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1. Introduction

The SPWAW-8.1 Chronosporter is not really a time machine. It's not possible to go into one's own past. However, it has been shown that universes travel through time like particles travel through space, and it is sometimes possible to travel to a universe that is very close to a time/space that we were once in.

Just as in space, there are vast regions of time where there is no universe. Those who want to travel back in time to see which story of Jesus is most accurate ('New
Testament' vs. 'Life of Brian') are out of luck.

At the same time, just as with particles in space, universes in time 'clump'. As luck would have it, a significant clump of alternative universes occupy the region of time/space from 1920 to 1950. There are literally hundreds of places to visit.

Now that the chronosporter is ready, I have decided that the first place that I wanted to visit was Tulagi. There is a universe traversing that point in time/space, and it is travelling a course parallel to our own history that the two should track each other for a while.

In the heat of battle, nobody is going to pay any attention to an extra person running around, as long as he is in the right uniform. I dressed to play a role of a sniper, since they were generally considered loners and left alone by other soldiers.

On my way to the Chronosporter, I took a peek through the window of the next room. There, engineers were putting the final touches on the 8.2 model. It promised to be able to bubble individuals more precisely into the area they most wanted to visit, as long as there was a universe nearby to visit.

I could not wait. I stepped into the SPWAW-8.1 Chronosporter.


2. Arrival

I had arranged to bubble in at a moment when things would be too hectic for people to be bothered asking too many questions; about 6:30 in the morning of August 7, 1942.

Immediately, I recognized that the universe that I had bubbled into was some distance from the historical fact. Instead of sending in the whole of 1st Battalion, 2d Marines, only Company B under Captain Russell was going to shore. Even the leader of the company was not the same; Captain Edward J. Crane was the historical leader of Company B.

With this landing force, I began to wonder if intelligence had revealed a smaller Japanese occupation force than was historically present as well. 250 U.S. Marines attacking 500 Japanese defenders did not strike me as an enjoyable way to spend a weekend.

Though I found some comfort in seeing Wildcat fighters and Dauntless bombers, presumably from the U.S.S. Wasp, over the island, I expected to see a plume of white smoke rising up off of the southeast end of the island. It was not there. I tried to convince myself that this supported my theory; we would not be going up against as many Japanese.

Captain Russell gave me permission to work independent of any other unit, and assigned me to a boat with a recon unit under Lieutenant Diaz and a team of artillery spotters. Lieutenant Diaz looked at me suspiciously, then went back to giving preliminary instructions to his men.


3. The Approach

At 7:00 we headed off for the island. I sat down, my back against the wall. A stream of images went through my head. In one, a shell from something like a 40mm gun punctured the side of the boat and went through me. In another, a mortar shell bounced on the floor before exploding. I began to ask myself, "Why am I doing this?"

The air was filled with sounds. Above us, an umbrella of airplanes offered protection from Japanese aircraft, pummeled defenses on the island, and radioed information back to the command ships. That information was, hopefully, making its way to Captain Russell. I could hear, not only the sound of the LTV that I was riding, but the sounds of the four craft that surrounded us. On top of that, there was the sound of soldiers around me preparing for battle.

There was surprisingly little conversation. Everybody sat silently and contemplated their own role in what was about to happen. Some prayed. Some cried. Some wrote. Some rechecked their equipment. Team leaders went over orders with their teams. of Lieutenant Diaz went to each unit in turn, listening to each person and providing them with assurance.

Once we were on the way, he could speak freely. Nobody was going to transmit what he said to the enemy. The center of the island held a village. The heart of the Japanese defenses was expected to be in the hills behind the village. Diaz showed a map with a large Japanese flag painted on the hills overlooking the village symbol. That is where the marines were heading.

Listening taught me yet another difference between this landing and the landing of history. Captain Russell, apparently, had protested against a landing that would have him facing enemy in three directions. He insisted on landing on the west side of the island, and sweeping the long, narrow piece of land from one side to the other.

Historically, the assault force landed on beaches nearer the center of the island, but had faced little resistance on their left, in the area we were landing. Russell wanted to avoid the village and the open beaches, expecting the enemy to have planned for an assault there.

He wanted to travel along the spine of the island and approach the enemy defenses from the west. The scout units would find out what was in the village.

Diaz's unit consisted of three four-man teams. He plotted three routes to the village on his map. Team C was ordered to move along the coast, eventually reaching the beaches that would have been the sight of the original landing. Team A would move along slightly further inland, scouting the region between the beach and the village. Team C was to go to the village itself.


4. The Landing

The boat lurched, then crawled up onto a coral reef. It moved ahead a few meters, then dropped back into the water. A few meters further, and it moved up onto the sand. The door fell open, and soldiers rushed out onto dry sand. Diaz pointed to three locations to the west, and his teams rushed off to them.

I shouldered my rifle and moved off toward the same shelter that Team A was heading for, only I allowed them to get there first. Behind me, Company B was getting its platoons organized and preparing for its own push to the north.

The scouts moved out quickly at first, then hunkered down as they got further ahead of the infantry. I continued to follow, finding shelter as I could.

Just as we were starting to move out, the island rumbled with explosions that sounded like a volcano going off. Our support ships were opening up on the ridgeline to my left, where the main company would travel. Some of those shells were landing behind me, close enough to threaten to create some friendly fire casualties. At the same time, the enemy was lobbing shells at a destroyer that had come in close to provide cover fire. Better them than us, I thought.

