afterglow

Chapter 458 Guadalcanal! Please ask Zhou Daizhao to answer the phone immediately

Because we are far away in a strange foreign country, there are many uncertainties, so we are destined to rely on improvisation.

The Special Crop Research and Development Association only gave rough instructions, suggesting that they go to Xinkolobwe through formal channels under the guise of purchasing radium ore and clean up all the useless waste ore in the local stockpile.

Useless waste ore? These rich uranium ores are clearly a godsend!

The Ming Dynasty is secretly planning to buy back a large amount of uranium ore without anyone noticing. The Americans on the other side of the Pacific are also quietly planning an expedition that can reverse the passive situation.

After getting the president's permission, General Hasband-Kimmel and his staff worked tirelessly to plan the entire operation.

But... the well-connected Marshal Mai also learned the news.

Although he is currently sitting in Brisbane commanding the US-Australian coalition forces to resist the Ming army's attack on Cairns, he is still distracted by this bold action.

He stated that this operation was not sufficient and that a direct raid on Rabaul on the island of New Britain should be carried out to directly gain strategic advantage.

Then he made a condition, saying that if an amphibious-trained infantry division and a task force could be provided, the goal could be achieved in two to three weeks and Rabaul could be recaptured from Akito.

But this can be said to be unrealistic. The maritime transportation capacity in the Southwest Pacific theater is not sufficient.

Under the most ideal situation, the logistics supply for 10,000 people can be guaranteed, but considering the losses that will inevitably occur in actual combat, I am afraid that only 3,000 people can be guaranteed.

Admiral Hasband was quite dissatisfied with Marshal Mai's remarks. He felt that the latter had been coveting the command of the army and navy in the Pacific Theater.

However, Army Chief of Staff George Marshall was very interested in Marshal Mai's proposal. He believed that it was indeed feasible and that the command could be placed in the hands of the Army.

However, Hasband sternly rejected this fantasy and bluntly said that it was "stupid and irresponsible". This led to some tension in the relationship between the army and the navy.

So the final battle plan returned to what it was at the beginning—sending an expeditionary force composed of Marines to quietly occupy Guadalcanal and build an airport there.

There was no opportunity for the Army to appear in the entire operation?

George Marshall was unhappy with this and demanded that at least one of the Army's regimental combat teams be involved.

However, Hasband refused on the grounds that "the Marine Corps is more skilled in amphibious operations."

The two sides were at loggerheads over this issue. The Army and Navy argued fiercely for a week and sent memorandums more than 20 times.

An impatient Hasband eventually refused to continue the argument, stating that even the Navy and Marine Corps alone could accomplish the mission.

This was really disrespectful, and George was very angry, but he still chose to swallow it in order to avoid hurting his harmony.

But Marshal Mai would not hold back. He sent a telegram directly to Washington, criticizing the Navy in explicit terms.

"...It is obvious that the Navy is trying to occupy all the command rights and treats the Army as secondary, but the fact is that the Marine Corps alone cannot defeat the Chinese...According to my experience, this is an attempt by naval careerists to control national defense We must be more vigilant about rights’ plans..."

[This is true. Confrontation between land and sea is not a feature of recruitment. 】

The telegram caused such an uproar that President Franklin had to take the time to personally mediate.

After some tossing, the final plan still did not bypass the Army.

The U.S. 9th Infantry Division has just been deployed to Hawaii to strengthen Oahu's defense capabilities. It plans to mobilize its 39th Infantry Regiment to form a regiment-level combat team.

Subsequently, the 39th Regimental Combat Team came into being, which additionally strengthened the 9th Field Artillery Battalion and Company A of the 26th Combat Engineer Battalion under the 15th Infantry Division, with a total strength of people.

另外美国人也还急匆匆的组建了一个独立的第120坦克营，该营的编制很特殊，由一个中型坦克连和两个轻型坦克连混编而成，共21辆M2中型坦克和36辆M2A4轻型坦克。

However, the 39th Regimental Combat Team is the second echelon, and the first echelon is the 5th Marine Regiment.

The 5th Marine Regiment has a long history and became famous during the battle in the Belleau Forest during the European War.

At that time, the French troops on the flank suggested retreat, but they were rebuffed: "Retreat? Go to hell!"

The 5th Marine Regiment not only held the position but also took the initiative to counterattack, seizing Hill 142 occupied by the Germans. Over the next two weeks, they fought side by side with the 6th Marine Regiment, resisting successive attacks by five German divisions, and almost Fierce hand-to-hand combat breaks out every day.

