Fantasque Time Line (France Fights On) - English Translation

[Wings]

October 2nd, 1942

On the road between Saigon and My-Tho - A rickety, gas-powered bus bumps along the road, which has obviously suffered from an almost total lack of maintenance for almost a year. On board are farm workers and peasants returning from Saigon.
As the vehicle passes through a wooded area, it is stopped by a group of men in black uniforms with large hats, armed with rifles of various origins and who seem to care little about the fact that the Japanese General Staff in Saigon had recently stated that the area was "perfectly under control" in a recent report to Tokyo. The men in black let the passengers off, take the passes issued by the Japanese and separate two men from the others who carry cards identifying them as "employees" of the Kempetai. The two Japanese supporters are returning to their village after participating in the previous day's demonstration in Saigon. "We warned you," one of the men in black coldly declares, "you should have listened to us and stopped betraying the People." Without further ado, the two men are beheaded with a Japanese officer's sword, whose rightful owner would certainly be scandalized if he had not joined his ancestors several months ago. The heads are planted on bamboo stakes at the side of the road before the bus is allowed to continue and the men in black disappear into the forest.
This case is not the first of its kind. Many collaborators of the Japanese have already received threats and some have been murdered. However, this is the first public execution. It will not be the last. The officers of the Hei Ho are among the victims, the executors leaving their heads planted at the entrance to their villages - and each time in areas theoretically controlled by the Japanese.

 

[Wings]

October 2nd, 1942

Operation Iskra - On the northern wing of the offensive, the Soviets are severely slowed: the attack in the direction of Tartu is blocked and the command of the 3rd Armored Army fears to expose its flanks, while the Luftwaffe focuses its efforts on its most advanced elements. But on the east wing, the Shestopalov Maneuver Group makes good progress in the Veliki Luky, the Soviet artillery taking advantage of a near absence of the Luftwaffe to support its infantry.

 

[Wings]

October 2nd, 1942

Operation Typhoon
The Northern wing offensive - The weather turns nasty again overnight. Very heavy rains falls from 02:30 to 14:30, before giving way to intermittent showers.
In these conditions, von Manstein has all the difficulties in the world to redeploy his LVI. PanzerKorps from Romny to Pyryatyne. What the German tankers will call "the march in mud" prevents any offensive action that day. Moreover, the equipment suffers: to advance in the mud, the tanks have to keep their engines running at a very high speed, which considerably increasing fuel consumption and accentuating the wear of the mechanics.
Zhukov takes advantage of the lull to discuss with Sherevishenko, Malinovsky and Shuikov. He declares to his generals that the strategic reserve of the Stavka gathered in September in Rostov-on-Don will soon be able to block any German thrust and asks Shuikov to hold on to Pyryatyne, promising him that reinforcements will arrive via the Dnieper. Malinovsky and Sherevishenko are encouraged to resume the offensive as soon as possible on the German left flank.

The Southern wing offensive - Heavy rains soak the ground all night. It only stops in the morning, but resumes in the late afternoon. In the meantime, weather conditions are barely "flyable" and air activity is low. While the 14th Soviet Army sees the arrival of the reinforcements decided the day before, von Kleist reorganizes his device.
Thanks to a superhuman effort of the repair teams, KampfGruppe Hube and the 13th Panzer have a total of 127 tanks. The attack, concentrated on a relatively narrow sector of the Korsun plateau, is to break through the Soviet lines in the direction of Shpola. Then Kleist plans to exploit towards Novomyrgorod and Kremenchug, on the Dnieper, in order to provoke a collapse of the Soviet defenses.

 

[Wings]

October 2nd, 1942

Odessa sector - Major troop movements are taking place on the side of the Axis troops in the west of the city. The entire 11th "Romanian" Army withdraws from the Odessa front to redeploy further north.