The Forward Observer team from the Campbelltown caught up with me. Since they had a radio, I was able to learn what was going on with the rest of the battle. It turned out that 3rd Platoon, the company's heavy weapons platoon, was scattered along the beach and was spending some time getting organized. Also, Company Headquarters landed on one of the flanks, and was moving toward the center where it would have more protection.

There had been no sign of the enemy other than the firing on the Campbelltown, and no casualties to report yet.

The squads continued to move forward, slowly -- too slowly for Captain Russell. Orders came down the line to move ahead a little faster, so that we can clean up as much of the island as possible by sundown.

The sound of an explosion just off to my right nearly launched me out of my skin. An Alligator, moving up through the clearing on my right side, stopped in the middle of a cloud of dust and the crew bailed out the sides. There was another shot, landing futher to the right where I could not see it.

Immediately the Observation Group got its maps out and started shouting on the radio. Nobody saw the gun, but Lieutenant Isaac took all the information he could get on where the shots had come from. He triangulated out and picked a spot on the hill behind the village; a spot that had a clear line of sight to the whole of the western approach to the town.

He got on his radio and ordered artillery to fire into the hillside.

The battle was starting to heat up.


5. The First Battle

Just north of where I was sitting, Recon B entered a thick cluster of trees. I saw the four members of the crew enter. Then I heard the shouts and the sounds of rifles. Seconds later, three people emerged; one of them being carried out by his buddy, and the other lobbing smoke grenades and taking random shots into the trees.

They hid behind an Alligator that had crawled up next to the tree line. This was the same Alligator its crew had abandoned earlier; that crew had gathered up its nerve and returned to its vehicle. Recon B signalled that there was at least a full company set up in the trees, and perhaps more. Troops, in the heat of battle, were prone to exaggerate.

On the far slopes of the hill, the gun emplacement and the area around it was taking a pounding from naval artillery and mortar fire. With that job taken care of, Lieutenant Isaacs was reading coordinates off of the map for the copse of trees that Recon B had just came from.

This was the same trees that 2nd Platoon was supposed to occupy as it moved up behind the village. It was almost in position. I took my rifle and headed forward.

I did not want to get too close out of fear of where the mortars might hit. I was surprised at how well mortars could hit an unseen target from a grid coordinate. Every once in a while, I saw flames among the branches inside the jungle. The artillery landed spot on.

Then 2nd Platoon moved forward from the left. There was a furious fight inside the trees. All I could see was smoke. I prepared to shoot, and looked for a target. The battle, however, quickly moved away from me, and toward the north. I shouldered my rifle and prepared to follow.

Among the smoke and the trees, I could see only a few feet. I stumbled into the defenses that the Japanese had prepared. I saw only bodies. To my left, I heard American voices and the sound of infantry. I shouted a recognition sign; they shouted back. 2nd Platoon had taken the Japanese emplacement without taking a scratch. I followed them to the edge of the forest, where they could look out into the village.

The Recon group with their Alligators moved into the heart of the village without any further difficulty. The village was empty, and if the Japanese had sought to turn it into a killing field the firing on the hill seems to have disrupted those plans. The village was in our control as well. All that remained was the assault on the hill.


6. On the Hill

Casualties so far had been light, but Captain Russell was beginning to worry about time. The company would have to be in position by nightfall, and we were still a long ways away from clearing the hill overlooking the village.

It turned out that the gun that we thought we had silenced was not silenced at all. As 1st Platoon made its way along the side of the hill, a loud crack echoed off of the hillside, and an explosion erupted where 1st Platoon's lead elements were standing. The platoon ducked for cover and opened fire on the gun. The gun continued to explode shells among the infantry.

Eventually, an alligator showed up among the infantry. I expected to see the gun turn its attention on the AFV, but the gun remained silent.

At the same time, 2nd Platoon was approaching the same area from the bottom of the hill. It took a bit of exertion, but they got to a position where they could see the gun emplacement and had them within rifle range. The gun was now being hit by two sides.

Eventually, the gun made no more noise, and I felt sure it was silenced for good this time.

The gun was not on the hill alone. There was also a machinegun nest, making an effort to protect the gun. Some of the raiders that had no clear line of fire to the gun could still target the machine gun, and did. Through the scope of my rifle, I saw the machine gunners pick up their weapons and run off to the east.


7. Time

When time starts to run short, people have to take risks. Infantry and Alligators moved quickly through the town below the hill, and along the hill, to clear out the defenders.

As a result of moving more rapidly, we began to take more losses.

Moving through the town, an Alligator got within the crosshairs of a second gun on the hill. It announced its presence with a shot that sent Alligator parts flying all over the east side of town. Recon B tried to get into position to see where the gun was at. It, too, had to move quickly, and the gun crew saw the scouts. As scouts climbed into a building where it had a good line of sight, the gun made splinters of the building. Recon B lost another one of its members.

On the hillside, one of the Alligators put its vehicle into gear and charged ahead -- far ahead of the rest of the line. It came across a dug-in squad of Japanese infantry, which opened fire at point-blank range. The Alligator survived, surprisingly, but came to a sudden stop.

The rest of its platoon rushed ahead as well to try to protect it. An alligator seeking to move into position on its left flank took a hit from a different Japanese squad, who slaughtered the crew, though they left the vehicle largely intact.

