Episode 643-Battle of Bloody Ridge

Hey there, I'm Travis Hoyam, one of the hosts of Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing. Each weekday on Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing, we talk through the business news you need to know and the stories moving stocks on Wall Street. On weekends, we game plan personal finance strategies and dive into the industry's shaping

tomorrow and host the experts, authors, and executives that understand them. Tune in for insights and a long-term perspective on investing and, of course, stock ideas, plenty of them. To quote a listener, it pays to listen.

Check us out and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Hello, and thank you for listening to the History of World War II podcast, episode 643, The Battle of Bloody Ridge. Last time, despite the Cactus Air Force's best efforts, the Japanese were able to land thousands of men on Guadalcanal to the east and west of Henderson Field. With that done, they both moved

towards each other to the south of the Americans, but this was done after a segment of the arriving Japanese were attacked and decimated by the Marine raiders and parachutists who had been sent east by four vessels. Still, Kawaguchi was readying his men to take Henderson Field, though he failed in his due diligence beforehand. No matter, his men's blades and their superior warrior spirit would make

up the difference. Not that the Japanese commander was all that worried about not succeeding. After all his superiors had told him, he only faced 2,000 marines versus the actual number of that plus at least 10,000 more. Another mistake made by the Japanese was when Kawaguchi decided to take Henderson Field rather than just make sure the Americans could not use it. A far easier affair,

but his decision had been made. And lastly, some of his men had been on the island for a month and their inadequate food was starting to show its effects. But at least the jungle between himself and the airfield was thick enough that his approach should be camouflaged. And really, all that mattered was him having a numerical superiority at the point of contact, making all

those other Marines somewhere else meaningless. By September 7th, Kabaguchi had his attack plan in place. That was when he had just over 5,000 men with him east of the airstrip and Colonel Oka with another 1,000 men to the west. Oka and his were to have hit the American perimeter on its southwest corner, but events would dictate him coming more from the east, while Kawaguchi,

having split his men into five battalions of 650 men each, would approach from the south and southeast, which should be enough to overwhelm the marine defensive line. As for the southeasterly approach, not only would that be carried out by Colonel Ichiki's 2nd Battalion, the Bear Battalion, led by Major Mizuno, but it would have artillery support, thus ensuring its success. After puncturing

the American line, the Bear Battalion, as it was called, would head due north, not towards the airfield, but rather up the western side of Alligator Creek. Not only would this destroy the enemy forces there, but it would avenge the deceased Ichiki. That, of course, could have waited, but again, the decision had been made. Then Kawaguchi, in the same headspace that pushed

him to plan out the surrender ceremony before the battle, also called on the Navy to not only bombard Henderson Field starting September 9th, but he wanted the Navy to make sure that the surviving Americans did not escape. Thus, while cruisers and destroyers shelled the Americans, the combined fleet would be ready to dash south from truck to stop any American naval rescue,

which activity the Americans picked up on. Then came a confused mix of messages between Kawaguchi and his superiors. He was told to launch the attack ASAP, but between the heavy Reigns and Edson's raiders attacking one of the last landing parties back on September 8th, covered last time, to the east of Henderson Field, the operation was again pushed back.

But after Edson's raid, the intelligence papers they had brought back to Vandegrift made it clear there was going to be another attack, and soon. But then came a disagreement. Edson looked at the papers and said, the enemy has at least 4,000 men. But then Colonel Gerald Thomas, the division's operations officer, asked him the more pertinent question, from which

direction would they attack? To this, Edson reached out and touched the map and said, this looks like a good approach. He was pointing to a ridge about one mile south of the airfield. The raised area was about a thousand yards along itself and resembled a four-legged animal, which had its head pointing to the south, its tail just below the western end of the airstrip. This animal's head

was 80 feet above sea level, designated hill 60. Its spine was 120 feet above sea level, designated hill 124, and to each side of the spine was a height, thus the Japanese called it a centipede. This belief of where the attack would come from was taken to Vandegrift by Thomas and Edson, which directly flew in the face of what the commanding officer believed. In fact, on that day,

September 9th, the Marine commander had just finished moving his headquarters from a location northwest of the airfield to the centipede's left rear leg. Edson then respectfully told his superior that you have just moved to a dangerous location, to which Van de Grift replied, I might not always be right, but I'm always the general. Irrefutable logic. Kawaguchi matched

Vandegrift's mistake with his own. Traveling through the jungle to reach a position south of the enemy was harder and took longer than expected. This was because of the need to avoid marine and scout patrols and not to be spotted by enemy aircraft, which would bring its own hell. Kawaguchi delayed the attack, and he would delay it again.

With updates coming in each day about Japanese troop movement, the Marines were shifting around to be ready, in part meaning Edson took his raiders and parachutists, all specialists, south of the airfield and ended up on Centipede Ridge.