The battle began at one o'clock that night.

This time is strikingly similar to the time when the Battle of Iron Bottom Bay began......

Of course, this is not that Ichiki Kiyoshi learned from the Mikawa army so much that even the war had to be the same.

The reason why you chose this time...... First, because the enemy was already asleep at this time, in order to let the enemy fall asleep, the Japanese Navy even stopped the noise offensive against Cape Lunga a few hours ago.

In this regard, the American GIs breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the Japanese themselves were tired of tossing, so they would end this annoying offensive.

Zhang Chi, on the other hand, told the soldiers to tighten their guard, because he knew that this would mean that the enemy would attack soon.

On the other hand, the choice to attack at this point in time was to be able to get cover from the navy.

In fact, according to the combat habits of the army, it should be more suitable to choose to launch an attack before dawn...... Before dawn is the time when the enemy is most sleepy and sleepy, and at the same time, if you attack at this time, it will be dawn after taking the enemy's position, so the enemy loses the opportunity to launch a counterattack by night.

But Kazuki had no choice, because the navy had to rush to the air zone of the Japanese fighters before dawn, which meant that the navy would leave in two hours.

In order to get reconnaissance and firepower reinforcements from the navy, Kiyoshi Kazuki could only attack at this time.

But Kazuki didn't think that this would have any impact on the outcome of the battle, according to his thoughts, his attack would definitely be like a breakthrough all the way back to the airport, and an early attack would mean that the imperial army's sun flag would be planted on the corpses of the American troops earlier, and it also meant that the congratulations from the headquarters would arrive on Kuah Island earlier.

However, when Kiyoshi Kazuki ran into an enemy outpost on the Matanicau River, he couldn't help but be surprised.

He had thought that he would not encounter the enemy until he reached a position at least a few miles away from the airport, but he did not expect that this distance was more than ten miles farther than he had imagined.

With Kiyonao's combat experience, he knew that if the enemy's defense line was deployed farther, it would mean that the enemy would have more troops.

"Bastard! Are we underestimating our opponents? Kazuki said to himself.

Kazuki Kiyoshi looked straight at the map if the enemy began to deploy from the Matanikau River. It would take at least 5,000 men to put up a decent defense, and only 1,000 in his own hands.

But reports from the battlefield quickly dispelled his doubts.

"Your Excellency!" The communications corpsman reported: "We easily overcame the enemy's defensive line, the enemy only had a dozen people, and only a few individual bunkers!" ”

"I see!" Ichiki Kiyoshi nodded with satisfaction: "These Americans want to use their weak forces and have space in exchange for their preparation time!" ”

For this tactic, Ichiki Kiyoshi heard that the Chinese had used it on the battlefield in Burma.

"Your Excellency!" The communications corps reported: "They ...... Probably not Americans! ”

"Not American?" Kiyoshi Kazuki was a little surprised.

"They may be Chinese!" The signal soldier replied: "This is seen from the figure, Oshima Shozo fought with the Chinese, and he thinks that the enemy is Chinese!" ”

"Chinese!" Kiyoshi Kazuki suddenly had a sense of foreboding.

This is not because he is afraid of the Chinese, but because he feels that he knows too little about the enemies of Lunga.

"What kind of equipment are they using?" After thinking about it, Ichiki asked again.

"It's American-style equipment!" The communications soldier replied in the affirmative.

This can be distinguished by bullets and gunshots.

"U.S. Chinese troops!" Kazuki nodded straightly: "It seems that they were transported from Burma by the Americans!" ”

Although Ichiki Kiyoshi already vaguely felt that the situation was a little bad at this time. But now he is riding a tiger.

Moreover, he still believed in his own judgment and that of the command, that is, the enemy on Kuah Island did not have many troops, even if the Americans suddenly became Chinese.

This was also confirmed in the ensuing battle, and the Ichiki Brigade advanced all the way to the airfield under the cover of naval reconnaissance planes and fleets, and the resistance encountered was insignificant.

Just those cunning Chinese...... A large number of mines were laid on the way to retreat, causing a lot of casualties to the Ichiki Brigade and slowing down its advance.

This is also the purpose of Zhang Chi, the best way to make the enemy think that he is not strong enough without letting the enemy take the airfield in one breath is to mine ...... Especially the stumbling thunder that can hardly be ruled out in the dark of night.

If the battle goes on like this. That was no problem, and eventually the Japanese would not be able to reach the airfield before dawn because they were pinned down by mines, so the next day they had to withdraw from the Lunga Plain and retreat into the jungle...... Otherwise. They will be bombed by shore-based planes from Australia, just like the navy, and even the Japanese will think that among the bombed planes are planes that have taken off from three US aircraft carriers.

So, the next battle will be repeated like this...... In fact, the Sino-US coalition forces are fully capable of eating this Japanese army, but they do not do it because they want to confuse the Japanese army and delay time. The Japanese army, on the other hand, thought that they had the ability to take the airfield, but they were affected by mines and could not do so.

But at this time, Ichiki Kiyonao made a move that Japanese commanders often do...... Interspersed with surrounding.

Kiyoshi Kazuki's idea was simple: since the frontal battlefield could not achieve much success, the enemy retreated all the way and laid mines all the way. If the Japanese are unable to catch up with them and annihilate them, a force should be sent around in front of them to stop them.

The interspersed force sent by Ichiki totaled more than 200 people in one squadron.

Originally, this was nothing, because Zhang Chi had made arrangements at any point in the west, and the Japanese interspersed troops would encounter the same situation as the frontal troops: they would basically not be able to engage the enemy in the front, and they would only encounter mines.

But this unit lost its direction again in the dark night, and the interspersed circle was a little bigger...... As soon as it went around, it went around to the flank of the American troops stationed in the south.

The U.S. troops were also prepared to retreat layer by layer and lay mines along the way, but they always thought that the Japanese would come from the front rather than from the flanks, and most of them were new recruits, so the fight was immediately like a hornet's nest.

"Colonel!" Major Brown, who was the first to engage the enemy, reported to Clifton: "Our flank is under attack by a large Japanese force, and it is estimated that the enemy is at least a thousand men!" ”

"What? Thousands?! Clifton couldn't help but be taken aback, and it was attacking the flank of the American army.

As it turned out later, this estimate was nothing more than the result of American GIs fighting in the dark.

"Your orders, General?" Brown urged: "The enemy fire is fierce! ”

"Shoot back!" Clifton ordered: "Cooperate with the tank forces to take them down!" (To be continued.) )