Chapter 258: More people are not necessarily better
Although Kojiro knew that he would be hated by all Japan from the first day he decided to rebel, it was not until this night that he clearly realized that he was in the base camp. A special place in my heart.
In order to eliminate their so-called "unit", the Japanese army took squadrons as units and rushed towards the barbed wire guarded by machine guns in the dark night without any regard for their lives. These people had no weapons except grenades and light mortars. Any support weapon requires human life at almost every step.
This crazy tactics put a lot of pressure on Kojiro's soldiers. Finally, half an hour after the battle started, deserters appeared on the position - a machine gunner suffered a nervous breakdown in the face of the tide of Japanese troops and became hysterical. He dropped his weapon and ran away.
Bang! ! ! ! In desperation, Iikuni Kojiro took out his pistol and shot the deserters to death on the spot. He finally managed to stop the soldiers from disintegrating. However, judging from the current situation, the morale of his team made up of surrenders was already at the critical point of collapse. .
"You can't run! If you run away, you will lose everything you have gained now, and you will become that little guy who no one cares about, a little character who no one cares about life and death!" Kojiro warned himself.
Grinning his teeth, he shouted hysterically, "Pull all the reserves up! Prepare to mount bayonets! Fight the other side!"
More than thirty people were pushed from the rear of the battlefield. In the front, these are the latest soldiers that Kojiro has "transformed" from the prisoners. He didn't dare to pull them up because the time was too short, but now he can no longer care about so many.
Dong dong dong dong! ! ! ! !
As the M101 howitzer once again covered the passage, another organized Japanese army fell on the charging road, while the New Japan Founding Army fought with bayonets for the second time with the few Japanese troops that broke in.
After all the Japanese troops were wiped out again, there were more than a dozen casualties on Kojiro's side, half of which were shot dead by his own people because they were deserters.
Artillery and gunfire rang out for half the night, and the US military's flares also fired all night. When the white fish belly appeared on the sky, the Japanese army began to retreat.
In the night battle, the Kawaguchi detachment suffered a total of 1,400 casualties, which was almost double the losses of the Japanese army in the original history.
The losses of the US military were caused during the chaos at the beginning of the encounter, totaling 32 people. However, during the pursuit, the armored commander went too deep, and the M3 light tank company broke away from the infantry cover and was The Japanese's hidden anti-tank guns destroyed four vehicles.
Watanabe, who had become a police chief after World War II, once recalled the scene in his diary:
At daybreak, the highlands where the desperate struggle was fought returned to its former peace. Enemy corpses were scattered everywhere on the roads deformed by shells, and red plasma and other colored body fluids were randomly smeared on the rocks.
Including Chief of Staff Iikuni, none of us could make even a little sound because the roaring all night destroyed everyone's throats.
Only the little bird seemed unaware of the fierce battle last night, still standing on the branch and chirping loudly...
——
A statistical report was placed on the table superior.
"Everyone, the shelling effect last night was good. At least three battalions were left behind, and we have almost judged the opponent's firepower configuration." Major General Vandergrift walked up to the officials of the First Division and said.
He Chi sat next to Edson and whispered to him, "Your commander doesn't seem to be very happy. I bet the following is definitely bad news."
"No, I don't bet. My allowance has been lost to you."
"Okay, this is basically all bad news." The major general put the battle report aside and then picked up a few other pieces of paper.
He Chi on the side gave Edson a "you're lucky" look.
"First of all, the Japanese have increased their troops. According to the Japanese telegrams we deciphered, about 12,000 people from the 38th Division have confirmed to support the Solomon battlefield and are basically going to face us face to face." The major general began his opening remarks, and then added " What's even worse is that according to the intelligence report, the Japanese troops who landed on the island this time were not a light force. The infantry is equipped with specialized tank units and heavy artillery of more than 100 mm. "
The expressions on the faces of the US military officers participating in the discussion were not very good. Although they won last night, the Japanese army did not win. The crazy energy also brought a lot of shock to all the US military.
Everyone's scalp went numb when they thought of more than 20,000 such soldiers charging towards them, not to mention that the other side had heavy artillery and tanks this time, so our side might not have the upper hand in terms of firepower.
In the whole room, only He Chi's expression remained unchanged, and even his expression was slightly amused.
"He, what are you thinking about?" Major General Vandergrift looked at the Oriental people around him who always had fantastic ideas.
"I'm wondering, is the increase in Japanese troops really bad news?" He Chi said something that made everyone else confused.
"Brother, are you okay? You're not sick because you were too nervous during the recent battle, are you?" Edson, who was standing close to him, looked over, as if he wanted to confirm whether He Chi was normal.
He Chi ignored the strange looks from others and looked at Lieutenant Colonel Mason Calvin, who was in charge of logistics.
"Mason, what are we having for lunch?"
Faced with this question with a huge jump, the lieutenant colonel was stunned for a moment before answering, "Pasta with tomato sauce, canned corn salad."
"Damn, I hate canned corn salad." Colonel Dessen muttered something in a low voice, but He Chi overheard him.
"Mason, the colonel hates canned corn salad, can you give him two servings of pasta?" He Chi asked the logistics officer of the army.
"Sorry, everyone's caloric intake is fixed. This is a rule set from the beginning, and Mr. Major General is no exception." Lieutenant Colonel Mason put on a poker face and took out his business-related attitude.
"That's what I said" He Chi stood up "Our number is just over 10,000. At the same time, there are airports and irregular transport ships from Australia to provide supplies. Even so, our supplies cannot be called Wealth requires a rationed diet, so how much do more than 20,000 Japanese people need? ”
"Everyone, our menu today seems a bit thin, so I brought something for everyone to try." He Chi packed a little something in a can and distributed it to everyone present.
Is it a fish? Some people saw what was in the box, broke off some pieces of meat and stuffed it into their mouths.
"Oh my god! What is this?!" Several people then vomited out everything they had just eaten.
These fish meat is fishy and woody, not only has a bad taste, but also has many tiny fish bones.
"Isn't it delicious? This is a fish from the nearby sea. Although there are many of them, because of its poor taste, even the natives would not eat it." He Chi picked up a three-inch long fish. The little fish was thrown back into the box, "But they are the main course of the Japanese army on the beach. Do you know what this means?"
"This shows that even if it supplies 5,000 people, the Japanese army's supplies are very tight, and their supplies are already on the critical line!"
(End of this chapter)