Chapter 65 easy come easy give up

Contrary to Kondo's estimation, the "Washington" never left.Li puts the safety of Guadalcanal Airport first. As long as the Kondo fleet does not leave Tiedi Bay, he will stick to it.It wasn't until the radar showed that the Kondo fleet was retreating that he took advantage of the victory to cover the "South Dakota" from the battlefield. After the US ship left the battlefield, the "Kirishima" covered with holes also came to the end of its life.Someone proposed to tow the "Kirishima" back to Klute, but Kondo thought it would be cumbersome and would affect his escape, so he ordered to use torpedoes to sink it.

The captain of the "Kirishima" did not act as a hero like the captain of the "Hiei". Yan Yuan did not even mention the slogan of living and dying with the ship three times.The good thing is that he followed the right person. Although Yamamoto felt unlucky afterwards, he couldn't be punished casually because of Kondo's qualifications. At 1:25 am on the 15th, the "Kiri Island" sank into Tiedi Bay.This was the third battleship lost by the Japanese in three days, and the first battleship sunk by the U.S. Navy since the Spanish-American War. Compared with the sinking of the "Kirishima", Kondo's decision to withdraw his troops seems more selfish and stupid. He forgot that his first task is to protect the transport fleet. From the beginning to the end of the fleet, they didn't know what this old man was doing all the way to Guadalcanal. Was it just to give a battleship as a gift to the opponent?

When the naval battle broke out, the transport fleet had been lurking in the northern waters of Savo Island. Tanaka couldn't hold back his temper and sent three destroyers to help the battle. Bombarded the airfield to cover the landing of his four transport ships. Seeing the Kondo Fleet leaving regardless, Tanaka stared anxiously—even though the U.S. ships have also withdrawn, the transport ships will not be threatened for the time being, but he has to finish unloading before dawn. At dawn, "Cactus Aviation Team" was determined to carry out the bombing. Can it be unloaded before dawn?How is it possible, with so many personnel and supplies, and so few landing craft.

The current transport fleet can be said to be at a loss for advance and retreat. It can't finish unloading, and it only has time to retreat to Tiediwan. Tanaka's chief of staff came up with an idea: "It's really impossible, let the transport ship grab the beach!" To grab the beach means to ground the transport ship at the landing point on Guadalcanal.In this way, even if the unloading cannot be completed before dawn, the remaining army troops and supplies can go ashore with luck. Of course, the price is that the four transport ships will be doomed to come and go. Tanaka didn't know Yamamoto's attitude: "Can Klute agree?"

The chief of staff looked bitter: "No matter what, we can't wait to die. Saving people is the most important thing." Tanaka was still hesitant: "I haven't brought back a single transport ship, how can I see Commander Yamamoto again?" The chief of staff was in a hurry: "Go ahead, general, there is no time to hesitate!" Seeing that the chief of staff was so desperate that tears flowed down his face, Tanaka thought it might be a good idea to give it a try. He sent a telegram to Kroot, requesting permission for the transport ship to land on the beach. Yamamoto didn't know that Kondo had given up bombarding the airfield, so he flatly rejected the request as Tanaka had worried: Do you think it is so easy to build a transport ship? "Buy cheap and sell cheap, easy to get and easy to give up"?

Yamamoto did not agree to "sell" four transport ships at a low price, and he was not willing to give up one of them.However, only Kondo knows that for this matter, it is the same thing to be willing or not.He threw away Yamamoto's reply, turned around and ordered the captains of the four transport ships: "Quickly dock and unload the troops!" Then he rushed to the landing point at full speed, and unloaded immediately after running aground. Too much time was wasted. By sunrise, although everyone was so tired that they were foaming at the mouth, the number of personnel and supplies unloaded was still limited. There were only 2,000 soldiers, 260 boxes of ammunition and 1,500 bags of rice.