The Alligator Charge had been stopped. This gave the infantry a chance to move up, while mortar fire was called in on the enemy positions. However, neither arrived fast enough. The Alligator that had started the charge across the hillside took a mass of machine-gun and rifle fire that was successful at silencing it.

The mortar fire and the infantry both arrived at about the same time, and together they had a devistating effect.

2nd Platoon moved forward against the squad that had silenced the charging Alligator. As they moved ahead, they managed to get into position to fire on the remaining gun that had fired down on the village. They silenced the gun, and managed to drive the infantry back.

1st Platoon moved up on the left, at the squad that had destroyed the Alligator on that side of the hill. They hit, just as the last of the mortars quit falling, and drove those Japanese back as well.

The enemy was retreating right into a line of naval gunfire. The gunfire was called in a bit too close to frienly lines for comfort. I worried about the possibility of friendly fire casualties. However, the shells kept their distance, and pummeled the east side of the hill.


8. Conclusion

With the artillery barrage, enemy resistance on the hill came to an end. Captain Russell's orders were to consolidate our position, prepare defenses, and wait for nightfall.

In clearing our half of the island we had lost 25 people, killed and wounded. In addition, 3 Alligators were lost beyond repair. They were scavenged for spare parts in order to fix the others. As soon as we had the machines back in working order, Battalion headquarters took them away from us.

We estimated 74 enemy soldiers killed in our assault; a 3 to 1 kill ratio, which is not bad for an attacking force. Captain Russell saw it that way, though his superiors had seen it different. They reported that he had moved too slowly in taking his objectives, and left the enemy in a much stronger position at nightfall than they should have been.

I guess, it was all a matter of perspective.

WOW![&o]

I love you!

M4 Jess

Wow Thayne, really great read!!

Register at The Depot! Post an awesome AAR there!

www.spwaw.com goto forums!!


Goblin

So, when does the book come out.

Any movie deals yet!

JD

Word of warning Thayne: postings of this caliber could get you invited** onto the team of a future project.

** = 'invited' might be a little misleading....shanghaied...yeah, that's the word I was looking for.
You might also want to change 'team' to 'chain gang'.
[;)]

Great job, Thayne. Original presentation, combining a bit of science fiction with counterfactual history. You also picked my favorite theater of war. I'll give it three and a half stars (out of four). Now, if you want to move on to Guadalcanal --- we're waiting in breathless anticipation. [&o]

For a new person such as me to receive such praise from such distinguished veterans . . . I am truly honored.

I write for the pleasure of those who may read it. I am pleased that I was able to provide some entertainment.

Tracer, do you have an actual invitation in mind?

KG Erwin, are you placing a request for a particular series of stories? Do you have something specific in mind?

Thayne

9. Break

There is a moment, after a battle, where there is time to think about what just happened and to say, "Wow!, I'm alive!". It is a joyful rush, though heavily tinged with guilt, because so many were not able to share it.

That is the moment that soldiers start to tell their war stories, their great escapes and their lucky shots. Of course, every one of those stories had a reasonably happy ending; they were told from the view point of somebody who survived. We will never hear what those who died had to say about the battle.

Captain Russell gave us little time to rest. He sent the scouts out to the east to warn of any impending counter-attack, then set the rest of the company to work. A squad from Second Platoon was put in charge of the prisoners until they could be hauled off the island. There were not many of those; the Japanese seemed to prefer surrender to death. Additional units were put in charge of the dead, governing the village, and latrine duty. Guards were posted. However, the vast majority of the soldiers were put to work building up defenses.

We were soon sweating in the humid August heat digging foxholes, stacking logs and dirt into breastworks, and running communication wire for a line of defense that would cut across the island from north to south.


10. Layout

Second Platoon, which did most of the fighting during the day, took the left flank. Its line started at the north coast and went up the north slope of the spine of the island, and part way down the south slope. Russell had them set up in a line of trees, looking out into an open field where possible.

Captain Russell was concerned about not having enough troops to hold a continuous line. He decided to gamble, and put his headquarters units on the line between Second Platoon and First Platoon. They occupied the southern slope of the spine.

First Platoon then built its line from the foot of the spine across the open field west of the village. Ahead of them, they had a clear line of fire to the tree line.

The company salvaged a pair of 30 caliber machine guns and ammunition from the Alligators that did not survive the battle. Russell gave these to Lieutenant Diaz's scout groups and had them continue the line to the right of First Platoon. His orders to Diaz were to send his scouts forward, as usual, to detect any Japanese assault. However, if they detected an assault, to retreat to the main line of defense and man the machine guns.

Third Platoon, the heavy weapons platoon, filled the line from the village to the southern coast. Its machine guns would have their maximum effect on the open ground ahead of them. They zeroed their mortars in on the tree line that any attackers were certain to use for cover.

Third platoon's line ended in a small clump of trees right on the beach. This was the place I selected for my position.

The defensive line, then, from north to south, was:

• 2nd Platoon
• Headquarters Units
• 1st Platoon
• Scouts Unit (with machine guns)
• 3rd Platoon (heavy weapons unit)
• Me, the sniper.

In building this line, Captain Russell was giving up a large strip of land won from the Japanese that day. Soldiers could not help but speculate as to his motive. The dominant theory was that Captain Russell did not want to be where the enemy expected him to be. By pulling his troops back a few hundred yards, the enemy may make some bad guesses as to how he had set up his defenses. The other theory is that he felt a hundred yards or so of open ground would be harder to charge across.


