Chapter 10 Leapfrog

What does it mean to stick to the rules?It is to maintain the old law, unchanged.However, times and conditions are changing. It was during the Battle of Papua that MacArthur saw the possibility of a breakthrough. He asked himself and answered a few questions. Question: At the final stage of the Papua campaign, why did the Japanese army fail to support it? Answer: The supply line of the Japanese army was cut off. Question: How was the supply line of the Japanese army cut off? A: It is because we have implemented a strict naval blockade. Q: How can a tight naval blockade be maintained? Answer: There must be a strong air force for cover.

Q: How does the Air Force reach the cover area? Answer: Occupy the airport and advance the air route. Pushing back and forth like this, MacArthur's new tactics came to life on paper.Specifically, it is to concentrate limited forces and resources, and first attack areas where the Japanese defense force is weak and suitable for building airports and developing bases, and then use the newly built airports as a stepping stone to operate in a cyclical mode in which the air force covers the navy and the navy cuts off supplies. MacArthur explained his real intention: We launched an attack not to occupy the solid strongholds of the Japanese army, but to encircle them and make the defenders weak and even starve to death.

As the most experienced and most strategic army general in the United States on the Pacific battlefield, MacArthur was not in vain.The tactical concept he put forward, compared with Nimitz's style of play that firmly occupied Guadalcanal in the Battle of Guadalcanal, is similar in approach but equally effective, and can form its own system and pattern. MacArthur's new tactic abandoned the traditional one-line flat-push tactic, like a frog in a pond jumping forward on a lotus leaf, so it was called "leapfrog tactic". After the war, Tojo admitted that the "leapfrog tactic" was one of the three most critical elements for the United States to defeat Japan. However, when this tactic theory was first proposed, it did not receive special support and recognition.When Halsey attacked the Solomon Islands, the first thing he wanted to adopt was not the innovative "leapfrog tactic", but the traditional island-by-island offensive tactic.

The first thing Halsey wanted to capture was New Georgia. The range of the Japanese aircraft is limited. If you want to take off from Rabaul or Bougainville to bomb Guadalcanal, you must carry auxiliary fuel tanks. However, carrying auxiliary fuel tanks will affect the combat effectiveness. Therefore, the Japanese army plans to deploy two island airports in the Central Solomon Islands, New Georgia Island Munda Airport is one of them.The idea of ​​the Japanese is to take off from Rabaul first, refuel at Munda on the way, and then go to the sky above Guadalcanal or Tulagi Island, and do the same when returning.

Munda will become a transit point for the Japanese bombing of Guadalcanal, and Halsey's sword must be cut.At the same time, New Georgia Island is also within the effective combat radius of Guadalcanal's "Cactus Air Force", and land-based aviation can support the landing operations. Munda Airport has been under construction at full speed. In order not to be discovered by US reconnaissance planes, the Japanese army wrapped jungle plants around the barbed wire to make enough camouflage.When it was almost completed, Halsey knew of its existence and made up his mind to implement "Operation Toenail" ahead of schedule.

Munda Airport is located on the coast of Cape Munda, five nautical miles south of Cape Munda is the island of Rendova.If you set up cannons on the island, you can bombard Munda Airport, but the Japanese army did not notice this. There is only a garrison of no more than 300 people on Rendova Island, and it is not equipped with artillery. The first step in "Operation Toenails" was to capture Rendova Island. On the morning of June 30, the Turner landing formation from Guadalcanal appeared near Rendova Island.The shore artillery troops deployed by the Japanese army at Munda Point saw that the Americans were going to capture Munda Airport, so they planned to wait for the Turner formation to get closer before attacking.Taking advantage of this opportunity, the landing force immediately changed to landing craft.

The Japanese artillerymen hurriedly fired as if awakened from a dream, but it was too late, and the American destroyers quickly suppressed the Japanese artillery bombardment.With the strong support of naval guns, the landing force launched an impact on Rendova Island, and the weak defenders were all wiped out. Rendova Island is only a 20-minute flight from Bougainville Island Airport. The Japanese army did not expect the US military to launch a surprise attack. All planes on Bougainville Island had been withdrawn to Rabaul before.Discovering that the U.S. military was attacking Rendova Island, 27 Japanese planes rushed to join the battle.At this time, the U.S. fighter jets departing from Guadalcanal had been waiting for a long time, and they waited for work with leisure, and beat up the Japanese aircraft formation.

