While Van der Griffit was in New Zealand to make up his geographical knowledge, his First Marine Division was scattered around the country, not even pinching out a basic shape. It was not until early July 1942, under the personal coordination of Nimitz, that the basic units of the Marine Division reached the theater. Before setting off, the Marines thought they were just going to a routine exercise or a walk around a tropical paradise, and no one thought they were about to enter a real battlefield, and they were also responsible for the extremely difficult task of "Operation Plague".
This was the first time for the Marine Corps that a large-scale landing operation with divisions was organized, and the problems and difficulties encountered as a result were endless. First of all, the quartermaster department did not know that war was about to start in the near future, so it lacked some important landing materials, and the First Marine Division did not have time to replenish it when it set out. Then, while loading materials at New Zealand's ports, dock workers didn't know why they were on strike, no one was working, and the Marines had to roll up their sleeves and do it themselves.
The loading of landing material is very exquisite, it adopts a special "combat loading" standard, that is, according to the degree of demand in the beachhead operation, one by one loading, urgently needed first loading, less urgent post-loading. Because the Marines had never done this, they were often confused, resulting in many important equipment and supplies being squeezed out of space and unable to be loaded on the ship. In addition, July was a rainy winter in New Zealand, and the heavy rain swelled the food cartons, leaving the docks full of soaked cornflakes and cigarettes, stacked up as thick as the neck of the foot.
It's enough of a mess, and you have to grab time. When the calculation was full, their superiors only gave them four weeks to prepare, and the marines had to be divided into three shifts and worked continuously for twenty-four hours, so that the officers and men were all exhausted and complained.
Although Van der Griffet did not have to personally go to the dock to carry a large bag, but the landing command had just been established, on the one hand, the staff and staff were seriously insufficient, on the other hand, the task was extremely tense, and he was so tired that he almost stared at the eyes and collapsed to the ground.
The material was loaded for combat, so the biggest headache for Van der Grifft was that there were too few soldiers. Only two regiments of the First Marine Division reached the theater, and the other regiment was in Samoa and could not be transferred for the time being.
The Marine Corps relies on soldiers, and if there are not enough soldiers, when fighting, it is a myrrh artillery battle, and it has to be disguised. At van der Griffit's strong request, the Navy's top brass was ruthless and drew a regiment from the Second Marine Division on the East Coast of the United States, plus three battalions of other units, and incorporated them into the formation of the First Marine Division.
After many efforts, the good gangsters formed a reinforced division with a total strength of about eighteen thousand men, which had exceeded van der Griffet's expectations, and he was happy again.
What Van der Grift did not expect was that at this juncture, someone would pour cold water on himself, and this person was not an ordinary person - Fletcher, who commanded the aircraft carrier formation!
Operation Watchtower (5) serialized, to be continued.......