11. Transformation

Battalion took the Alligators back at the earliest opportunity. They needed the amphibious craft to make landings on other nearby islands. However, they did bring us a pair of 75mm guns to take their place, and an artillery crew to spot for them.

Russell was expecting the enemy to counter-attack along the spine, where the cover would allow the enemy to get closer to his defenses before exposing themselves. Therefore, he spent the afternoon sighting the guns in on the side of the hill.

Battalion also saw fit to supply us with reinforcements. It took troops from the reserve units and added them to the squads to bring them nearly up to strength. Unfortunately, the work in the afternoon heat took a few more soldiers out of action. They soon found themselves in a village house that had been taken over for a company hospital, being treated for heat exhaustion and other maladies.

By the time darkness fell, we were well set to receive a Japanese attack. I could only assume that they were doing the same in preparing for us. I imagined this battle, unlike the original battle of Tulagi, turning into an example of conventional trench warfare, with the two forces facing each other across a ditch that cut the island in two.

The Japanese commander, however, had other plans.


12. Night

Night brought no relief from the heat; just darkness. The tree line ahead of me slowly transformed to a wall of shadow. Even through the scope of my rifle, I could see little.

There was sand everywhere -- in my shoes, in my pants, and in my rifle. I could not get comfortable, and longed for a hot shower and a good meal in an air-conditioned room, followed by a visit to a soft bed. I knew that, in less than a day, I would be able to have all of that. These marines would have to stay here for a while.

First, they would have to survive the night.

Just after dark, Sergeant Jenkins, the commander of the machine gun emplacement closest to me, sent one of his soldiers over to tell me that the enemy was moving toward us. The recon squads had been called back and were ready at their machine guns. He had no idea how many there were, or where they would attack. I was told to just wait, and to kill anything that stuck its head out of the trees.

I looked at the trees and wondered how I was supposed to tell whether anybody had come out of them. I had visions of a Japanese soldier, crawling out of the forest on his belly, knife in hand, heading for my trees. He would see me and approach quietly. I would not know he was there until I felt his blade penetrate my ribs or kidney or cut across my throat.

I fought the images aside, and a wave of nausea that accompanied them. Instead, I took the scope from my rifle and studied the trees through it.

Nothing.

There was the sound of the jungle -- the nighttime noises of birds and bugs. There was the sound of the waves beside me falling onto the beach and then running back to the sea. I wanted to shout them all into silence, so I could hear what the Japanese were doing.

As it turns out, I did not need the scouts to tell us that the enemy was making an assault. The enemy did it for us, with an artillery barage. I saw a spark of wisdom in Captain Russell's plan to build his line further back than expected; the artillery landed short. We sat safely in our defenses and watched the show.

After the original barrage, there were a few moments of silence. White knuckled fingers gripped machine guns and rifles.

The waiting continued.

I wrapped the strap of my rifle around my forearm and aimed at the trees.

And waited.

The next shells to land were our own. I did not know if somebody had seen something, or Captain Russell was simply interested in softening up the enemy or, at least, giving them something to think about. The shells landed on the near slope of the hill in front of the headquarters units, where Russell was expecting the main assault. I think that he just got nervous.


13. First Blood

The first shots came from up the hill. From where I sat, I could see the muzzle flashes of the American M1 rifles and submachine guns. The Japanese answered in kind. However, the Americans had fire supremacy, at least for now.

The battle grew, like a fire, from a small flame gaining speed and light as it found more fuel. It grew from the scattered shots of a single squad to the determined defense by all of First Platoon against an equally long line of enemy attackers.

Then, Jenkin's machine gun opened up next to me. I ducked, out of reflex. It took a moment for me to remember my position. I looked up and over to the tree line, where I saw the muzzle flashes of Japanese guns. Here, as well, the fight grew from a few shots exchanged between squads to a full fledged war that involved all of Third Platoon and some of the scouts.

While we fired, I heard a deep rumbling off to my right. Out to sea, I could see the gun flashes of the Campbelltown. Its shells landed in the forest, behind the tree line. I could only hope that it was doing something to disrupt the assault.

However, the bulk of the artillery power continued to pound the mountain side. Shells from the 75mm guns that had been brought to the island, and from the Buchanan at sea, lit up the slope.

We were not the only ones with artillery. Japanese mortars landed on the northern side of Third platoon and among the machine gun scouts. The shells did little damage against entrenched infantry -- except for the occasional lucky shot. However, the Japanese could fire a lot of shots, creating a lot of opportunity for luck.

The battle was truly on.

I leveled my rifle, and searched for targets. Through the scope, I saw so many Japanese, it was hard to make up my mind who to shoot.


14. Waves

Man, there were a lot of Japs. The equivalent of a full platoon came out of the trees and stood within rifle range. Sergeant Jenkins held the trigger down on his machine gun and swept the planes ahead of him. However, the Japanese had numbers on their side. A few fell, but a countless hoard kept standing, and their numbers looked like they were increasing all the time.

The right half of Third Platoon was facing Japanese I could not see, I knew only from their fire that they had something to shoot at; and that something was shooting back. If the rest of the platoon was in the same position we were, this meant we could easily be facing an entire enemy company on our own.