 

[Wings]

October 2nd, 1942

Operation Torch - D-Day+13
Current affairs in the north
The Alsace-Lorraine shock battalion is under the orders of a leader unlike any other: André Malraux, a well-known writer, filmmaker and anti-fascist activist! Malraux himself, a simple second class in 1940, had been moved with all the soldiers who, like him, had started training as a tanker. But it was not imaginable that the Goncourt Prize 1933 would continue the war in the darkness of an armored car. Even in exile in Algeria, he had kept enough contacts to obtain an audience with the Minister of War.
About this meeting, some biographers spoke about "intellectual reciprocal love at first sight". One thing is certain: second class when entering the ministerial office, Malraux came out a captain (on the pretext of the partial recognition of his rank of lieutenant-colonel in the air force of the Spanish Republic). Better still, he is charged with a mission of his own: to recruit former members of the International Brigades from all over the world to form a special unit of the French Army. Eighteen months (and many trips) later, the Alsace-Lorraine battalion was formed and Malraux was appointed commander - is it necessary to say that this appointment, even "on a temporary basis" will make many military people cringe! But without the flamboyant writer, the battalion would not exist: the men who made it up would have remained at home, in Ireland, the United States, in South America... Besides, Malraux's rank is more honorary than real: he will always leave to his deputies the effective direction of the troops in the field. And today, the time has come to take action!
Carried by the MN Goumier and Tabor APDs (former American DDs) and two LCI(L), the battalion lands on the island of Ustica (northwest of Palermo). The former brigadists, a little disappointed, discovered that Ustica is defended by only a hundred terrified territorials and a dozen sailors whose warlike ardor - they wanted to deliver a "baroud d'honneur" - were promptly calmed down by the first ones. At noon, Commander Malraux is able to send Delestraint a martial message indicating that the island is in the hands of the Allies (and, say the bad tongues, that the photographers can come and operate - it is a photo taken at that moment that will illustrate the cover of the editions of his books published in the following years).
Meanwhile, the minesweepers operating in the Palermo area are reinforced by the American ships of the 2nd Escort and Minesweeping Division.
The Godfroy squadron takes advantage of this lull to reach Bizerte in order to refuel.
.........
Preparations in the East
In anticipation of a new attack by Gerbini, the allied planes pound the defences of the "Etna line", carrying out a series of attacks on the defenses of the "Etna line", carrying out 576 offensive missions (some fighter-bombers carrying out two or two or three missions in a day). The Regia Aeronautica does not react.
At the other end of the British front, the Heavy Fire Squadron (HMS Erebus and Terror) and the 2nd Coastal Fire Squadron start to pound the Italian defenses on the coast north of Catania.

 

[Wings]

October 2nd, 1942

Alexandria - The Franco-American fleet on its way to the South Pacific leaves the great Egyptian port at dawn and is about to cross the Suez Canal.

 

[Wings]

October 2nd, 1942

Rome - Marshal Badoglio and General Ambrosio meet again in the evening. Ambrosio once again demands "a political change" that would allow Italy to leave the war. Once again, without contradicting him, Badoglio asks him for a little patience...

 

[Wings]

October 3rd, 1942

Peenemünde - The third test of the A-4 missile is finally successful! The missile developed by the team of Wernher von Braun covers a distance of 192 km, making a parabola whose peak culminates at 85 km of altitude. The program will be able to continue, allowing a progressive improvement of the range, which will finally reach 320 km. The missile will then be renamed V2, a name under which it will go down in history, although only a few hundred were fired in the last months of the war.

 

[Wings]

October 3rd, 1942

Laeken - Thanks to Kiewitz, who was able to obtain all the necessary authorizations, Queen Elisabeth leaves for Italy. The colonel will escort her by car to Cologne, from where she will take the train to Munich. She intends to stop in Munich for a few days to visit her own mother, Duchess Marie-José in Bavaria*, who, at 85 years of age, is in rapidly declining health.

* In Bavaria, and not of Bavaria, as the younger branches of the Wittelsbachs have been designated since the introduction of primogeniture in 1506.

 

[Wings]

