On the night of the 18th of April, Yamamoto met with Ugaki to consider their situation. The expected arrival of the remaining American carriers had not happened. 1st Carrier Division had hovered off Nandi Bay, pounded ground troops, the airfield and port at Suva, but now their own supply situation was going to force Yamamoto to make a decision.
“I believe the Americans have made a strategic withdrawal with their remaining carriers,” he said. “We have waited here three days, fulfilling our primary role in supporting the Army in this invasion. Now that they are well established ashore, our next consideration will be how to keep them supplied.”
“I have already spoken with 17th Army Headquarters,” said Ugaki. “The Tanaka Detachment is now formed up at Rabaul and preparing to get seaborne. It was necessary to wait for the return of the MO troop transports to provide the necessary sealift. Unfortunately, we lost several transports in that action off Port Moresby, two to enemy shore batteries, and a third was sunk by a submarine. To compensate for these losses, I have recalled the transports from Tulagi to Rabaul as well. That should give us the lift required to get Tanaka moving this way.”
“What is the situation on the ground?”
“We control the north and west coasts, several small ports and the airfields at Nandi and Momi. The enemy still holds the south and east coast, though they appear to be consolidating around Suva.”
“Were we wise to land where we did instead of making a direct attack against that port?”
“That was the Army’s choice. They believed that once ashore, Suva could be taken from the landward side. That remains the plan, and our forces are probing the enemy defenses to determine their strength.”
“Then the Tanaka Detachment will land at Nandi Bay?”
“Correct, but that can be re-evaluated later.”
“Yes, but we cannot wait here any longer. Our destroyers are thirsty, and we have used a good deal of aviation fuel and munitions in these ground support operations. It will be necessary to take 1st Carrier Division out of theater to replenish.”
“Now sir? But what about the American carriers?”
“What about them? Takami reports they have no sign of any threat within 500 miles, and they have flown off search missions with those helicopters of theirs equipped with advanced radar. The enemy has withdrawn.”
Ugaki narrowed his eyes. “They are undoubtedly waiting for us to do exactly what you propose.”
“That appears to be the case. The loss of those two carriers in the Coral Sea must have been very sobering. It is clear they were not willing to risk their remaining carriers in an engagement here after that. So we will leave tonight.”
“For Truk?”
“Rabaul. That is where Zuikaku has retired for minor repairs, and that ship should be ready for renewed operations by the time we arrive there. What is the timetable regarding the Tanaka Detachment?”
“They will need about five days to pack and load.”
“Very well. That will give us the time we need to get to Rabaul. I assume there are sufficient stores of fuel there?”
“They just received tanker support from Japan. That will not be an issue.”
“Good. Then our plan will be to reform the Kido Butai at Rabaul in five days time, then we will sortie as the covering force for Tanaka’s convoy. The Zuiho group will linger here one more day, then follow in our wake. Has the Shoji Detachment been sent to New Caledonia?”
“Not yet sir. It remains on Bougainville, until we can free up more shipping.”
Yamamoto smiled. “We make our plans to ride off on our carriers and battleships to find and defeat our enemies, but this war will be won or lost on the backs of those merchant ships. Thus far, this operation has gone very well. It is now ours to see that the troops we deliver get the supplies they need. Do not be deluded by the absence of the American carriers. There is more behind this than fear of engagement here, though that was certainly a factor in their thinking. They are building up as much strength as possible before they move. There is more going on than we may realize.”
“You suspect the Americans are planning an offensive?”
“What would you be planning under these circumstances? Naval intelligence has recently informed us that they now believe the Americans have at least three full divisions in this theater. One is here on Fiji, another is mustering in New Zealand, and the third is believed to be a unit composed of Naval Marines. If those troops are anywhere as good as our own SNLF battalions, then they are here for one reason—counterattack. I believe they will defend Fiji stubbornly, using the forces they have there like a shield, and these Marines—they are the sword.”
“Then it must be shattered,” said Ugaki.
“Yes, but to parry the blow I believe is coming, we must first know where they will strike. When I was on that ship, Ugaki, I saw things in their library that were very disturbing. I believe this unit is the 1st US Marine Division, and in the material I read, the Americans used it to counter our occupation of Guadalcanal in the lower Solomons.”
“Guadalcanal? Near our new seaplane base at Tulagi? We took that because it was the best anchorage in the Solomons. There is nothing on Guadalcanal but jungle and mosquitoes.”
“At the moment…” Yamamoto stared out the port hole, watching the play of the moonlight on the water. “Those books I read tell another story,” he said slowly. “There was an airfield built near Lunga, first by us, and then by the Americans after they captured it from us. They came to call it Henderson Field.”
“What? On Guadalcanal? They could never take that now. They have no logistical base close enough to sustain such an operation.”
“Perhaps so… But this 1st Marine Division landed there, and soon there were more than mosquitoes on that island. Our entire 2nd Division went there to try and throw them off, and was largely destroyed before we were eventually forced to… redeploy elsewhere. No, I will say it the way it was—until we were forced to withdraw.”
“That could never happen now, Admiral.”
“Are you so certain?”
Yamamoto stood up, hands clasped behind his back as he stared at the sea. “See that all ships in the task force receive orders to move at 22:00.”
Chapter 21
Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift was a quiet, soft spoken and self effacing man for the role he would assume—commander of the US 1st Marine Division, now hastily assembling at Pago Pago in the Samoa Islands. Making Lieutenant in the Marines in 1909, he had seen his first combat three years later in Nicaragua, and at Vera Cruz in 1914. He then fought in the humid jungle and hill country of Haiti, chasing down the Caco Bandits while gaining much experience in special operations and jungle fighting.
His boys were here in the Pacific a full month early, the 5th Regiment arriving in early April, and now joined by the 1st and 7th Regiments on the Presidential Convoy. Instead of sailing to New Zealand, they had stopped right there in Samoa. The enemy was already on Fiji, and the excellent harbor at Pago Pago had to be defended, so there was no time for deployment to New Zealand and the six months of training Vandegrift thought he would have before the division went on the offensive.
Admiral King wanted action now, and his arguments that trying to send the Marines on a risky amphibious assault operation to a place like Espiritu Santo, or even Guadalcanal, as Marshall suggested was too dangerous to contemplate.
“We’re down to three fleet carriers,” he said. “You stick your neck out that far, and Halsey will have to linger in the invasion zone for days, which means there would be a strong likelihood of another fight with the enemy carriers that took down Fletcher. But have a look at the alternative: we’ve already got fresh planes arriving for Fiji. Halsey is there now, and with three new battleships to give him some more muscle. We control Suva, and the Marines can land right there. We also have airfields on Vanua Levu in close supporting range of any operation on Fiji’s main island. The Jap carriers have had to withdraw to replenish, and that gives us a window of opportunity that we simply cannot throw away. I say Halsey can take his entire carrier force down there, establish air superiority, and we can then get the Marines ashore there with little or no risk. We already have Patch and the entire 23rd Pacifica Division. You send in the Old Breed now in the 1st Marine Division, and we can send the Japs back to tell Tojo just how bad they got licked out there.”