Well, to be honest, we were not entirely on our own. Somebody knew of our predicament -- somebody with a radio and authority to use it -- and called for naval support. Shells landed behind the tree line. At the same time, Third Platoon dropped its own mortars on the squads it could see in and in front of the tree line.

While all of this was going on, the attack against First Platoon also continued. That half of the battle drew the naval fire from a second support ship, and continued to use the support of the two 75mm guns.

The Japanese assault there was not posing any serious threat; there were enough defenders to deal with the numbers of enemy soldiers that they could see at any one time.


15. The Center

The Japanese began to put pressure on the marines in a third location. Enemy soldiers, backed with artillery, started to fire on the link between the scouts to the south, and the right flank of First Platoon.

That part of the line started to weaken, then to buckle. I could tell from the location of the gun flashes that the right side of First Platoon was falling back. The Japanese continued to fire light and medium mortar shells on the region -- one shell after another, driving the defenders further back.

I did not have time to consider what was happening against the center of the American defenses for long. Straight across from me, the Japanese continued to stand in at least platoon strength. They were firing, almost to a man, on the machine gun that Sergeant Jenkins commanded

The machine gun continued to answer, but it did not answer well. It was hard to tell among the flashes of light, but it looked as if only one man remained in that group. He knelt behind his weapon and poured a stream of lead into the Japanese line. that one marine with a machine gun, and me with my rifle, stood facing a full platoon of Japanese infantry.

This was not going well.


16. Drive

Looking out over the ocean, I could see two squads of infantry trying to outflank me. They were moving out to the waves of the ocean itself, to move around my position.

I took a shot. It was all they needed. I assume that somebody saw my muzzle flash, or took a lucky guess that the shot had come from the only shelter in the region. Soon, I was their target.

I ducked behind my wall of sand and trees. Bullets hissed past me and thumped into the logs at my back. Sand flew up from the ground like fountains, and splinters of wood rained down. I thought of retreating, but I could not leave the sole survivor of the machine gun squadron facing the enemy alone.

The Japanese took care of that dilemma for me soon enough. The loan survivor on the machine gun flew back from a bullet to his head or chest. The machine gun sat idle.

Now, it was just me facing a platoon of Japanese infantry. I decided to retreat. I fell back to a point just to the right of the next machine gun nest. There, I lay down in the sand and sought my next target.

Third Platoon was facing the same problem on its left flank that I was witnessing on its right. Japanese infantry, with the help of concentrated mortar fire, had taken out at least one of the machine gun nests that the scouts had set up, and was putting pressure on the next one in line. They were driving a wedge between the scouts that occupied the machine guns on Lieutenant Hooper's left, and the right-most squads of First Platoon.

The enemy was in a position where a bit more pressure would allow them to islate Third Platoon, surround it on three sides, and destroy it.

I asked myself again, "Why am I doing this?"


17. Another One Gone

The Japanese infantry that had been firing on me and which eliminated Jenkin's position shifted their attention to the next machine gun in line. This was Sergeant O'Hearn. O'Hern did not last nearly as long as Jenkins. Like their comrades in the first emplacement, these Marines did not run. They were shot to pieces. The right flank -- my flank -- truly was failing.

If there was any bright spot in our situation it was in the fact that Third Platoon did have its own artillery, and did not have to wait for authority from the Captain to use it. However, Captain Russell seemed to be gaining an appreciation of the situation. He dedicated one of the support ships to our defense. It was better than nothing.


18. Pressure

For all practical purposes, our defensive line had been shrunk from seven units to three -- the Third Platoon headquarters, with one remaining machine gun emplacement on its left, and some scouts manning a salvaged machine gun next to them. Two machine gun teams on the right, and two scout teams with machine guns on the left, had all given up their positions, or were too busy hiding to be of much use.

Captain Russell was now focusing every piece of artillery that still had ammunition on the forest where our attackers were trying to organize themselves.

The problem with this strategy is that the artillery was starting to run out of ammunition. The 75mm batteries fired their last shell. The question started to emerge as to which would run out first; friendly ammunition, or the enemy will to fight. If the enemy were allowed to organize itself, without the harassment of our artillery, we would certainly be overrun.


18. Smoke and Flame

The ships off shore had endurance. They fired round after round into the trees. They had lit a fire on the near edge of the forest that any assault would have to go through it, or around. I could not see past the flames, but I cold see any enemy soldier walking in front of them. Between the fire and the smoke from the artillery and the Japanese squads, I could not see much else at all.

I could only see that I had fewer and fewer targets to shoot at, until I had no targets at all.

Eventually, Captain Russell called off the naval support, and we listened. We heard the birds and the bugs and the waves playing on the beach. We heard the crackling of fires ignited during the encounter, the cries of the wounded, the soothing voices of those who tried to comfort them, and the shouts of lieutenants and sergeants getting soldiers organized for the next possible wave.

Lieutenant Hooper sent men forward to take care of the two machine gun teams that the enemy had wiped out. Some of them were still alive. He also sent scouts ahead, into the trees, to find out what was going on. The scouts disappeared as best they could into the night. They were gone a very long time.

The scouts returned with good news. The enemy had fled. They left behind, in the trees, more bodies than the scouts could count -- many of them broken up into pieces.