October 3rd, 1942

Mullins Harbour - The morning is rainy and low clouds protect the transports, while the landing maneuvers continue. But by early afternoon, the weather begins to clear and the flak teams begin to scan the skies.
14:30 - The first Japanese raid consists of eight Ki-48 (Lily) escorted by four Ki-43 (Oscar). The twin-engines suffer a lot from the flak, one is shot down and all the others damaged. Their bombs only manage to graze the Moshill and the Edea, but destroy two small Higgins.
15:10 - Five Ki-51 (Sonia), covered by two Ki-43, attack the big Coptic, which they hit twice. The first bomb causes a fire in the superstructure, on the deck of the boats. The second bomb penetrates diagonally at the edge of the deck, comes out and explodes two meters above the water, showering the side of the ship with shrapnel and killing or seriously injuring 35 soldiers who were unloading hold n°1. Shrapnel causes a fire in the paint shop on the main deck. While the fire on the boat deck is controlled, the damage to the fire-fighting system makes it hard to control the fire on the main deck, which is fuelled by the paint and oil supplies, whose combustion produces abundant black smoke. This smoke will probably save the Coptic: indeed, from the outside, it seems to have been shot to death.
One of the Ki-51s is shot down by the Coptic itself and two others by the very precise fire of the two destroyers that flank it, strongly impressing the Japanese observer who directs the attack on board a Ki-48.
15:25 - Six Ki-48s attack, with no other result than to suffer some damage from the flak.
15:42 - Four Ki-32 (Mary) escorted by eight Ki-43 Hayabusa (Oscar) carry out a low-level attack - probably the last offensive operation of these small bombers in the Pacific theater. A bomb hits the Norwegian Moshill, but causes only minor damage. However, two of the Ki-32s are shot down and the other two severely damaged by the Porter's flak. Furious, the leader of the fighters orders his pilots to attack the destroyer. Badly strafed, the Porter shoots down one of its attackers, but loses 19 killed and 30 wounded, and its anti-aircraft capabilities are severely diminished.
16:20-16:50 - This time, aircraft from Rabaul attack, in four waves: three from the Navy (fourteen G4Ms [Betty] and eight Zeros, fifteen G4Ms and eight Zeros, 18 D3A [Val] and nine Zeros) and one from the Army (21 Ki-21 [Sally] and nine Ki-43 [Oscar]). The results of the first two waves are mediocre: the first one bombs the shore, where it causes some damage to the equipment already landed that had not yet been sheltered, the second attacks the ships, but the crews, novices, do not hit any of their targets. One of the Bettys is shot down.
The dive bombers prove more effective. They choose to attack the Porter and O'Brien, which are very vulnerable because they were almost at a standstill to cover the transports with their fire. The Porter is knocked out by three 250 kg bombs and five lighter ones, leaving it in flames and immobile. The O'Brien is hit with one large and four smaller bombs, which demolish her boilers and cause a violent fire, but her flak, unleashed by the fire, kills three of the Val. The destroyer stops in the middle of the bay and drops anchor to avoid running aground.
The Ki-21s, relieved of half the destroyers' flak, attack the French Edea, the only visible transport, because the smoke of the Coptic also hides the Moshill. Immobile, the cargo ship is hit by eight to ten bombs, of which at least two, penetrating the gaping holds, directly puncture the hull. The ship sinks quickly, but it has barely one meter of water under it and it lands on the bottom. The superstructure is set on fire and the cloud of smoke that covered the bay grows.
17:00-18:20 - Seven small groups of Japanese aircraft make ineffective attacks, partly because of the smoke, partly (according to the RAAF) because of the Hurricane patrols coming from Port Moresby despite the very bad weather between their base and Mullins Harbour. The sailors and soldiers of Mullins Harbour are unanimous: they did not see a single Allied roundel that day.
17:40 - The Porter is finished off by a strong internal explosion (possibly from its ammunition). She lies on its starboard side, with its port side flush with the water. All the crew members still alive at this moment are saved.
18:30 - Shortly before sunset, eight Ki-43s armed with a 250 kg bomb each attacke the O'Brien, whose fire is the only target still visible in the bay. Two fighter-bombers are shot down, but one of them, in flames, crashes voluntarily on the bridge of the destroyer and the others put two shots on target. The ship finally breaks in two and sinks in turn. At that moment, the Japanese are convinced that they had sunk the three transports and also claimed three destroyers.
However, the unloading of the transports continues actively, despite their poor condition. At 22:00, although 500 tons of cargo remain on the Moshill and a little more than 1,500 on the Coptic, both leave the bay and, accompanied by the Walke and the Lardner, set off again for Port Moresby. All night long, the small boats are busy distributing supplies and unloading the Edea, before taking refuge for the day under thick camouflages.

