Pacific Mettle: A WWII Military Fiction Novel (Decker's Marine Raiders Series Book 4) by Scott Cook

Author:Scott Cook [Cook, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Spindrift Press
Published: 2024-05-06T00:00:00+00:00

KOKUMBONA

Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi was pleased that he’d decided to take command of his forces himself. Oka had volunteered to do so, citing that the general was still recovering from his ordeal at the battle with the Americans on the 13th and the long, deadly march back. However, Kawaguchi knew too much was at stake and the situation was too complicated, so he’d ordered Oka to take several companies to dig in at the Matanikau mouth and prepare for another American assault there.

Kawaguchi, like his counterpart Vandegrift, had virtually no intelligence on which to build a plan. Yet like his counterpart, he had his well-honed soldier’s instincts and a grasp of the situation. While at that time, both sides vastly underestimated how many men their opponent’s had at their command… they accurately assessed that aggressive action was required.

The American’s last attempt to get across the Matanikau had been rebuffed, but only just. And those of Kawaguchi’s men left at Mount Austin had been virtually wiped out by a superior Marine force. While the men at the log bridge and the sandspit had repulsed the Marines, Kawaguchi guessed that the stubborn round-eyes would be back, and in greater numbers.

They had to, really. After all, the Matanikau was an important barrier between the opposing forces and whoever controlled it could leverage that control in future engagements.

Therefore, not knowing exactly what or when would happen next, Kawaguchi had determined that he must be ready for another American push. He’d sent Lieutenant Hondo to guard the log bridge and now Oka would secure the Japanese side of the Matanikau sandspit. Yet Kawaguchi’s instincts told him that this was not enough. That if the Americans were smart… and they were proving to be both smarter and far more tenacious than anyone had predicted… they would require a third prong in a flanking attack in order to guarantee success.

Thus, Kawaguchi was leading a battalion north from Kokumbona to an area near Point Cruz. An area that, by now, the Japanese soldiers who’d been on the island since the beginning had come to see as an almost sacred spot. After all, they had cut down an American intelligence patrol only days after the invasion. They had badly hampered another landing there not long after. Point Cruz was a good site to land men from boats and thus, would always be a focal point so long as the soldiers of the Empire held their side of the Matanikau.

There was more to Kawaguchi’s decision than simple logic and practicality, of course. In spite of occasional victories and their success at containing the Americans inside their perimeter, things had not gone well on Guadalcanal. While Japan had won a few skirmishes… they had thus far lost all of the major engagements. The invasion itself, the attack at the Teneru, the battle at Taivu Point… the first battle of the Matanikau… that had been nearly a draw, at least. Then there was the major offensive to take the airfield. A monumental failure from which Kawaguchi and his men were still regrouping.

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