19. Aftermath

I did not think it fair that Captain Russell would be criticized for giving up a few acres of ground. His response to that criticism was, "I can kill more Japanese with live marines than I can with dirt." In making that defense, he could point out the fact that he lost less than thirty soldiers in the fight, and killed nearly 350 enemy soldiers. There were, indeed, at least 500 Japanese on the island. Now, at least, the odds were a little closer to fair.

There is no doubt that Russell's decision to build his defensive line further back confused the enemy. They had pressed on as far as they expected to, and seemed at a loss to think of what the should do next.

On the other hand, Captain Russell was wrong to expect the bulk of the enemy attack to come along the hillside. Second Platoon barely used a round of ammunition during the fight, and most of what they did used was only after they shifted their line south a ways in order to help First Platoon. First Platoon itself was able to hold its line without difficulty; the force of the enemy assault against it was minimal.

This mistake came near to destroying Third Platoon. If the Japanese had pressed the attack a bit more strongly they could have rolled up the American right flank and, with it, the entire American line. They would have also gotten out from under the weight of those naval guns. On the other hand, if the harassment fire that Russell had ordered onto the hill in the opening minutes of the fight had gone to the south flank instead, the Japanese attack would have likely been even more muted.

I could easily imagine a Japanese commander on the other side, realizing that he had to win this battle, making an all-out charge against Third Platoon. In charging, the Japanese would have gotten out from under the naval barrage that was ripping its squads apart. They would have closed with the Americans in hand-to-hand combat. Against such an assault, the weapons crews of Third Platoon would have been at a disadvantage; there were too few soldiers. After rolling over Third Platoon, the Japanese could have turned their attention to the rest of the line.

It did not happen. The Japanese remained where the mortars and machine guns of Third Platoon, and the naval artillery, could take turns blowing them into smaller and smaller units.

Captain Russell's company survived the night, in part because of the plans that he devised; in part, in spite of those plans.

Thayne, I hope you're planning to continue after Tulagi with either Bruce Hodgman's Guadalcanal 1942 or MC:Watchtower. It's a logical progression. Wherever you decide to be transported to, keep up the good work.

I love you and I love this, you must continue this. You MUST!

20. Delusions

All night long, we had to remain vigilant against Japanese infiltrators. One at a time, and in small groups, they tried to get through our lines. Some of them made it, and launched two attacks against the company command post. Neither inflicted much damage, except to wear on the nerves of the soldiers.

There was also the occasional mortar shell landing randomly along the line, intending to deprive the soldiers of Company B of sleep.

As the dawn's early light illuminated the morning sky, I was beginning to see what I had gotten myself into.

I have already noted that, in the actual invasion of Tulagi, the Marines sent in an entire regiment. This gave them a numerical superiority that guaranteed victory. They did not send in a company that would find itself outnumbered three to one.

In the actual invasion, two fresh companies came to the island on the second day, and they did most of the fighting. Those who fought the first battles were allowed to hold their defensive positions and rest. The only fresh units we were given were more soldiers from the reserve units to bring our numbers, once again, near to full strength.

The leadership did supply extra ammunition, and they let us keep the machine guns we had hijacked from the Alligators. Captain Russell acquired just the replacements he needed to create two additional machine gun teams and attach one each to First and Second Platoons.

This was all the help we were given to claim the rest of the island. This time the Japanese would be dug in and expecting us. If I could use the historical battle of Tulagi as a reference point, the Japanese would be found in caves.


21. Forward March

Captain Russell roused the company at 5:00 am. It did not matter that we were up early; it is not as if we could get any sleep anyway. Once we had cleared the Japanese off of the island, then we could rest in relative safety.

At a little after 6:30, we started moving forward. We crossed the open field and moved into the trees that the navy shelled the night before. There was little that could be done with over 200 Japanese soldiers who died in the shelling -- not until it was possible to dig a big ditch and put the bodies inside. However, that would have to wait. In the mean time, the mosquitoes and flies would eat their fill.

I was mind-numbingly tired. I had been awake for a full day, and it had been a hard day. There was the heart-pounding, adrenaline high of two pitched battles, and several hours of hard physical labor, thrown into the period from sunrise on the 7th to sunrise on the 8th. It was the type of exhaustion that quickly had me wishing that an enemy sniper would just shoot me so that I would have an excuse for laying down for a few minutes.

Surprisingly, we kept going. The scouts continued to report that the route was clear. No doubt, some Japanese scout was busy informing his superior that the Americans were coming, but we never saw him. without seeing a sign of the enemy. No doubt, there was some Japanese scout informing his commander of our advance, but he stayed real hidden.

We covered half of the remaining island, and there was still no sign of the enemy. Captain Russell called a stop to the advance, and had us stand down for breakfast.

While we dug in and waited, he called the artillery forward and embedded it more closely to the front line. We now had a quarter of the island left to clear. The Japanese were running out of room, and would eventually have to stand and fight.

We did not rest without digging in and finding cover. In spite of our exhaustion, we dug and we chopped again for another hour to give ourselves some protection, in case of another assault.


22. The Plan

In the history of the world I had come from, Tulagi was a provincial capital, with a town on the southeast side of the island and a seaplane base in the town. This is what made the island attractive. This was also the source of the white smoke i expected to see on the first day; carrier planes had attacked the town. Here, there was no fire, because there was no town. The only settlement on the island was the village we captured that first day.

Still, the histories of our two worlds were close enough that the Japanese had started the construction of a seaplane base on the south side of the island, and were in the process of creating a military headquarters for their control of the region. This is what the Japanese were defending.