 

[Wings]

October 3rd, 1942

Guadalcanal - No Japanese raid today - the Japanese are concentrating their efforts on Mullins Harbour.
The allied seaplane base installed by the Zealandia on the south coast of the island, at Aola, is reinforced by six "Floatfires". In addition, a Saro Lerwick transport seaplane delivers equipment and spare parts to repair two damaged aircraft.
The most significant event of the day is actually between the Japanese staffs.
On the ground, the officers of the 2nd Division, emboldened by their supposed success of the day before, are convinced that they could drive the Yankees back into the sea. In Tokyo, the high command calls for "a prompt and decisive action". In Rabaul, General Maruyama, who commands the troops of the Imperial Army in the Solomons, relays this demand, albeit without excessive enthusiasm. But on Guadalcanal, General Kawagushi, who commands all the troops deployed in the island, knows that success is all the more uncertain as his artillery is few in number, of low caliber, and that it lacks ammunition.
Nevertheless, the decision was taken: attack! A full-scale attack, scheduled for the day after tomorrow.
.........
Ironbottom Sound - During the night, two Japanese speedboats surprise the French submarine La Créole on the surface, but the surprise is mutual and the submarine dives, not without having lost three men under fire from the speedboats. Two torpedoes fired by the G-353, launched too late, pass over the submarine.

Western Solomons - A convoy of six Japanese transports heading for the Shortlands is attacked by B-17s. None of the ships is hit, except by shrapnel. However, one of them, the Nagara Maru, is torpedoed and sunk by a torpedo fired by the submarine USS Wahoo (SS-238), which took advantage of the confusion created by the bombardment and escapes the counter-attack of the escorts.

 

[Wings]

October 3rd, 1942

Operation Iskra - At the cost of heavy losses, the Soviets advance on the northern side, towards Tartu and Lavry, but without preventing the Germans from retreating in good order. An attack on the right towards Valga to unbalance the German defense hardly makes any progress.
On the eastern branch of the offensive, to facilitate the progression towards Velikiye Louki, an attack is launched in the direction of Ostrov. It has some success because the Germans, whose positions are turned, do not cling and the Soviets arrive at the gates of the city,
They are about to overrun from the north.
The 14th. Flieger-Regiment*, busy rehabilitating a track located 7 km south-east of Ostrov, is unexpectedly attacked by aircraft - a squadron of Il-2s from the VVS - and then by tanks - a detachment of BT-7. The Fliegers - a few hundred men equipped with heavy machine guns - inflict some damage to the opponent, but they quickly have to disengage. The colonel commanding the unit gives up trying to reach Ostrov to the northwest, because a clash of artillery on that side indicates that the bulk of the enemy forces are already there, while the deep current of the Velikaïa river forbids a retreat by the west. He decides to go into the forest to the east and manages to slip away during the night.

* Land unit of the Luftwaffe in charge of air base defense.

 

[Wings]

October 3rd, 1942

Operation Typhoon
The Northern wing offensive - Von Manstein, reinforced by the 3. PzDiv, goes on the attack at dawn despite the rain that falls in thick curtains. But no armored division has more than 60 tanks, the worst off being the 3., which today has only 44 tanks. The promised new tanks are "somewhere south of Gomel" but have not yet reached the front line units. In addition, the time spent pushing back Malinovsky allowed the defenders of Pyryatyne to dig in and they received the reinforcement of two artillery regiments and a battalion of "special mortars" (Katyusha).
Although the weather improves a little in the afternoon, the Luftwaffe cannot effectively go on the attack, as the VVS produce a "maximum effort", attacking German convoys all along the road between Chernygov and Pryluky. The German fighters, busy repelling these attacks, cannot protect its assault aircraft, especially since the air battles see the appearance of a new type of Russian fighter, the LaG-5 (Lavochkin-Gorbunov 5), which is more powerful than its predecessors.
At the end of the day, Pyryatyne is still in Soviet hands. The German tanks still have difficulty to move off the roads, which considerably limits their possibilities of maneuver. Advancing on predictable and frequently congested axes, the panzers are the prey of Soviet anti-tanks. To their great frustration, the German tankers can see small groups of T-34s moving easily through areas forbidden to German armor, adding insult to injury. In the evening, the cost of von Manstein's failure in front of Pyryatyne is high: more than 90 panzers are unusable (even if many will be effectively repaired, according to the German habit, the following days).
Guderian, very disappointed by this failure, also learns that Shuikov's troops, pushed back the previous days towards the west, are determined to launch between Pryluky and Pyryatyne what the German officers on the spot present as "probing shots". Further north, Shanchibadze, who regrouped the remains of his Mobile Group and Belov's cavalry is again harassing the German forces. Exhausted and decimated, the 2. PzG has to fight along its right flank for more than 100 km.