At 3:00 p.m., the landing formation finished unloading all the materials and lifted anchor to return.On the way back, the formation was attacked by Japanese planes, and Turner's flagship transport ship "Macauley" was hit by a torpedo and lost its maneuverability.Even more unlucky, after dark, the U.S. torpedo boat mistook the towed "Macauley" for a Japanese ship and sunk it. Since the beginning of the Battle of Guadalcanal, in the troop transport operation that Turner was in charge of, it is really nothing to lose only one transport ship. The most important thing is that he completed the task assigned by Halsey-on July 1, the landing force Artillery positions were established on Rendova Island and the Munda airfield was covered with artillery fire.

The Solomon Islands area is the area under the charge of Lieutenant General Kusakashi, the commander of the Japanese Southeast Fleet. After receiving the report of the U.S. landing on Rendova Island, Imamura immediately sent staff officers Imoto and Imaizumi to the Southeast Fleet Command to discuss how to coordinate land and sea. Reinforcement of Japanese forces at Munda Point. There are soldiers in the army, and soldiers can be transferred from Bougainville and other places. The problem is still the same as in the past, and ships must be allocated. Right now, only destroyers are capable of transportation.But the navy suddenly became stingy again, and was reluctant to transport troops with destroyers. They asked the army to wait a week so that other small boats could come over.

Several army staff officers were so angry: I will order leeks and you will give them green onions. The small boat can transport a large army, can it carry it?Besides, the war opportunity is fleeting. After a week, the day lily is cold. The navy was left speechless and had to agree to send a destroyer immediately. On the evening of July 4, four Japanese destroyers set off from the Buin base, loaded with soldiers, and sailed into Kula Bay in the northwest corner of New Georgia Island.At this moment, the lookout post suddenly found artillery fire flashing ten kilometers away. The flash of artillery fire came from the US landing formation.Halsey assembled 2,600 Marines and was preparing to land at Rice Inlet, north of Point Munda.In order to cover the landing, the escort ship bombarded the shore with artillery fire.

According to the intensity of the flashes of artillery fire, the command of the Japanese formation commanded Kanaoka, the third assistant, and judged that the strength of the US military was superior to its own.The fact is also true. The escort fleet commanded by Major General Ainsworth has 3 light cruisers and 9 destroyers. If it is a counter attack, the Japanese ships are obviously at a disadvantage. The Japanese navy has relatively rich experience in night battles, and Kunizan Kanaoka ordered a long-distance sneak attack.Under the cover of night, the Japanese ship approached to a distance of 6,000 meters, fired 14 "spear" torpedoes at the US ship, then terminated the transportation mission, and immediately turned around and returned. It was dark and cloudy in Kura Bay that night, and occasional storms would cover the bay, so the US military formation failed to spot the Japanese ships, and the radar failed to provide timely warnings.When something was displayed on the radar screen, the "Lance" torpedo had already struck, and a torpedo hit the destroyer "Strong" and caused an explosion on the spot.The huge explosion viciously tore apart the hulls on both sides, and the middle part of the hull quickly collapsed, completely losing navigation and communication capabilities. Finding that the radio of the "Strong" was unanswered, Ainsworth knew something was wrong, and hurriedly dispatched two destroyers to rescue.The rescue ship moved the bow to the port side of the "Strong", and rescued most of the crew including the captain before the "Strong" sank. Kunizan Kanaoka did not know exactly the results of his sneak attack. After returning to the Buin base, he reported a number to the commander of the Southeast Fleet with guesswork: the torpedo sank a US cruiser and a destroyer. To say that Jin Gang Kunisan was cautious enough, he didn't exaggerate the results of the battle too far, and his original transportation task was not completed.But since the Bismarck naval battle, the Japanese navy has had few victories, and such a small victory is enough for them to show off. If the sky is not up, the weather will not be clear, and people will not be able to succeed if they do not lie.Out of publicity needs, the Southeast Fleet played up the sneak attack on Kula Bay, grandiosely exalting it as a huge victory over the famous American general Halsey. In order to carry the "great victory" to the end and complete the established plan at the same time, the Japanese army invested ten destroyers and implemented a larger-scale reinforcement operation.