However, our objective was not to capture these targets. Our objective was to eliminate the last of the Japanese defenders on the island and turn it into a forward base that was entirely within our control. We were on a hunt and destroy mission, wherever the enemy happened to be hiding.

That enemy did not have any place to retreat to. They had been backed into a corner where they had no optiono but to stand and fight. This was likely to be a pitched battle.

At 7:30am, Lieutenant Diaz informed his scouts of the battle plan, while I listened in. Consistent with Captain Russell's tendency to avoid attacking where he was expected, Russell had discarded any plan to attack the Japanese in line. He wanted to attack along one of the coasts, where he knew that the Japanese could only get at him from one side. He picked the south coast, because this would allow the destroyer Campbelltown to sail up close and provide direct fire support. Effectively, the Japanese would be outflanked at sea by one whale of an AFV.

In taking the coast, one platoon will break out to the rear of the hill that dominated the southeastern section of the island -- hopefully taking out the enemy artillery. The other two units would turn north and take the hill itself. Russell was gambling that the hill's defenses would not be set up to repel an attack from the south.


23. Scouts

The scouts headed out at around 8:00am, and I was right behind them. They moved along a wide front that covered the southern half of the battle line. As soon as they had a decent head start, the rest of the company was given orders to march forward, slowly.

The marching orders for this battle had 2nd and 1st platoons in the lead, side by side. 2nd platoon advanced along the coast, while 1st Platoon advanced further inland. 3rd Platoon advanced behind 2nd Platoon, also along the coast.

The first sign of an engagement came from my left. There was suddenly a huge clatter of Japanese rifle and machine gun fire in the direction that the other two scout groups were headed. At least a full squad must have opened up simultaneously on one of the scout teams. I did not hear any return shots from American rifles.

The scout group I was following stopped in a copse of trees. They pointed ahead, where a line of vegetation went from the coast to the base of the mountain. On the right side of that line, they pointed to a machine gun nest. We were practically on top of it, but I had not seen it.

Looking carefully, I saw movement, and brought my rifle up. Sergeant Iverson told me to wait. He radioed the position back to headquarters.

Out to sea, the Campbelltown sailed towards us. Behind us, artillery went off. The shells from the ship and the artillery met at the enemy emplacement.

By then, 2nd Platoon was catching up with us. When Iverson pointed out the emplacement, they added their firepower to that of the other units.

To the best of my recollection, the machine gun never fired a shot.


24. Advance

The tree line ahead blocked our view further up the island. The scouts had the responsibility of going ahead and seeing what was beyond.

Up to that tree line, with the machine gun gone, there was a natural protected corridor through the flank of the Japanese line. We were protected on the right by the cover of a line of trees that the enemy could not see through. Not wanting to face whatever enemy had opened fire on the scouts to our left, 1st Platoon fell in behind 3rd Platoon behind us.

The scouts ahead signaled the all clear, and 2nd Platoon rushed forward to the trees that capped this protected corridor. I ran with them.

Beyond the line of trees, there was open field, except for a small group of trees a short distance ahead, and a thick forest to our left. As 2nd Platoon took position, it drew fire from that copse of trees. The squad at the far left of the Platoon's line also found itself staring eye to eye with a Japanese squad further up in the thick trees on that side.

The Campbelltown was already there to subdue the Japanese in the trees ahead. In addition, Lieutenant Oliver of 2nd Platoon summoned more artillery. Oliver also pulled back his left flank, and ordered artillery into those trees.

It was not long until the Japanese squads ahead of us were in retreat. 2nd Platoon took some tentative steps into the field, then turned left to follow the retreating squads. 3rd Platoon, with its heavy weapons, continued going straight up the cost. They met no more resistance in that direction, except for some fire from the hill to our left.


25. Suppressing Fire

Throughout the fight, naval guns continued to fire on the units on the hill. This clouded the hillside with smoke and dust, making it difficult for the Japanese to look down on the American advance. Hopefully, it was also suppressing the Japanese units who were in line to be Company B's next victims.

Captain Russell spent a few minutes gathering his squads together and setting their new objectives. I was moving along with 3rd Platoon, which was assigned the task of clearing the area between the hill and the eastern coast of the island. Russell likely hoped that we would stumble across the enemy artillery and put an end to that threat.

2nd Platoon was to our left. Its orders were to advance up the southeast quadrant of the enemy hill. Hopefully, this would be behind the defenses, which were pointed west to block a straight-on attack from our defensive line last night.

Next in line, past 2nd Platoon, 1st Platoon set up to advance up the southwest quadrant of the hill. This was a dangerous maneuver, because they would have to walk in front of any defenses on the slope facing west. They would also end up approaching the same group of trees that had shot up the scout teams earlier in the day. For them, it was hoped that the smoke and dust stirred by the naval barrage on the hill would keep them save.

Captain Russell could not afford to spend a lot of time getting organized; he had a time table to keep. Perhaps a little earlier than he would have liked, he gave the order to move the line north.


26. Going Up

We moved ahead with little difficulty. We found a single rear-guard unit set up in the middle of a field where it had a clear line of fire along the coast. Lieutenant Hooper set up his machine guns slightly up on the slope of the hill, where they could fire down on the enemy emplacement. They soaked the area with bullets for a few minutes, and the enemy retreated.

