afterglow

Chapter 485: Hold the altar; I’ll go and learn more

Xiong Zhuguo was a well-known destroyer formation commander in the Ming Dynasty Navy. He Biao, the captain of the Tianshi Youyuan, was well aware of his violent temper and was afraid that Xiong Zhuguo and Zhou would have a dispute and damage the harmony.

How can an impatient middle-aged general and a newly promoted young general start internal strife before the battle is over?

According to common sense, the fleet must be fully responsible for the fleet's chief military officer. But Zhou's other identity is here, and if he interferes, it will be troublesome, and no one will be able to step down.

Normally, it doesn't matter if we give him three points of face, but here is a battlefield where the outcome is undecided. If we give him face, will the enemy give it to us?

Seven Type 36 torpedoes landed slowly, and the aircraft carrier ground crews swarmed over them, unloaded the torpedoes and then remounted the aerial bombs.

"What's going on? Why did that fleet of planes fly back?"

"When I get back to the commander-in-chief, I don't know. I'm asking Tianyou."

Discovering that Tianshi Youyuanhao dared to talk to himself, Xiong Zhuguo was so angry that he dropped his cup on the spot and splashed tea all over the floor.

"He He Biao is very courageous. He talks about himself and goes against the grain? Someone, fire him from his post and the captain will take over immediately."

Later, on the bridge of the Tianshi Youyuan, several officers talked around Captain He Biao, looking very helpless in their words.

After paying attention to the matters needing attention, He Biao handed the fish charm representing the command authority of the battleship to the deputy captain.

Especially for this kind of wooden deck aircraft carrier, it is likely that it will be unable to take off and land aircraft after being injured.

"Weird, why haven't we seen the Pensacola-class ship?"

After the torpedo planes returned first, there were 11 5-type ship bombers and -type ship-driven aircraft in the attack formation.

You've come here, but you can't just take one look and leave empty-handed.

The latter took it and raised his hand to caress his chest.

The former still insisted on asking the aircraft carrier to take advantage of the situation and beat up the TF-27 fleet that was retreating in a hurry.

"Did any of you see it?"

At 9:37 that day, the second wave of aircraft from the Tianshi Youyuan discovered the TF-27 fleet that was sailing south at high speed.

If it fails to be captured, then the only option is to attack the airport directly. We cannot let this dangerous thing always be in the hands of the Americans.

"What do you think? The triple artillery, that's the New Orleans class."

After the discussion, Zhou Changfeng, who had no other choice, decided to launch a strong attack on Aideson Highlands as soon as possible.

"That's okay, right? This island is covered in jungles, and there's miasma everywhere. If we retreat into the jungle... I'm afraid we'll be defeated without fighting in a few months."

The pilots were surprised to find that the Salt Lake City was no longer in the fleet, and the only heavy cruiser was the Quincy.

Xiong Zhuguo felt baffled by the reason he gave, "You can rush across the Longa River in one assault, right? Can't we just knock down the airport and be done with it?"

"Isn't that the big one in front?"

What Zhou Changfeng is worried about is the safety of the Tianshi Youyuan. The land airport was damaged by the bombing and can be repaired quickly with bulldozers, but the aircraft carrier cannot.

"But you have also seen the current situation. When the artillery fire interference is stopped, the US military can almost resume the operation of the airport in only four to five hours. If the artillery fire is sparse, they will still dare to risk taking off."

"It is indeed possible, but the high ground south of the airport has not been captured yet. If we attack the airport directly, the US military can calmly retreat to the southeast."

He Biao, who hit the gun, was dismissed and detained, but this also gave Xiong Zhuguo and Zhou Changfeng room to ease their differences.

He explained again: "This is the only fleet left in this place. We have already sunk one. If we can kill the injured one again, this place is not a vast sea. You can do whatever you want with the leap of fish." ?Brother Zhou, do you think so?"

"As expected, the peacemaker is the most disliked." He Biao, who couldn't laugh or cry, glanced out the window with his hands on his hips, "Forget it, just treat it as a vacation."

The aircraft fleet quickly found a suitable opportunity to cut in and launched a fierce air attack on this fleet without air cover.

As the U.S. fleet's large-caliber anti-aircraft guns fired into the air, clouds of black smoke soon appeared in the sky.

However, the obstruction encountered by the Ming army's dive bombers was actually very slight. They all flew over the target and dived and attacked the Quincy one after another.

The Quincy, trying its best to evade, turned left and right, leaving an S-shaped track. The blue and calm sea was also broken by the towering water column exploded by the aerial bomb.

In a total of half an hour, the Quincy received three direct hits and four near-misses.

