Chapter 38 target heights

The weather was fine that morning, which is rare to come across during the monsoon season.The 1st Marine Division had a stroke of luck.Under the cover of the smoke screen, the landing operation also went very smoothly. Groups of people landed one after another, and even the pilot of the landing craft shouted happily: "Landing without resistance!" In the feint attack on the south coast, Japanese commander Matsuda showed his shrewdness, and his non-resistance seemed more like intentional. The so-called beachhead at Cape Gloucester is just a nominal name. Although there are sandy beaches, they are not very wide. Most of the places enter the dense jungle as soon as they go ashore.Even if the Japanese army resisted on the beach, they were doomed to be vulnerable, so Matsuda simply shrunk in, passing through the large jungle and swamp behind, trapping the US landing troops.

After learning that the US military had landed, Hyakutake hurriedly sent an interceptor fleet from Rabaul, but they were stopped by the P-38 "Lightning" fleet of the US Fifth Air Force 75 miles from Cape Gloucester. The "Double Devil" deserves its reputation. When a "Demon Square" was deployed, it smashed the swarming Japanese planes to pieces.That morning, at least 53 Japanese planes were shot down, while the U.S. military only lost 4 P-38s. During this period, the land battle went exactly as planned.The first to board the beach was the main force of the Battle of Blood Ridge on Guadalcanal - the Seventh Regiment of the First Marine Division. They rushed into the "swamp plain" in one breath. "Swamp plain" is the name used on the map. In fact, there are only swamps and no plains. In most places, the swamps are neck deep.The officers and soldiers of the Seventh Marine Regiment had to be thankful that Cape Gloucester was too big for the Japanese troops to deploy, otherwise a strong attack here would be enough for everyone.

Across the "swampy plain", there is a small hill covered with weeds and with a steep slope.Previously through aerial reconnaissance, the U.S. military discovered that there were many Japanese military fortifications on it, so it was named "Target Highland". The Fifth Air Force had bombarded Target Heights before the war, and one side of the hill had been completely blown away, causing an artificial landslide.The Japanese army couldn't stay on the hills and had to give up, but as soon as the marines landed, Matsuda immediately realized the importance of the "target highland", so he wanted to reoccupy it.

The Seventh Marine Regiment rushed so fast that the "target high ground" was already within their grasp before the sent Japanese troops touched the edge of the hill. The "target high ground" was the predetermined perimeter defense line, and the Seventh Marine Regiment immediately changed from offensive to purely defensive, and the task of capturing the airport was transferred to the first Marine Regiment, the main force in the Battle of Hellpoint on Guadalcanal Island. The 2nd Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment was Lecky's unit, but the 2nd Battalion did not participate in the frontal attack. This battalion went to perform another special mission. The remaining 1st and 3rd Battalions crossed the beachhead defense line and continued to advance westward.

It was here that the real resistance of the Japanese army began, and a fairly strong road blocking stronghold appeared in front of them, and they fired at the marines.The Marines were caught off guard and killed two lieutenants within two seconds. The number of casualties is getting bigger and bigger, and the US military has almost no room for maneuver at all. Due to the thick jungle, flamethrowers are not easy to use.At this time, a crawler landing vehicle transporting ammunition arrived at the scene, and it took on the role of a tank, firing machine guns and mortars, while rushing towards the Japanese military fortifications.

There are too many unpredictable and complicated situations in the jungle warfare. The landing vehicle did not hit the Japanese fortifications, but was caught between two big trees.Japanese soldiers hiding in the jungle jumped onto the vehicle and killed the two gunners inside, although the driver survived and managed to reverse the vehicle. One of the deceased and the driver of the landing vehicle were twin brothers, the son of a widow.The widow had three sons, the eldest of whom was martyred.After finding out, Major General Rupertas, the commander of the First Marine Division, immediately ordered the driver to be sent back to the United States, and declared that no matter how long the war lasted, the driver would not be recruited to the battlefield again.

Rupertas was prescient.In his "smart combat", MacArthur had planned to copy "Operation Coin" and capture Gloucester Point Airport by paratroopers landing, but Rupertas believed that MacArthur underestimated the Japanese army's defense capabilities in jungle warfare, so he crossed the Kruger, directly asked for changes to the plan. Fortunately, his boss is MacArthur, a man who is equally bullish and encourages his subordinates to be more bullish than him. Otherwise, Rupertas is very likely to be punished instead of admonishing him. After all, in the army sequence that emphasizes discipline, leapfrogging It is very taboo.At the last moment of the countdown to the landing, MacArthur followed Rupertas' suggestion and canceled the plan for the paratroopers to land.

The obstacles encountered by the Marine Regiment proved that the Japanese army was not unprepared to protect the airport. If they continued to apply the paratrooper attack mode, not only would it be difficult to succeed, but they might also suffer greater losses.