All to the left of us, there were the explosions of artillery. The whole hilltop was one big cloud of smoke and dust. In it, it was impossible to know how 1st Platoon was doing. However, I could see 2nd Platoon struggling up the hill, and they were not doing well at all.

The retreating Japanese squads that they had been chasing rallied near the top of the hill. There, they also had additional support from a knee mortar battery. Whatever squad was making its way up the slope first took a massive beating just below the crest of the hill. I saw half of the squad blown back by gunfire and mortar explosions; the rest headed for cover. The squads further back opened fire on the enemy. I rushed over to Lieutenant Hooper and pointed out the problem to him. He paused his own advance to order two squads to fire up the hillside. The combined fire of the rest of 2nd Platoon and two machine guns from 3rd Platoon chased the Japanese back off of the hill.

At about the same time, Hoover was moving the right flank of his own platoon into the emplacements at the bottom of the hill, which the Japanese had just abandoned. When he entered the defenses, he could see further up the slope, a mortar battary. They had learned that Hoover's squad had taken the emplacements, and turned their mortars loose on him. The direct fire of the mortars blew up all around Hoover and his men. They retreated back out of the location.

With the remnants of 2nd Platoon making a successful charge to the crest of the hill, Hoover, told his own machine gun companies to move forward, where they would have a clear field of fire on the mortar battery. He ordered his own squad back into the emplacements to draw the fire from the mortars. As the mortars fired, the machine gun teams moved forward, then fired down on the mortars. Soon, the mortar teams were running for cover.

Between the destruction of the knee mortar battery on the hill, and the mortar battery behind it, the enemy seemed to have run out of artillery. This gave the whole company the freedom to move a lot more quickly.


27. The Last Push

Second platoon was on the top of the hill, and Russell was right to think that the Japanese had built their defenses facing west. As such, 2nd Platoon found itself in, perhaps, the safest part of the island -- right behind the enemy defenses. They moved forward quickly, and were soon firing down the north slope of the hill. This is also the area where our naval bombardment had been retargeted -- the area directly in front of them and of us. We were finding trouble, actually, finding enemy to shoot at. We had forced them into a tiny crescent of land down the north slope of the hill. We held the high ground, and we had the artillery. It was just a matter of moping up the remnants of those forces, then clearing out the caves behind us at our leisure.


28. Aftermath

This time, the commanders had the highest praise for Russell and the way he conducted the battle. He had dealt the remaining Japanese a crushing defeat.

Russell had lost more soldiers on this phase of the battle than on any earlier phase; 35 soldiers killed and wounded, and killed fewer Japanese than he had on any other day (138). But, for some reason, the leadership thought that his progress deserved higher praise than what he had accomplished on the earlier days.

I did not have the liberty to stick around and participate in the mopup operations. They would keep Captain Russell's men busy for the next several days. However, they would have the island to themselves, and be able to sleep a lot more comfortably than the marines across the bay on the island of Guadalcanal.

With my time expired, I stepped off into a quiet piece of jungle, then stepped back into my own time.


29. Epilogue

I stepped off of SPWAW-8.1 and into the darkened room, then into the hallway. Still floating off of the adrenaline rush that I got from these trips, I strutted down the hall and into the lounge. There, I was expecting to share my stories with my friends, who would no doubt entertain me of stories of their adventures.

I was shocked to find the room empty.

Back in the hall, I walked to the reception area. My footsteps echoed off of the walls of the distant hallway.

I found the receptionist, leaning back in his chair with his feet on the desk, enjoying a magazine. He seemed started to see me.

"Where is everybody?" I asked.

He cocked his thumb behind him, in the direction of a door painted with the sign SPWAW-8.2. "They finished it while you were gone. After they powered it up, one of the engineers practically got trampled by the stampede heading back in time. If you wanted to be among the first, to try it, I'm afraid you're too late."

"Not to worry," I answered with a shrug. "I figured it wasn't going to fly away on me while I was gone. I'll be back, when I can get some more time off from work."

The receptionist gave me a half hearted salute. I picked up my equipment and headed home. As I did, I started to ask myself, "Where should I go next?"

Unit Summary

Company HQ: 2 kills

Platoon 1. In the first battle, it fought along the north slope of the spine. In battle 2, its right-most squad (Squad 3) was driven back in the enemy's attempt to drive between it and 3rd Platoon. In battle 3, it fought its way up the north slope of the hill.

Squad 1: 2 kills
Squad 2: 0 kills
Squad 3: 7 kills
Squad 4 (MG): 0 kills

Platoon 2: In the first battle, it fought its way up the south slope of the spine against the gun emplacements. In the 2nd battle, it's section of the front remained quiet. In the 3rd Battle, it went up the east slope of the hill and captured the summit.

Squad 1: 5 kills
Squad 2: 2 kills
Squad 3: 2 kills
Squad 4 (MG): 0 kills

Platoon 3: In the first battle, it lagged a bit behind the faster moving companies, moving along the crest of the spine. In the 2nd battle, it took the brunt of the assault and drove the attacking squads back into the forest (and into a rain of artillery). In the 3rd battle, it swept the east side of the island of enemy artillery.

Squad 1: 1 kill
Squad 2 (MG): 1 kill
Squad 3 (MG): 1 kill
Squad 4 (Mortar): 1 kill
Squad 5 (Mortar): 0 kills