The medium and short-range anti-aircraft firepower composed of 28mm anti-aircraft guns and 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine guns was as strong as ever, and only damaged two Type warships.

As an excellent treaty-type heavy cruiser, the New Orleans class has good protection capabilities. The deck armor is 63.5mm thick, which cannot be penetrated by 250kg semi-armor-piercing aerial bombs.

The Landsdale, which was damaged by friendly fire during the naval battle, was also more conspicuous and was also attacked by a Ming army aircraft group.

However, only one Type 50 bomber dropped bombs on her. The rest were fighter jets swooping and strafing at her, dropping several kg light aerial bombs.

The 250kg aerial bomb dropped by the Type ship landed less than meters to the left of the Landsdale. The underwater shock wave opened many holes at the waterline that had been repaired and filled, and some Large pieces of high-speed fragments opened new holes.

The Ming army's air attack worsened the situation of this unlucky destroyer. The seawater that poured into the interior of the ship spread and the engines stopped spinning.

At that time, the Drayton, the culprit of the bombardment of friendly ships, went to the rescue, and a steel cable was attached to it to tow it forward.

However, the situation in Landsdale has not improved yet. The drainage speed of the water pump cannot keep up with the speed of water inflow. The slope reached a dangerous level after an hour, and it may capsize at any time.

After a towed voyage of nearly 40 kilometers, the Drayton was ordered to cut the steel cable. After transferring all the crew of the Landsdale, it aimed at its waterline and fired continuously.

At 3:24 on March 12, the unlucky Solomon was sunk by the McCall, which originally accidentally attacked her. There was another ship on the dark bottom of the Coral Sea.

The strait between Tulagi and Guadalcanal was historically known as the Iron Bottom Strait because of the many fierce naval battles that broke out here and caused a large number of transport ships, warships, and aircraft to sink here.

Now, in the naval battle that just ended, neither side took advantage, and it is difficult to draw a conclusion about who will win.

The Ming Navy lost the light cruiser Asujiang, an ammunition supply ship, and a submarine hunter. The destroyer Chunhua that initially encountered the TF-27 task force was riddled with holes, but it turned out to be a miracle. As if it didn't sink.

The coalition lost the heavy cruiser Australia and the destroyer Landsdale, and in the end gave up the plan to occupy the strait to support the ground forces, and could only retreat in a hurry.

Judging from the losses, the coalition forces were losers, but the Americans did not see it that way. Looking at the series of battles since the outbreak of the war, only this one can be regarded as a relative success.

The battle report sent back by Brigadier General Richmond Turner stated that 2 cruisers and 2 destroyers of the Ming Army were sunk, and 1 battlecruiser was severely damaged.

The Pacific Fleet Command in Pearl Harbor immediately forwarded the telegram, and after discussion, Washington decided to add a little water to it to boost the morale of the military and civilians.

Under the direction of the government, various newspapers and radio broadcasters began to publicize the victory of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The New York Times used its front-page headline to report the news that a task force composed of the US, Australia and the Netherlands had severely damaged the Ming army with a brave surprise attack in a night battle. The capital "VICTORY" on the cover was very eye-catching.

Brigadier General Richmond Turner thus became the focus of media exaggeration and was elevated to a pedestal in a very short period of time.

All newspapers rushed to the door of the Admiralty, scrambling for Richmond's portrait, and finally got into a fight in public.

Soon, large photos of Richmond frequently appeared on the front pages of major newspapers, and the president immediately wrote a letter informing the Navy Department of his request for promotion.

"In view of the fact that Commodore Richmond Kelly-Turner has devoted himself to his duties, bravely and successfully led the fleet to repel the enemy fleet and inspired the confidence of all citizens, I believe that timely promotion is necessary."

Naturally, the Navy Department agreed with both hands. For them, this was a great thing to wash away the previous bad scandals in the Naval Ordnance Bureau; there was also a rare lack of opposition in the Senate.

So the promotion order was issued immediately, and at this time the TF-27 task force had just docked in New Caledonia.

While the naval battle was ongoing, Xie Wancheng, who was ordered by Zhou Changfeng, led the brigade engineer battalion and chemical defense team to reinforce the 1st Marine Regiment south of Edson Highlands.

They marched along the route that the 1st Marine Regiment had traveled days before, further widening the narrow and bumpy trail.

The straight-line distance of this road is only eleven kilometers, but because it is winding and up and down, it is actually as long as twenty kilometers, and it passes through many streams and mountains, and most of the time it has to travel through dense jungle.

Engineers used chainsaws to cut down lush and towering trees, and used machetes and axes to chop vines as thick as a baby's arm.

The fallen trees were dragged to the stream by power trolleys, or they were erected and then lowered on the edge of the ravine more than ten meters wide to make a simple bridge. The waste was then used to make the handrails of the bridge from the chopped vines. .

