My own war game

Chapter 243: Battle of Savo Island

Early morning of August 8, Guadalcanal.

Rest is also a big issue now.

Because Guadalcanal was very hot and humid at this season and there were very limited buildings left by the Japanese army, the soldiers could only hastily set up tents and cover them with rainproof tarpaulins as barracks.

In this kind of open space living environment, mosquitoes are inevitable. Fortunately, the native guides found a kind of unnamed leaves for the soldiers to cover themselves with. Although the smell is a bit strange, mosquitoes basically stay away.

In the humid, salty and sultry sea breeze, the soldiers of the 1st Marine Division who landed on the island barely managed to fall asleep.

Major General Vandergrift began to patrol the camp accompanied by his guards, a habit he had developed long ago.

Suddenly, a figure moved at the edge of the camp.

"Who's there!" the sentry shouted, followed by the sound of a Thompson submachine gun being raised.

As a result, the other party shouted the command for night, and several flashlights lit up at the same time. The major general then realized that He Chi and several soldiers were sorting supplies.

Since yesterday, this Oriental man has been filling his warehouse like a hamster. Except for the lack of heavy weapons, the house allocated to him is almost full of miscellaneous things.

"Sir, aren't you going to take a rest? These things can be done during the day." After the major general said this, he picked up something on the ground and found that they were actually metal buckets of unknown function.

"This is a habit of us Chinese. When we have nothing to do, we always want to prepare more things. We call it preparing for war and famine." He Chi explained casually without putting down the work in his hands.

"Okay, then before twelve o'clock..."

brush!!!!!
Three flares suddenly rose in the distant sky. In the dazzling light, the shadow of a steel ship appeared in the distant horizon.

1、2、3、4、5…至少有五艘大型舰船，而后面似乎还有。

It’s the Japanese surprise attack fleet!

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hundreds of shipborne artillery suddenly opened fire, and large torches immediately lit up on the sea - those were American warships that were hit in the first wave of attacks.

"Vincennes! That's the Vincennes!" A soldier pointed at the biggest fireball on the sea in horror. That was the largest surface ship of the US military here, and it had obviously completely lost its combat capability.

The Quincy, Astoria, Canberra... the figures on fire were recognized one by one. The Japanese night raid fleet stabbed into the center of the US fleet like a dagger. The escort fleet was caught off guard and suffered heavy losses, and further ahead were transport ships carrying various supplies.

At this point they have no resistance at all!

"Where are our artillery?!" Major General Vandergrift shouted to the back.

"General, the artillery has not been transported yet. We only have 75mm infantry support guns and 101 howitzers are still on the ship." An adjutant wiped his face and reported.

"Damn it! It has to be at this time..." Waves of powerlessness surged into his heart. The infantry support artillery was simply unable to threaten the Japanese troops at sea. The major general kicked up a handful of sand in annoyance.

With a piercing sound, the splashing sand hit the metal casing. The major general then discovered that He Chi was directing the Japanese surrendered soldiers who had climbed up to carry large gasoline barrels to the beach.

"What are they doing?" The major general didn't understand what these people in front of him were doing.
"Let's give them a try and see if it has any effect." He Chi said something incomprehensible, then ran away carrying a gasoline barrel.

The major general followed and found that He Chi was arranging soldiers to poke the iron barrels into the ground.

A simple bracket and a gasoline barrel that seemed to have undergone some simple modification, the two things combined together looked like an oversized mortar. "Test fire! Change to smaller ammunition bags! Reduce the weight and make them fly as far as possible!" Torches were lit all around, and He Chi shouted to the soldiers to take out large objects one by one, as if preparing to load them.

Then a Japanese surrendered soldier trotted over and said to Major General Vandergrift in stiff English, "Sir, please stand further away and cover your ears."

Major General Vandergrift did as he was told subconsciously.

Boom!!! ...
The major general felt as if his heart was hit hard by something.

boom! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Along with huge flames, a huge column of water rose from the sea more than 300 meters away, and water splashed everywhere. Something flew over and landed on the major general's head. He reached out and pulled it and found it was a long water plant.

"What the hell is this?! Is it so powerful?!" At this time, Major General Vandergrift already understood what He Chi meant by "scare them".

Although the distance is too close to really hurt the opponent, the sound does feel like a heavy artillery fire.

So the major general pressed He Chi's shoulder and shouted, "Do you still have this thing?!"

At the same time, on the heavy cruiser Toriumi, the flagship of the Japanese surprise attack fleet, commander Lieutenant General Gunichi Mikawa looked at the American cruiser on fire opposite and nodded with satisfaction.

"Sir, the American troops have suffered heavy losses. Should we break in and expand our victory?" the adjutant asked with his head down.

Seeing the American warships burning in front of him, Mikawa Gunichi felt a little hesitant.

The raid was very effective, but the U.S. military may not be without the ability to fight. If they continue to rush forward to expand the victory, although they can inflict greater damage to the enemy, the narrow waterway will also limit the maneuverability of their own fleet. Once entangled, the three old cruisers may not be able to get rid of it, and their side may face the risk of casualties.

Should we keep going forward or quit while we are ahead? This question is now on the table.

BOOM!!!! BOOM!!!! BOOM!!!! BOOM!!!! BOOM!!!!
Just as Sanchuan's army was hesitating, loud noises suddenly came from the sky, and high columns of water could be seen in the distance.

"What is this?!" Sanchuan raised the telescope in his hand, but the firelight was not clear in the night.

"Sir, it seems to be the sound of some heavy artillery, but the enemy does not seem to have adjusted well, and the impact point is far away from us." The adjutant was also looking at the side of the ship.

"Soga~" The Sanchuan Army thought for a moment. It was already a big risk to fight in a narrow waterway at night. If the enemy had coastal defense artillery reinforcements...

"Tenryu and Yubari turn around to cover the flanks! Aoba and Furutaka lead the charge, Toriumi takes the rear, and the entire army returns!"

On August 1942, 8, a Japanese commando team consisting of five heavy cruisers and three old cruisers attacked the U.S. landing fleet near Guadalcanal under the cover of night.

Before the battle, Gunichi Mikawa sent a message to all the warships: "All personnel should carry forward the Empire's tradition of winning night battles, remain calm, and perform their duties conscientiously!"

That night, the US escort fleet was attacked by torpedoes and heavy artillery, suffering heavy losses. Four large surface ships were sunk or seriously damaged, and the escorting destroyers also suffered varying degrees of losses, losing the ability to protect the surface transport fleet.

However, due to certain uncertain factors, in order to preserve the insufficient fleet at hand, Gunichi Mikawa chose to play it safe and ordered a retreat midway. He did not pursue the US transport fleet that had not yet completed unloading, giving the 1st Marine Division a final 10 hours to unload.

This also caused Gunichi Mikawa, whose original goal in the Battle of Savo Island was to destroy more transport ships, to hand in a biased essay in front of his superior Yamamoto.

(End of this chapter)