THE HENDERSON FIELD MASSACRE 1942: 3000 Japanese Dead in 72 Hours

The Battle for Henderson Field on October 24-25, 1942, demonstrates how a tactical innovation (the Maruyama Road) that provided surprise ultimately failed due to logistical impossibility: 7,000 Japanese soldiers marched 8 days through 24 km of impassable jungle, abandoning their artillery and becoming physically degraded, while a false intelligence report redirected naval gunfire away from the perimeter at the critical moment, resulting in 2,200 Japanese killed versus 83 American casualties—a 26:1 ratio that broke the back of the Japanese offensive on Guadalcanal.