Nimitz's "Golden Bird Story" didn't really convince Fletcher.
On 26 July 1942, the theater commanders met, and Van der Greft found Fletcher restless and absent-minded about the upcoming landings.
When it came to the core topic, Fletcher frowned and said: "Because of the great danger of being bombed by land-based enemy aircraft at all times, I cannot allow the aircraft carrier to pause in the area for more than forty-eight hours when landing begins." ”
Van der Griffit was greatly displeased. Forty-eight hours is two days, and if you say you want to cover for five days, how did it become two days? If your aircraft carrier is afraid of danger and withdraws, won't the situation of the Marine Division become more dangerous?
Fletcher was a lieutenant general, van der Griffit was only a major general, and there was a distinction between high and low rank and position. Van der Griffit had to be patient in explaining: "There are eighteen thousand marine divisions, which is not a small number, so landing in two days is not realistic, we need at least five days of air cover, which is the minimum number of days." ”
Fletcher's "two days" put a lot of psychological pressure on Van der Griffitt. Of course, he also wanted to achieve the landing in two days or even less, so that the hope of success of the operation would be greater, the problem was that the Marine Division had not been a complete combat unit before, and had never conducted strict and systematic landing warfare training together, and it was impossible to reach a very high level at once.
It takes time and patience to improve the level, but van der Griffit has run out of time. According to intelligence, the Japanese army has not relaxed the construction of the Guadalcanal airfield for a moment, and for this reason, a young assistant has been specially sent to supervise the construction. By mid-July, an improvised airstrip was largely complete and the airport is expected to be ready for use by mid-August.
At the end of July, the troops must set off, regardless of the quality of the training, whether they are sure or not. Van der Griffit racked his efforts, and at the last staff meeting he even slammed his fist against the table, vowing to complete the organizational preparations for the attack in the last forty-eight hours.
On 28 July 1942, van der Griffit was finally able to spare time and hold a combat landing exercise for the 1st Marine Division. As soon as the curtain was opened, he was dumbfounded, and the mess was indescribable.
Almost all the procedures and steps were missing, and the landing craft spun around in the sea, unable to find where to start. The officers were hoarse and dancing to convey orders, but stepping on one head and prying one did not help to direct the landing, and in fact, they were not quite sure what they should do.
Somehow, the first wave of attack was a success for the organization. As the convoy rushed toward the shore, many more ships ran aground a few hundred meters from the land, and the rest of the ships only struggled to reach the shore, and from beginning to end, not a single soldier landed smoothly according to the normal channels.
The exercise failed utterly. After nearly a month of busyness, it was such a result that Van der Griffet's heart was poured with oil sauce and sugar and vinegar, and he couldn't say what it tasted like.
The soldiers also knew that the performance was broken, and they gave the future landing battle a nickname, called the "small business" campaign, which means that the small profits are small and can no longer expect a big harvest.
Operation Watchtower (6) Serial, to be continued.......