The Southern wing offensive - The weather of the day is easily summarized: it rains. The bad weather prevents any air activity. Worse, for the Germans: the roads - or rather the runways - are transformed into potholes.
From 05:30, German artillery strikes the Soviet lines. The response is delayed until 06:45, but it is quickly extremely violent and the Soviets give priority to counter-battery fire. The German artillerymen, forced to constantly move their guns, cannot avoid significant losses.
The tanks are now moving. The German engineers prepare the access roads and, at the beginning, the offensive breaks through the first Soviet lines without much difficulty. Kampfgruppe Hube reaches the threshold of the plateau and around 07:30, the panzers advanced towards Shpola. It is then that they are attacked by units of "Special Mortars". A real storm of rockets stops the Germans for an hour and a half, causing heavy losses, in particular in the 57. ID (Blümm). When the advance resumes, around 09:00, it is at a tortoise's pace, because the mud seems to cling to the tracks of the tanks and the boots of the men. Around 10:00, the German tanks are under fire from anti-tank weapons. Under a driving rain, the German tanks stick to the ground make easy targets; 31 are destroyed. Only the artillery forces the Soviets to retreat and to disperse, destroying many SU-45 or 57 self-propelled guns.
When the attack resumes, it is after noon. It is then that a new salvo of rockets falls on the most advanced German column, that of the 25. ID (mot) (Clößner), causing heavy losses.
Rokossovsky, who was preparing his own offensive, is surprised by the German attack. He needed time to reorganize and calls on General Popov. This one, with the agreement of Vassilievsky, ordered his 58th Army, on the right of Rokossovsky, to launch an attack to the southwest to flank the Germans.
Around 13:00, artillery fire breaks out on the left of the Germans. The attack, led by the 149th ID, is initially quite successful, but is later repulsed by the SS Wiking Division - but not without fixing a good part of the German infantry.
Around 15:30, as the panzers start the attack again, they are confronted with anti-tanks, but also with the armoured vehicles of the 76th Brigade. A confused battle begins, where the superiority of the Germans is largely negated by the terrain. Around 17:30, when the German command decides to stop the charges for the night, its forces have lost 27 more tanks, against 36 Soviet ones.
The German attack is only a third of the way to Shpola. However, convinced that the defenses are broken, Kleist decides to continue the offensive the next day.
In fact, on the Soviet side, the situation is perceived as very serious. Rokossovky has only one operational infantry division, the 201st, which he transferred from Zvenygorodka to the vanguard of the German attack. As for its armor, the 76th Brigade has 34 tanks (11 KV-I, 1 KV-II and 22 T-34) and the 72nd and 73rd, between them, only 41 (8 KV-1, 21 T-34 and 12 T-50). As for the 406th Anti-tank Brigade, it is reduced to 17 SU-45s, 7 SU-57s and 17 guns (11 x 57 mm and 6 x 45 mm).
He then decides to regroup the 75 surviving tanks into a single unit and to prepare for the next day. Warned, Konev orders the 181st Division to leave the Cherkassy fortified area, where it will be replaced by so-called "fortress" regiments, and to take position around Shpola.

High strategy - The scale and complexity of the operations required to contain the German offensive forces the Soviet high command to reshape its structure and redistribute the forces of the Western and Southwestern Strategic Directions. Both are to be coordinated by the Dnieper Soviet Oborony (DSO, Council of Defense of the Dnieper), formed by the heads of these Directorates, Generals Zhukov and Vassilievsky, and Marshal Shaposhnikov, representing the Stavka (and often assisted by Antonov, given his precarious health). This new command structure is intended to improve the coordination of forces in the entire region.
The Soviets thus achieve unity of command in the entire Typhoon sector.
This unity, which was sorely lacking in the Germans, torn between Guderian and Kleist, is to give a real strategic advantage to the Soviets, who will now be able to conduct their defense in a unified manner. As part of this reorganization, Vassilievsky is assigned the 3rd Ukrainian Front, composed of units of the Stavka reserve: the 56th and 57th Armies, stationed in Rostov-on-Don. These two armies, officially transferred during the day, will be deployed in the Poltava region. Also, the former "Kaluga Front", in theory attached to the Stavka, is placed in practice under the control of the DSO.

 

[Wings]

October 3rd, 1942

Avanhard (west of Odessa) - After exactly one month of fighting (the clashes began on September 3rd), the 14th ID of General Stravrescu seizes Avanhard, key to the third line of defense of Odessa. From this position, a little more than 7 km from the city center, the XXX. ArmeeKorps of von Salmuth can attempt to seize the Odessa airport to the southeast, or advance to the more urbanized areas to the east.