I don’t know who was the first to say it, but this winding road soon got a name that spread - Centipede Trail.

However, the attack launched by the Ming army the next day still ended in failure.

The 92st Marine Regiment was almost unable to move forward in its offensive on both wings. It cost more than casualties but only captured a platoon-level position in the southeast of Highland . The advancement distance on the entire front was almost zero.

After receiving the news that "the attack on the headquarters was not going smoothly", Zhou Changfeng was deeply surprised and decided to go there personally to direct the battle.

"Don't move here for the time being. You have full responsibility." He handed over the command to Zhao Hanfeng, then tugged on his collar, pulled out his pistol and looked at it, "I'll go and see for myself."

Zhou Changfeng brought two teams from the field supplementary battalion and one team from the air defense battalion, a total of more than 400 people, and also carried as much ammunition as possible.

In addition to the standard equipment, each soldier also carries two days' worth of field rations and some ammunition. Some have a mortar shell, some have two heavy machine gun ammunition chains, and some have an anti-aircraft gun magazine.

All the dozens of idle power trolleys were brought in, and they were filled with various supplies.

The heavy load made the soldiers panting like cattle, and the centipede paths were full of deep footprints.

When encountering a ridge or a drop, everyone can only unload the supplies on the cart first, move it up manually, and then use force, pull or carry to transport the cart itself.

At dusk, the weather suddenly changed, and the sky suddenly became dark, with thunder and lightning and heavy rain.

The soldiers put on ponchos and picked up banana leaves as big as umbrellas to protect themselves from the rain, but to no avail. From the recruits to Zhou, everyone got wet.

The nights between the mountains were wet and cold, and it was extremely difficult to light a fire with basically soaked firewood. It would take a long time to start a fire by pouring gasoline on it before it would spontaneously ignite.

After a difficult march, the exhausted Second Support Army finally reunited with the group here on the afternoon of March 3.

I saw more than a dozen large tents set up in the temporarily opened open space. Here was a temporary field hospital set up by the regiment. The ground was stained with dark red blood.

Military doctors and nurses were rushing back and forth, and the floor was littered with straps and unsealed medicine packages. Seriously injured people can live in large tents, but lightly injured people can only stay under simple awnings.

"Replenishment battalions are added to each team."

"Yes."

Later, Zhou Changfeng saw the officers in the headquarters who were in a depressed atmosphere and looked gloomy.

Xie Wancheng, who had confidently promised to capture this high ground the day before yesterday, was ashamed and said that he would personally lead the team to attack again and would not come back if they could not break through.

This situation made Zhou Changfeng even more puzzled. He put his saber at the command post, put on his helmet and went to the forward observation post in person.

What comes into view are undulating hills, lush shrubs and grass, criss-crossing trenches, and corpses scattered everywhere...

What he didn't know was that this place was known as "Blood Ridge" in military history. In history, the Second Division launched a strong attack on this place and ended in a disastrous defeat.

During the bloody battle for five days and nights, the U.S. military killed 86 people and injured 192 people, killing and wounding at least 2200 Japanese soldiers, which shows how dangerous it was.

A captain and staff officer said mournfully: "Jin Zuo, you can reach the top of the mountain only once every three times, and you will be beaten back by the counterattack immediately..."

Xue Can, expressionless, handed several pieces of paper with combat plans written on them to Zhou Changfeng, "Jun Zuo, this is the plan for the next round of attack. Please take a look."

Stop spreading your forces to attack both flanks of Edson Heights at the same time, and instead concentrate your forces on one side.

An attack will be carried out in three directions on the west side, namely west, southwest and south. A total of five infantry teams and two engineering teams will be deployed. The chemical defense team will be split up and assigned to each team to strengthen their attack capabilities...

Zhou Changfeng had no objection to this tactical strategy, and it would be almost the same if he were to arrange it.

So what can be done? I can only continue to fight.

"咻咻咻狠——"

Mortar shells and rockets continued to fall on the US military positions, and the rumbles and piercing screams of artillery echoed among the mountains.

Until the moment before the Ming army launched its attack, the U.S. Marines guarding their respective positions were still scooping water out of the trenches with steel helmets and water bottles. The muddy water accumulated in the heavy rain reached their calves, and it took them a night to scoop it up to ankle depth.

"call out--"

Red flares shot up into the sky. No one could remember how many flares had been raised in the past few days.

"Ta-da-ta-da-da-"

Under the cover and support of heavy machine guns and recoilless rifles, countless Ming Army infantrymen climbed up from the muddy water and rushed towards the US military position from the impact starting position...

【Picture】

(End of this chapter)