic human ethics and become extremely brutal and cruel. Even unarmed priests and civilians, the unscrupulous Japanese soldiers would kill them, not to mention the construction workers who were on the border with the army.The construction personnel have neither received military training nor the necessary means of resistance. When encountering such a situation, they usually can only sit and wait to be slaughtered.

The change in this situation began when the U.S. Navy began to form an engineering battalion.The American Engineering Battalion is known as the "sea bees", and its members are all voluntary construction workers. They are all awarded appropriate military ranks and receive military training. On September 1, 1942, the first naval engineering battalion to serve in the front line, the "Naval Construction Brigade", landed on Guadalcanal. Along with the construction brigade, there were two bulldozers and other maintenance equipment. The arrival of the construction team came just in time.At this time, Henderson Field had become a thorn in the side of the Japanese army. Japanese bombers and warships tried to leave some bomb craters on the airport every day, thus rendering it useless.The harsh environment also causes troubles to the use of the airport from time to time. For example, the flying dust often blocks the engines of the planes, and the pouring rain will turn the airport into a sticky black quagmire.When the plane took off, it was like a fly trying to escape from a puddle of syrup.

Before the construction team arrived, all maintenance of the airfield was done by marines who lacked the tools and skills.Everyone was so exhausted that Leckie complained privately: "We hate the Labor Corps." Aerial view of Henderson Airport.The bomb craters and battle marks around the airport are clearly visible.However, under the full protection of the "Sea Bees", in the face of attacks, the airport can be regarded as rich and powerful and unyielding. Now it's all right, skilled labor has arrived, and there are professional tools.Thanks to the hard work of the "sea bees", the bomb crater can be filled in the first time, and the airport can also be quickly maintained. The Marine Corps only needs to concentrate on fighting. In addition to competing for air lanes, the United States and Japan are also trying their best to compete for sea lanes. The shortest road leading to Guadalcanal from the sea is simply called the "narrow road".Mikawa passed by here when he launched the first Solomon Sea Battle, and the Ichiki and Kawaguchi detachments also passed by here successively. The "narrow road" has become a sea shortcut, and both sides are bound to win. The size of the "Cactus Air Force" has been expanded to 64, and there is a growing trend.After days of air battles, by the end of August, all 50 aircraft of the Japanese 25th Air Force that could be used in combat had been reimbursed. The Rabaul Air Force Base was once in a desperate situation, and the Japanese Navy had to send planes urgently for reinforcements. On September 3, 1942, Nimitz sent Brigadier General Geiger to Guadalcanal as the captain of the "Cactus Air Force".Under Geiger's command, the air force basically controlled the "narrows". Transport ships and cargo ships converted from US destroyers can arrive at Guadalcanal along the "narrow channel" to transport supplies, ammunition and essential gasoline for the Marine Corps and Air Force. However, this refers to the daytime, and when night falls and the plane cannot be dispatched, the "narrow road" will be "taken over" by the Japanese on time. The "Tokyo Express" started rumbling, and the Japanese destroyers began to smuggle troops to Guadalcanal in batches. On the night of September 5th and September 7th, Oka Ming's troops arrived in Guadalcanal one after another by motorboat.After initially receiving news of the landing of Okaaki's troops, Kawaguchi worried that radio communication would easily reveal his intentions, so he sent a lieutenant and three soldiers to walk to Okaaki and tell him the details of the joint offensive plan. The atmosphere in Guadalcanal is becoming more and more tense, and a new war is coming.