 

[Wings]

October 3rd, 1942

Operation Torch - D-Day+14
Endgame in the West
The remnants of the 26th Assietta Division and the few paratroopers who had managed to escape from Castellammare to reach the Corleone-Prizzi pocket surrender in the morning. Between the Assietta, the Folgore and other units, the Allies take a total of 22,000 prisoners in western Sicily. They could have taken more, but many of the soldiers from the territorial units changed into civilian clothes and simply went home.
This surrender allows the Allied troops to speed up their redeployment.
.........
Bombing in the east
The allied planes continue the bombing of the "Etna line", but also of Messina (attacked by B-24 of the USAAF) and Nicosia. On the coast, the 3rd Coastal Fire Support Squadron arrives in Syracuse to support Montgomery's new offensive.
.........
More than one day of calm
De Gaulle, Minister of War, visits Delestraint at his HQ in Enna and Montgomery, in Syracuse. In the evening, Enna hosts a new staff meeting. General Frère supervises the preparation of phase 2 of Torch, called "Operation Trident" because of the three axes of progression planned. The date of the attack is set for October 5th.

 

[Wings]

October 4th, 1942

Near Rome - This time, it is in a small house of the Roman suburbs placed at their disposal by Count Solaro del Borgo that Marie-José and Montini meet to keep each other informed of their respective steps. Whereas Hoare gave an answer largely similar to Taylor regarding Italy's eventual exit from the war, the response from the French was much colder: Wladimir d'Ormesson made it known, with much detours, that Algiers would wait to see what the Italians would really do and which team would succeed Mussolini, before deciding its attitude... Faced with the acceleration of events, the two plotters agree to meet again much more regularly, two or three times a week.
The Princess is unaware, however, that Hoare had sent a detailed report to London, in which he feels that the King had compromised too much with fascism and that the Crown Prince lacks stature. In it he advocates a regency for Marie-José, with the little prince as successor and general Badoglio as the strong man to support her. He believes to know that a good number of Italian personalities would support such a configuration: "The Princess is very popular and understands politics much better than her husband," he says.

 

[Wings]

October 4th, 1942

Headquarters of the Kriegsmarine, Berlin - Appointed Grand Admiral a few days earlier, Dönitz signs the order for twelve Type-XVIIB submarines (U-1405 to U-1416) and twelve other Type-XVIIG submarines (U-1081 to U-1092), almost identical and derived from the Type-XVIIA (only the number of Walter turbines varies). Another order is for two Type-XVIII units (U-796 and U-797), which it is hoped will become formidable ocean-going submarines.
In charge of shipbuilding, Admiral Fuchs, taking up an argument put forward by Dönitz himself on several occasions, tries to oppose what he considers to be a waste of resources. It is not the new head of the Ubootwaffe, Admiral Eberhard Godt, who comes to his aid - he knows only too well to whom he ows his position. The only recourse to oppose the Grand Admiral would be to refer to the Führer himself, but the latter is said to be somewhat concerned - the word is weak - by the Eastern Front.

 

[Wings]