At this time, the large-caliber shore artillery of the U.S. military in Guadalcanal began to show off, and the heavy artillery shells kept falling around the transport ship, which brought the unloading to a standstill.Immediately afterwards, the "Cactus Air Force" arrived as promised, and groups of US bombers and torpedo planes flew over the coast. To say that Kondo is really not a thing, he slipped away by himself, but asked Tanaka to reinforce his three destroyers to chase the US ship, so that only one destroyer in Tanaka could block the US plane. Tanaka became the target of group beatings. In addition to the attack on the island and the sky, a US destroyer moored at Tulagi Island also rushed over and fired torpedoes at Tanaka's destroyer.Tanaka could hide up, but couldn't hide down, left, but couldn't avoid right. A shell hit the deck, and the sailors on the deck died all over the place.

After being attacked by American planes, four Japanese transport ships were stranded and burned.The Japanese army's large-scale reinforcement and supply operation on Guadalcanal Island only ended in a disappointing end. Tanaka got the nickname of "the tenacious man" because he violated the order to grab the beach, but he was also unwilling to face the fate that he could only be buried with the transport ship if he continued.Then, Tanaka cast a smoke screen, dropped the transport ship and escaped. The destroyer still has naval guns, and the transport ship has no resistance weapons, which means it is unarmed, so the next scene directly turns into a unilateral massacre.The U.S. plane dropped bombs on the funnel of the transport ship, and the four transport ships that landed on the beach all turned into strange-looking scrap metal.

The U.S. planes had no interest in scrap iron. They no longer attacked Japanese ships, but threw incendiary bombs on the beach in large numbers. The beach was on fire, and the ammunition that Tanaka had managed to unload was reduced to ashes, and the soldiers were instantly swallowed by the ruthless flames. The corpses formed in the end were all grotesque and terrifying. Some of them were hugging each other, some were sitting, some were standing , and those who stretched out their hands to call for help before dying. The cruelty and cold-bloodedness of the war made the American pilots who took photos at low altitude feel terrified, and dared not take another look down.

The third Solomon Sea Battle, which lasted three days, came to an end.As far as the most basic intention of reinforcing Guadalcanal is concerned, Yamamoto failed to achieve his goal. He only sent ten tons of supplies and 2,000 army soldiers ashore, but the escort troops he sent lost as much as 70%, including two More than a dozen warships, including battleships, sank forever in Tiedi Bay, and the joint fleet was severely damaged by this. What made Yamamoto even more disturbed was the MK-3 fire control radar used by the "Washington" to sink the "Kirishima".War practice has shown that using this advanced and highly accurate radar to determine azimuth can achieve the first hit even at night.

It turns out that the military technology of the United States has developed to such a degree that Yamamoto no longer dared to easily send the battleships he was proud of to death. He transferred all the battleships out of the Solomon Sea, which also meant that large-scale reinforcements were no longer available. possible.Halsey commented on the changes in the battle situation: "Before this, he (referring to the Japanese reinforcements) has been advancing according to his own intentions. After that, he can only retreat according to our intentions." The dawn of victory in the Battle of Guadalcanal has arrived. Nimitz stated bluntly that after the third Solomons Battle, the important stage of the Battle of Guadalcanal has passed. He also praised Halsey, who brought a new look to the South Pacific Fleet: Both are perfect, clever calculations." Even Vandergrift, who has always complained about the Navy, praised the Navy unreservedly for the first time.He sent a telegram to Halsey: "The enemy has suffered a crushing defeat. Thank you Lee for your great assistance last night. Thank you General Kincaid." High officials in Washington were also greatly encouraged. Secretary of the Navy General Knox said in an interview with the press: "The Battle of Guadalcanal is a decisive victory for us. From now on, the southern islands of the Solomon Islands will not be threatened." Roosevelt promoted Halsey to a four-star admiral of the Navy and was approved by Congress. At the memorial service of Callahan and Scott, he publicly declared: "The turning point of this war has finally come!"