Guadalcanal has a tropical climate, and it goes without saying that the weather is very hot. At night, various mosquitoes are rampant. Many soldiers were even bitten by mosquitoes and developed high fevers, and had to be admitted to the field hospital, causing the soldiers to complain endlessly.
"Snapped!"
With a crisp sound, Gao Hongming opened his right hand. On his palm, a word about the size of a peanut was sternly printed in the center of the palm, with a blood mark around it.
Gao Hongming spread out his palms and said to Chi Yaohui: "Tsk, tsk, if there are more than ten of these, they will be enough for cooking."
"Who says it's not the case?" Chi Yaohui said helplessly: "When we first arrived, our soldiers were very uncomfortable with it, and some soldiers were even admitted to the hospital due to the stings.
Later, the doctor from the health team unexpectedly got mugwort for the brothers and lit it around the camp, which made things better, otherwise we would have suffered a lot."
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore."
Gao Hongming waved his hand, "Let's discuss the attack on Turululu Island the day after tomorrow. We will dispatch three battalions the day after tomorrow to cooperate with the 8th Marine Regiment to launch a full-scale attack on Turululu Mountain.
According to the results of our discussion with Spruance, we will attack from the east and the Eighth Marine Regiment from the south at the same time. It is necessary to create a gap in Turululu Mountain.
The biggest problem now is that the terrain to the east is the most dangerous. It is not only difficult to launch an upward attack from the east, but it is also easy to be blocked by the Japanese army from a high position. This is a severe challenge for our troops.
"
"Indeed."
Chi Yaohui touched his chin, took out a box of Good Luck cigarettes from his pocket, handed one to Gao Hongming, lit it, pointed at the map and said: "Tuanzuo, I think the dangerous terrain also has its advantages. At least the Japanese
There will definitely be fewer troops in the east than in the south."
Gao Hong understood him and said: "Nonsense, it would be a waste to put too much."
"Okay, no more joking."
Chi Yaohui chuckled, "But don't worry, although the little devil occupies the advantageous location, it is not for nothing. Didn't General Spruance agree to let the cruiser Naples and destroyer Goodman attack us tomorrow?
Provide support?
The total number of naval guns on these two warships is dozens. As long as the bombardment lasts for half an hour, at least half of the defenses on the east side can be destroyed. Then it will be much easier for us to attack again.
Even if things go badly, we still have two squadrons of aircraft. After the naval guns are blown up, and we let them carry incendiary bombs and do a general cleaning, I don't believe the little devil's fortifications can still be of much use."
At the end, Chi Yaohui couldn't help but look at Gao Hongming, with admiration shining in his eyes.
It must be his own boss, who managed to get rid of the commander of the 2nd Marine Division on the first day he arrived, and also made the Americans who originally looked down on them pinch their noses and send two warships to cooperate with them in the battle.
If he had done this before, he wouldn't have dared to think about it. He would be grateful that the Americans could allow the warships to provide them with artillery support for ten or twenty minutes, unlike now that they are specially assigned to command them.
"Well, that's right, we..."
"Woooooooo..."
Before Gao Hongming finished speaking, he heard a sound like an old cow panting in the air... No... this sound was like the sound of a train whistle.
The two looked at each other, and both saw in each other's eyes that the other's expression had changed, because they knew that only one kind of artillery could make such a sound, and that was the super heavy artillery.
But before the two of them could react, there was a deafening explosion in the distance, and then a strong shock came from the ground, shaking the coffee on the ammunition box to the ground.
"not good!"
Gao Hongming was the first to rush out of the tent and looked toward the west where the explosion came from. He saw an orange-red light flashing in the direction of Henderson Airport dozens of miles away, and then a burst of fire shot straight into the sky.
"No...that's the direction of the airport, our plane!"
Gao Hongming was shocked. He must know that Henderson Airport is where all the Allied road-based aircraft are parked, and even the fighter planes of the two squadrons of the dispatch group are also there. Once something happens to Henderson Airport, the consequences will be disastrous.
"Boom...boom..."
Accompanied by bursts of violent explosions, high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs landed at Henderson Airport one after another.
Debris from the explosions of incendiary and demolition bombs covered the entire airport and created a storm of fire.
Looking at the thick smoke rising, Gao Hongming felt a chill in his heart.
Chi Yaohui was not idle either. He quickly ran into the tent and contacted the Fifth Fleet headquarters through the radio.
It took a while before he came to report: "Regiment, the Fifth Fleet reported that a Japanese fleet conducted a surprise attack on Guadalcanal under the cover of night. Now it is the Japanese battlecruiser King Kong that is shelling Henderson Airport.
.”
"Battlecruiser? King Kong?"
Gao Hongming came back to his senses and wondered why the naval gun of this thing is so powerful. We are more than twenty miles away from Henderson Airport. It can make us tremble even at such a distance.
Chi Yaohui said bitterly: "Regiment leader, the caliber of King Kong's main gun is 356 mm, and the crater can even be as big as a fish pond after one shot."
Gao Hongming asked impatiently: "What about our plane?"
Chi Yaohui shook his head feebly: "Now we have no choice but to let them wish for themselves."
Gao Hongming turned his head and looked at the airport with flames in the distance. At this moment, he felt so powerless and urgently realized how important it was to have a strong navy.
The bombardment lasted until early in the morning and all American fighter planes parked at the airport suffered damage.
During the bombardment, everyone had no power to rescue the fighter planes, and could only watch as the planes were blown into scraps by the Japanese.
Subsequently, the damage to the airport was quickly reported back.
Although the U.S. military lost no pilots in this bombing, more than half of the aircraft they had managed to accumulate were destroyed by the Japanese, leaving less than thirty fighter planes available to carry out missions.
The situation of dispatching the general team is more intriguing.
Because except for the loss of one Panda fighter plane in the entire dispatch group, all other fighters and pilots were safe and sound.
After the news came, both the US military and the dispatch team were in an uproar. Even Spruance personally called to inquire about the matter, and even several officers came over immediately the next day to investigate the cause.
The results came out quickly, but the Americans who saw the results collectively lost their voices.
The reason is very simple. The reason why the aircraft of the Dispatch Corps suffered so little loss is because the Americans, who are used to ostracizing Chinese people, assigned the squadron of the Dispatch Corps to the northeast corner of Henderson Airport, which is the most remote and has the worst runways and facilities.
.
This also resulted in them suffering almost no losses when the Japanese bombarded them.
After the investigation results came out, Americans all looked at each other and didn't even know what to say.