But the biggest problem now is that although General Hasband claimed that the Marine Corps is more proficient in amphibious operations, the actual situation is not optimistic.

This reflects the price of long-term peace. Even the 5th Marine Regiment has only conducted a few professional landing trainings - this is too expensive.

A landing exercise during this period was so horrific that a naval staff officer described it after returning to Pearl Harbor:

"...The landing craft turned left and right when it was about to dock and couldn't find the landing point. The officers were shouting and arguing loudly. The soldiers didn't know who to listen to or what to do. Many landing crafts collided with each other, and half of them collided with each other. It took half an hour for half of the troops to land, and each company was scattered and chaotic."

But time waits for no one, and there is no time for them to train calmly.

"Tell them we're going to a really bad place soon," Hasband sighed.

Raymond Spruance, who happened to be at the headquarters to receive orders, said half-jokingly: "In Hollywood, poor rehearsals often predict a great performance."

Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher was blamed for the Lexington's capture. He has been dismissed, and the next most capable candidate for fleet commander is Raymond Spruance.

Compared with weapons and training, intelligence is also an important factor in victory.

But the Americans currently lack information on the target area. For the Americans, the situation in Guadalcanal is just a blur, and they don't even have a map at hand.

After a lot of effort, the Navy found a chart of the Solomon Colony printed by the Germans thirty years ago, and then found a dozen old photos taken by missionaries.

The Marines also worked hard to collect intelligence, but their only result was a novel about the Solomon Islands - "Guadalcanal, a Pure Land Full of Original Flavor."

Relying on a novel as intelligence to fight an uncertain battle? This is absolutely ridiculous.

In order to collect valuable and accurate intelligence, when the fleet transporting officers and soldiers of the 5th Marine Regiment was already on its way to New Caledonia, Sergeant Major Eugene of the 5th Marine Regiment flew to Solomon on a B-17 bomber. islands.

He took a series of photos over Guadalcanal, and then flew the plane to Tulagi Island, but was discovered by the local defenders.

The 17th Water Reconnaissance Squadron of the North Korean Navy, which had just arrived here, quickly took off two single-engine seaplanes to intercept. However, the weak firepower could not shake the sturdy B-, but was forced back by its self-defense firepower.

It wasn't until an equally large Ming Army Type 17 four-engine seaplane caught up and fired hundreds of bullets from the self-defense machine gun turret that the B- was damaged.

After returning home, a large number of photos taken by Major Eugene were quickly developed, and the staff took the time to draw detailed topographic maps, finally solving the problem of blindness.

The upcoming expedition is codenamed "Searchlight". The fleet will set off from New Caledonia and head straight to the Solomon Islands, where it will drop the 5th Marine Regiment at a suitable landing point in the north of Guadalcanal.

In addition, the 39th Regimental Combat Team will continue to be on standby in New Caledonia, depending on the situation.

The TF-27 task force is commanded by Brigadier General Richmond Turner. The combat sequence is the heavy cruiser USS Australia, the light cruiser USS Tromp, the heavy cruiser USS Quincy, the heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City, and 9 destroyers.

The fleet will escort the K high-speed transport group to its destination safely. The transport group consists of 12 destroyer transport ships and carries personnel and equipment of the 5th Marine Regiment. The so-called destroyer transport ship (APD) is a high-speed troop carrier converted from an old destroyer from the European War. The naval guns and torpedoes were removed and converted into landing craft hangers. The standard configuration is 200 soldiers and 40 tons of supplies.

【Picture】

In order to contain the entire 5th Marine Regiment, the Americans had to reduce some supplies.

In order to protect this fleet from the Ming Army's aviation force, the US, New Zealand, and Australian aviation units stationed in New Caledonia, Fiji, and Vanuatu have received orders, and more than 400 aircraft are ready to take off for support at any time.

However, because the sea is too vast, the combat radius of most single-engine aircraft does not support long-term stay in the air. In fact, only 37 B-17 bombers and 28 PBY Catalina seaplanes can calmly perform long-range missions.

As the days passed, Operation "Searchlight" began...

The Ming Dynasty was not unaware of it. Radio listening stations everywhere collected the intercepted telegrams to the east.

After working around the clock, the deciphering team deciphered a small part of the words and concluded that the US military would carry out a premeditated landing operation.