October 4th, 1942

Milne Bay area - In the morning, a Ki-46 (Dinah) comes to recognize Mullins Harbour. To the surprise of the Japanese, it finds only one cargo shipwreck instead of three. All day long, Army planes bomb the improvised harbour in an attempt to destroy the supplies unloaded the day before, but these were carefully dispersed and hidden.
Around noon, General Savige arrives at Brigadier Fields' headquarters on the heights, very displeased that his subordinate had not come to meet him. But his anger evaporates when he discovers that Fields had been leading the defense against a major Japanese offensive all night long.
The Imperial Army threw three infantry battalions into the battle, supported by an armored battalion (12 tanks and 6 assault guns). The Australian position held. Only the most advanced lines fell to the enemy. The fighting around "Bloody Saddle", as the pass was soon to be known, was so intense that the Australian 25-pounders were down to 20 rounds per tube. But Fields' 7th Brigade held on.
The Brigadier explains to his superior that hand-to-hand fighting had continued most of the night and that the 15th Brigade - or at least the few combat-capable men it had - would soon launch a counter-attack to recover the few positions still held by the Japanese.
When Savige goes to the 15th Brigade's starting positions, he is appalled by the condition of the men. "They looked more like skeletons in torn and filthy uniforms, than soldiers," he recalled in his memoirs. "The battalions were down to 150 men. I was very surprised at their high morale and even their optimism. Fields explained to me that it was only the intervention of about 20 tanks that had allowed the Japanese to penetrate so deeply into our defenses. Our own few tanks were reduced to the role of bunkers due to lack of fuel and spare parts, but they had been able to destroy half of the Japanese machines. Most of them were light Ha-Go tanks, but there were also assault guns whose presence had been for our men a very bad surprise for our men, because their armament was more powerful than that of the Ha-Go. These assault guns had destroyed many of our bunkers and several of our last tanks. (...)
The counter-attack achieved its objectives, which is not to say that the victory was easy. In spite of my experience of the First War, I was amazed by the sheer animal ferocity of the fighting. The Japanese simply did not back down at all, defending every clump of grass and clod of mud with the rage of a tigress protecting her cubs. The young soldiers impressed me even more. As I questioned one of them, whom I had seen shoot with pistols two Japanese who were throwing themselves at him with bayonets, he told me that all this was normal and that the Germans must have fought much harder during the Other War. I understood that our men, unaware of "normal" warfare, accepted the extraordinary ferocity of this struggle as a banal routine.
But it was since those battles that the pass where the 7th Brigade was entrenched was renamed "Bloody Saddle." (General Sir Thomas Savige, To the Everlasting Glory of the Infantry: Milne Bay, Plataea Press, Sydney 1965)
Once the last living Japanese have been driven from the positions temporarily surrendered the previous night, Savige goes to Fields' HQ for an initial planning session. It will take weeks of preparation before the AMF can mount an effective attack.However, these weeks will be valuable in discovering what the new amphibious vehicles can really do, which could prove to be a masterful asset.

 

[Wings]

October 4th, 1942

Guadalcanal - During the night, two trawlers and two barges escorted by two submarine hunters accomplish a supply mission on the Japanese side without incident. They bring mainly food and artillery ammunition.
On the Allied side, on the contrary, the mission of the APD HMAS Stuart is disrupted by the intervention of two E13A1 seaplanes. One releases flares while the other attacks. Its four 60 kg bombs surround the Stuart and sink two small Higgins boats unloading the converted destroyer. The flak from the tug USS Seminole chases the two seaplanes, damaging one of them.
On land, while the 2nd Japanese Division is preparing its attack, the Americans are completing the reorganization of their position. At that moment, they have on Guadalcanal the whole 1st Division of the USMC (1st, 5th and 7th Rgt [infantry], 11th Rgt [artillery]), plus the 2nd Rgt (of the 2nd USMC Division) and some additional units: an Australian armored company (which was not used on the Tulagi side), heavy artillery units for beach defense, engineering units, etc.
The so-called Matanikau front (although no one knows for sure if the river so called is the one that officially bears that name) is now held by the 1st Marines Rgt. commanded by Colonel Puller, a sort of archetypal Marine, already copiously decorated. As soon as he is installed, he orders his men to multiply the patrols and does not hesitate to spend several hours on the front line every day. On a less martial level he demands that his men not roll up the sleeves and trouser legs of their uniforms, and he demands from the staff the supply of mosquito nets!
.........
Shortland Islands - Eight B-17s attack the Japanese convoy spotted and already attacked the day before, which unloads its cargo. Their bombardment is once again ineffective. Six Ki-44 based at Buin try to intercept them, but they cannot attack the bombers had dropped their bombs and their firepower is insufficient to worry the four-engine aircraft.

Truk - After emergency repairs, the CVE Taiyo sails for Japan, where it must go to the Kure shipyard.

Yokosuka - The submarines I-10, 17, 21, 25, 27 and 29 arrive at the main shipyard of the Imperial Navy. They need to be completely overhauled after the very long trip made to attack the Panama Locks (Operation Oni 3).

 

[Wings]

October 4th, 1942

Rangoon - While Belgian troops are working wonders in Sicily, others are landing in Burma. These are the first elements of the reinforced brigade of the Force Publique put at the disposal of the Allies by the Belgian government to the Allies in the fight against Japan. These men had already played a great role in East Africa, where it was partly their intervention that allowed Khartoum to be saved. The decision to send them to Burma was based on their exploits in Sudan and Ethiopia, but also on the fact that the jungle is a well-known environment for them. Indeed, the acclimatization in Burma will not be a big problems for the Congolese, nor for their Belgian colonial managers.