And what of the enemy? If we have sunk only one enemy fleet carrier here, he thought, where were the other two? They were undoubtedly further east near Samoa, but for how long? This American Admiral was aggressive enough to divide his task force in the face of the storm, and yet he held his own against the full might of the Kido Butai. That is very disturbing. And what might come of the operation in the north? Will Takami be able to protect the northern fleet from this Russian Sea Demon? What might happen to Kaga and Tosa?
All these questions created a reasonable doubt that he could continue operations now. Without any discussion, he ordered the carriers to withdraw west. They would rendezvous with a tanker and refuel.
Nagumo bowed solemnly, but said nothing when he received the order. He knew the calculus that must be running through Yamamoto’s mind now, and his own instincts would be to do the very same thing. They must move west now, refuel, assess the condition of Akagi, and sort out the shattered naval squadrons into some reasonable order. Perhaps further operations could be contemplated at that time, but not today—not on the 5th of May, 1942.
Part X
The 7 Keys
“Darkness is but a door, frightening not because it opens, but out of fear that it will never close.”
Chapter 28
The Japanese situation on Fiji was much more serious than even Yamamoto knew. The 1st USMC Division had moved aggressively north against the Sakaguchi Detachment. That was bringing three full combat ready regiments against one, even though Sakaguchi could rightfully say he was commanding a relatively strong brigade. He had an engineer battalion attached to his three battalion regiment, and there were also two battalions of SNLF Naval Marines under his command.
The Japanese were not entirely aware of the full strength of their enemy, or that Vandegrift’s division now had four full regiments, the 1st, 5th, 7th and 11th Marines. Two more were in theater at Pago Pago from the 2nd Marine Division. This force was more than a match for Sakaguchi, and the sharp meeting engagement at the edge of the heavy jungle soon checked his advance, and then pushed him into a stubborn withdrawal.
It was lack of adequate supply that was hindering his operation more than anything. He had sent the three infantry battalions and one SNLF battalion off lightly supplied, intending to quickly storm into Suva from the north. Now he had been stopped cold and pushed back, and his men were tired and hungry, with many companies almost completely out of ammunition. The Japanese had no choice but to continue their retreat in that sector, and by the 8th of May, the US Marines had pushed to within 15 kilometers of the small port of Tavua and the airfield about five klicks inland.
Further south, the Abe Detachment, and Kimura’s Recon Regiment had better luck. They doggedly pursued the withdrawal of the New Zealand troops, pushing them off a temporary holding action along the Singatana River leading down to Nayawa on the coast. Weary after the long march from Nandi, the Kiwis needed rest, supplies and fresh ammo of their own. General Patch therefore sent first the 164th Regiment of his Pacifica Division, and then the 182nd, both marching along the Queens Road that followed the coast east.
By the time they stabilized the line, and relieved all the Kiwis, the Japanese had nearly overrun the makeshift airstrip at Korolevu. With both regiments finally formed up, and with the full division artillery behind them, Patch was confident he could hold the line.
The situation the Japanese soon found themselves in was now far from satisfactory. Abe and Kimura had been stopped, Sakaguchi pushed back, and the long awaited reinforcements in the Tanaka Regiment were still far to the east near Noumea where they had been held in place pending the outcome of the naval battle. Now that the Kido Butai was withdrawing, the only Navy presence would be the flock of planes and pilots that had come fluttering in to Nandi and Tavua fields, unable to land again on their carriers, which was somewhat ominous in itself.
General Tsuchihashi of the 48th Division had adequate supply near the two landing sites, but little or no transport. It was only after he received the report that Sakaguchi had failed to make the sweeping maneuver against Suva, that he now contemplated his situation in a darker light. Somehow, the enemy had achieved parity, he thought.
There may have been more enemy troops here than we believed, and now the navy is withdrawing. Those planes and pilots that landed here will most likely not remain long as well, for the Admirals will want their pilots of the Misty Lagoon back directly. Thus far, 4th Air Fleet has sent nothing but Bombers to Noumea, but no land based fighters. The range was so far from there that any practical use of those planes was prohibited until the runways could be expanded on Fiji to accommodate them. It appears that we are in for a bit of a siege here. Under the circumstances, I must suspend further offensive action until Tanaka arrives… if he arrives at all.
Thus far we have swept all before us, except for that brief delay on Singapore, most likely due to Nishimura’s foolishness. My division bested the Americans in the Philippines easily enough, and the Dutch were no match for us. Yet I really have no more than half my division here, and Sakaguchi’s troops were not as good as my men. So we wait for Tanaka, and hopefully it will not be necessary to request further reinforcements.
If wishes were horses… It was going to be necessary sooner than the general believed, for a new war had begun there on that island. In Fedorov’s history it began somewhere else, in the fetid, humid jungles of Guadalcanal. This time it was Viti Levu, though as the naval battle was being fought, engineers and elements of the 3rd SNLF had also landed at Lunga on the island of Guadalcanal. They were surveying the ground along the north coast for good airfield sites, and the place looked very promising. Whether the long, grueling struggle there would ever repeat itself remained to be seen. For the moment the center of the gyre was Fiji, where both sides were now arm wrestling to gain the advantage.
On the American side of the equation, both Patch and Vandegrift thought they could win this one. Their enemy would be stalwart and it would be a difficult battle, but they believed they had the sheer mass to do the job. If the two divisions they already had on Viti Levu were not enough, there were two more in Australia and New Zealand, much closer to Fiji than any reinforcements the enemy could call upon.
While Halsey had held off the powerful Japanese Navy, he was now under strict orders not to engage with the last two carriers the US possessed. He wouldn’t have to. Yamamoto was gone, and he had free reign in the Fijis now, and a good base at Pago Pago that had been receiving plenty of fuel via tankers. There was no way the enemy could pull a Pearl Harbor, for Allied units in the Fijis would surely spot any attempt to attack Samoa.
For now, the fighting Admiral would find he had 123 operational planes between Enterprise, Wasp and Shiloh. The Antietam would be repaired this week, and add another 20 more, so the raw naval aviation available to either side in the theater was a dead wash. The US was getting in more ground aviation support, a couple Seabee Battalions to work on putting more airfields into use, particularly on the adjacent island of Vanua Levu.