However, because the rest of the words cannot be deciphered, and the meaning of some code names is unclear, there is no way to know what the US military's goal is.

"...Can you conclude that (the Americans) did not dispatch an aircraft carrier?" Song Zhongkai asked very seriously.

"No aircraft carrier codenames were found in all the intercepted communications. Enterprise, Yorktown, Saratoga, Raider, none." Yan Yuansong was very sure.

"Okay, go ahead."

"Resigned."

The door was closed with a click, Song Zhongkai stood up and fell into deep thought.

He frowned slightly, his eyes jumping back and forth on the huge wide map.

What exactly are Americans planning? Landing in Santa Cruz? Or Nauru?

It’s impossible to land directly in Rabaul, right? That is simply unrealistic and suicidal!

At 17:37 that afternoon, in the northwest waters of New Caledonia...

The ocean-going submarine No. 9 of the Spring Equinox was cruising here. The submariners discovered that a fleet was sailing westward and immediately sent a message back to the base.

After sunset, she surfaced and pursued at full speed with diesel power. After a night of hard work, she successfully surpassed the target fleet and occupied an ambush position in advance.

At 7:35 the next day, Equinox A-512 fired six mm torpedoes at the selected target heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City.

After discovering the incoming torpedoes, Salt Lake City immediately evaded and successfully avoided these six torpedoes.

The torpedoes continued to sail forward, but some warships in the TF-27 fleet were unaware that the danger was approaching.

Since the fleet maintained strict radio silence, the Salt Lake City could only constantly use light signals to remind it. As a result, the destroyer McDougal realized that the situation was not good and it was already too late.

"Captain! Torpedoes!"

"What?! Left full rudder, left full rudder!"

"Boom!!!"

One of the torpedoes exploded violently, almost cutting the Porter-class destroyer in half.

The destroyer Downs, which witnessed all this, broke away from the fleet and used hydrophones and active sonar to search for the attackers.

After succeeding, Equinox No. 9 immediately dived to the extreme depth and remained silent to avoid pursuit.

The two sides were in a stalemate for half a day, and the Downs chose to give up and speed up to catch up with the TF-27 fleet.

However, the Vernal Equinox A-9 suffered a devastating blow when it was relaxed. A PBY Catalina seaplane discovered the Ming submarine that was floating to charge and breathe, and immediately launched an attack.

At 1:12 on January 17, the ocean-going submarine No. 11 on the Equinox was sunk in the Coral Sea.

Unfortunately, the telegram she sent back previously misled the Fleet Admiral's judgment.

Because the telegram said that the fleet was sailing west, people thought that the target of this fleet might be the T-39 Squadron that was supporting the Cairns landing battle. So they sent a warning and ordered to send out aircraft to track it, but found nothing.

In fact, on January 1, a Type 13 seaplane taking off from Tulagi performed a reconnaissance mission to New Caledonia.

On the way back, a crew member saw the TF-27 fleet looming under the dark clouds. However, the poor weather conditions at the time made him ignore what he saw.

On the evening of January 1, the TF-14 task force and the K high-speed transport group only had 27 kilometers left to sail from Guadalcanal.

"All ships increase their speed. We must pass through the strait at a speed of 21 knots and reach the northern part of (Guadalcanal) before dawn." Commodore Richmond Turner issued the order.

Dozens of warships passed through the strait between Guadalcanal and Makira Island in a long column.

The western sky was dyed blood red by the sunset, and the waves broken by the bow of the ship reflected the glow of the setting sun, crystal clear and brilliant.

4:43 the next day, offshore north of Guadalcanal.

The TF-27 task force arrived as scheduled, and the radio silence was lifted. Suddenly, noisy communications filled the frequency band.

Marines carrying Springfield rifles rolled over and jumped onto the landing craft one after another.

The dark night sky is dotted with twinkling light spots. The starlight coming from millions of light-years away is no different from what we see when we look up at the sky on a farm in the countryside.

"Our mission is to establish a control area and shoot immediately when we find the enemy. Pay attention to your rifles..."

"Detach!"

One by one, the landing craft were lowered by a crane to a height of only a few feet above the sea, and then landed on the water with a "plop".

Two hours later.

The phone's "ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, bell" rang through the hall. Xia Xiaoshi, who was walking quickly, frowned slightly and reached out to pick up the phone.

"Hey?"

"Madam? Please let Zhou Daizhao and Zhou Changfeng answer the phone immediately!"

(End of this chapter)