When it first entered combat in China, it was a “Square Division,” which meant it had two brigades containing two regiments each instead of the later “Triangular” division model with just three regiments. And it was also ‘well heeled’ in terms of its TO&E. In the real history, this division had converted to a triangular division in July of 1942, but in these Altered States, it was made square again for this new deployment, with the 5th Brigade fielding the 6th and 68th Regiments, and the 29th Brigade had the 18th and 34th Regiments.
Considering ‘boots on the ground,’ such a division had a firm footprint. Each regiment would field the normal three battalions, with a fourth weapons battalion, (really just a company), containing four 75mm mountain guns and four rapid-fire 37mm AT guns. Yet each battalion had four regular infantry companies instead of three, and one additional MG company, about 1,350 men in all, including a small infantry gun platoon with a pair of 70mm howitzers. The unit would be augmented by adding two more cavalry regiments, the 25th and 26th, as these troops were thought to be useful on the large island the 3rd Division was slated to conquer.
Toyoshima’s division would leave China through the same door where it had entered, the port of Shanghai. From there it would sail to Rabaul and Momote in the Admiralties, the transports fat with supplies, men, equipment and horses, which were really the mainstay as far as transportation went for the Japanese divisions. A horse could go places in the rugged inland terrain of these islands where no truck could follow.
This unexpected turn in Japanese strategy had come from the secret conference Imamura had with Hyakutake concerning the message he had received. It contained only one cryptic phrase: The warrior is lucky, for the moon shines bright, and the hour of the festival has come.
The meaning of the phrase was immediately apparent to Hyakutake, a master of cryptanalysis, for there within that single phrase were the code names assigned to five Japanese Divisions.
“Do you see what I see in this?” asked Hyakutake.
“Of course!” said Imamura. “Five divisions. The Lucky Division is the 3rd, and that alone is worth its weight in gold. It is one of the most capable and experienced divisions in the Army, and I am told it will remain a square division. The Warrior Division is the 9th from Manchukuo, a very good unit that has been underutilized thus far. The Bright Moon brings us the 6th Bright Division and 17th Moon Division, and the Festival Division is the 15th. Every one of these has seen combat in China. The Army is finally getting serious about the war here in the south. At last we will have the troops we need to fight the Americans and all their allies. In fact, there may even be forces to allow us to reconsider a limited invasion of Australia.”
This sudden infusion of ground fighting power to the Strike South plan was going to change the entire course of the war. MacArthur thought he would simply secure the southern end of New Caledonia, and then plan his recapture of Port Moresby to take the war to New Guinea. Nimitz thought he would secure Efate and Espiritu Santo, then select targets in the Solomons, or even bypass those steamy islands altogether and move right into the Marshalls. But if Yamamoto could deliver 3rd Division to Vanua Levu, and keep it supplied, all those plans would have to be shelved.
The US had initially placed the entire 37th Infantry Division under General Beightler there, but two of his three regiments had been ferried over to the Main Island to reinforce Patch and Collins, so he had only his 148th Regiment on that massive island, along with Seabees, A few Marine Defense Battalions, and the 112th Engineers.
The regimental HQ and two battalions were at the main airfield at Lambasa in the center of the island; the Division HQ was 35 kilometers to the south on the broad Savusavu Bay with the third battalion; and the engineers at Bua field on the southwest end of the island. Most all of the airfield and support troops were to the east around the deep intrusion of the Natewa Bay. For an island encompassing over 2,150 square miles, that was a fairly thin garrison. The Americans thought that Halsey would prevent any move on the island… But Halsey was now 650 nautical miles to the northeast at Pago Pago.
His two carriers were anchored in the bay and taking on fuel, the ships watering, replenishing food, aviation fuel and ordnance, the squadrons filling out their dance cards. It might take him four to six hours to get out to sea again in an emergency, and then it was 18 to 24 hours to reach the scene of the planned Japanese invasion, and he would have to face down the Japanese carrier covering force under Admiral Hara.
When HYPO got wind of the arrival of 3rd Division in theater, it set off a lot of alarm bells. The initial assessment was that the Japanese were planning to reinforce Efate and garrison other holdings, but that would be work for their 6th Division. Nimitz still had 8th Regiment of the 2nd Marines in the bullpen for Efate, and all of 1st Marines for his mission against Luganville. So now it was a question of who would get there first.
“This is a first rate outfit,” he said to Vice Admiral Charles ‘Soc’ McMorris, who was now serving as his Chief of Staff. McMorris had come from the war plans office for the Pacific Fleet before taking an at-sea command of a cruiser division. Nimitz had wanted Ray Spruance for his CoS, by the was still operating with the carriers, so McMorris was next in line in Nimitz’s mind.
“Yes sir, 3rd Division has been raising hell in China since 1937. If they moved a unit like that here, then they mean business.”
“Soc, you figure they plan to counterattack?”
“Those aren’t the sort of troops you farm out for garrison duty,” said McMorris.
“But where?” asked Nimitz.
“They could hit us anywhere. We’ve got the Japs on Fiji in a vise—penned up in a 40 square kilometer pocket on Viti Levu. So they may be trying to reinforce there. Then again, they could also hit Efate. They’ve only put in a single regiment of their 20th Division there, and that was a back waters reserve division from Korea.”
Neither of those options were on the table for the Japanese, but they seemed logical choices from the US standpoint. Nimitz nodded. “They could do both,” he said. “It was a come as you are party when we hit Efate. All they had in theater was the 20th, but now we may have uninvited guests. I was going to reinforce with 8th Marines, and I thought that would give us an edge on these people to clear that island. If we move fast, we might still do that.”
“Halsey moved to Pago Pago, but I’m a little troubled by this latest information we had out of Rabaul. We thought they were landing the 3rd Infantry there, but it stayed put on those transports. In fact, HYPO says it could be out to sea from the sound of signals traffic coming out of Rabaul yesterday.”
“Now you went and ruined my day,” said Nimitz.
“Should we crank up Halsey? He could be back to Efate in 48 hours.”
Nimitz thought about that. “And the Japs could be there in that same timeframe too, and they’ve patched up Kaga and Soryu at Rabaul. So if Hara moves to cover anything big, then he could be coming at us with four fleet carriers. We’d need to pull in every flattop we have to counter that. To send Halsey in alone to try and bust up their operation would be a mistake. So we’re going to have to play this another way. Get a message off to Ray Spruance. Tell him I want Essex and Lexington out to sea immediately, but I want him here.” Nimitz pointed to a position between Noumea and the Fiji group, and a little south.