Chapter 15 ancient roman warfare

Who is to blame for the poor record?The first one to be spanked is naturally the main general.Halsey made decisive adjustments and replaced the frontline commander with Major General Hodge. Hodge discovered that the key to fighting a poor war was not the difficulty of adapting to jungle warfare—when he arrived at the front line, he had been fighting for nearly half a month, and the recruits had also turned into veterans. The real difficulty is Munda's solid position.The Japanese commander, Major General Sasaki, shrank all his troops to Munda Airport, and built a ring defense system around Munda Airport. All machine gun positions and tactical strongholds were dug 1.5 meters deep on the coral reef, and then used cement and wood pads. High, and then cleverly camouflaged, easy to defend but difficult to attack, Hodge called it "Munda hard bones".

It is difficult for people to chew on such a hard bone.Hodge asked for reinforcements, asking for more weapons for attacking fortified areas. Halsey granted the request, and Hodge received the tanks, flamethrowers, and explosives necessary for the assault. On July 25, the US military resumed its offensive after a short rest. With bone-gnawing equipment, it is not done once and for all. The mud in the jungle affects the efficiency of the attack, and the enthusiasm of the Japanese army to defend the position forced the US military to be extremely careful.During the battle, the U.S. military had to drive the Japanese soldiers out of their bunkers one by one, and then wipe them out in brutal hand-to-hand combat.

The Japanese army was gradually compressed to the narrow strip near Munda Airport. On August 1, the advance troops of the U.S. Army rushed to the edge of the airport, and after another four days of fierce fighting, they completely occupied Munda Airport.On the same day, Halsey received a telegram of victory: "Our army has captured and fully occupied Munda from the Japanese army today, and we would like to dedicate it to you!" Halsey's reply is extremely straightforward and powerful: "Stop it to death!" Because the US occupation of Munda does not mean that it also controls New Georgia Island.Under the command of Sasaki, the remnants of the Japanese army retreated to Barocco Port in the northwest of Munda, which could still pose a threat to Munda Airport.

The Southeastern Fleet and the Eighth Front Army Command also did not abandon New Georgia Island. On the one hand, they asked Sasaki to stick to Barocco Port, and on the other hand, they planned to continue to use the "Tokyo Express" method for reinforcements. Kura Bay was originally the first choice for sending reinforcements and supplies to New Georgia Island. However, after the US military’s night air tactics became effective, the Japanese transport ships refused to go to Kura Bay. They would rather choose the south of Kolombangara Island. dangerous waterway.The waterways over there are somewhat dangerous, but the chances of being attacked by night air are much smaller.

On this route, the U.S. military used Rendova Island as its forward base and dispatched torpedo boats to intercept.During the battle, a torpedo boat was rammed into two pieces by the Japanese destroyer escort, and the captain of this speedboat was the future US President Kennedy. When the speedboat was broken, Kennedy instantly had a "feeling of being beaten to death."He jumped out of the speedboat, rescued one of his men from injuries, and floated in the dark water for another four hours before being spotted and rescued by coast watchers.Several presidents of the United States participated in World War II, and Kennedy's performance was particularly outstanding. For this reason, he was awarded the Purple Heart Medal and the Navy and Army Medal by the U.S. government.

The interception by the torpedo boats was not ineffective. They once sank a Japanese barge and damaged several other ships, but this damage was only scratching the surface of the "Tokyo Express" and would not have much impact. To destroy the newly opened sea supply line of the Japanese army, ships larger than torpedo boats had to be used.Some of the task force formations of the Halsey Third Fleet were far away from this route, and some were seriously damaged and could not be put into combat immediately. For example, the Ainsworth formation, only the destroyer squadron could be dispatched.

Prior to this, the U.S. naval battle formation has always been a mix of cruisers and destroyers. Destroyers mainly serve as guards for cruisers. Cruisers are the protagonists of naval battles. Destroyers are usually not dispatched alone. This time, they were forced to do nothing. The task In the end it fell to Lieutenant Colonel Burke, commander of the destroyer squadron.After Burke took the order, he was overjoyed. Burke is a very thoughtful naval officer. He has always advocated that if a naval battle is carried out in the narrow waters of the Solomon Islands, destroyers and cruisers should not be mixed, and destroyers should not be arranged behind the cruisers. to no avail.The two naval battles commanded by Ainsworth are proof that the destroyer has in fact become a vassal of the cruiser, unable to fight freely, and it is difficult to use its flexibility and mobility.

Destroyers should not bind their hands and feet to cover cruisers, but the "spear" torpedoes have given Japanese destroyers a huge attack advantage in combat. If destroyers want to fight alone, they must find an effective tactic to defeat the enemy.Burke had been studying related tactics, and he got inspiration from the history of ancient Roman warfare. The formation of the ancient Roman army was a masterpiece. As long as the warriors could set up a formation in an open field, there were few opponents.In the duel with Carthage in North Africa, the Roman commander Scipio established the formation tactics of alternating infantry and cavalry attacks.Burke believes that this tactic is reasonable and simple, and it can be applied to modern naval warfare.

For military strategists, war history is the most vivid tactical textbook, and Burke thus drew up a combat plan similar to the ancient Roman warfare.But on the eve of the attack, he was transferred to a higher-level position, and by mistake, he lost the opportunity to test his tactical theory in actual combat. Fortunately, his successor, Lieutenant Colonel Moosbrugger, inherited the program.