I just read a thread on Guadalcanal that was posted three years ago in this forum.

The thread discussed the mistakes the Japanese did and the lucky breaks of the Marines. And it got me thinking. What if the Japanese got their acts together, made the right moves and dislodged the Marines from Guadalcanal? The US was still building up its strength in the Southwest Pacific at that time.

Gen. Vandegrift, commander of the Marine division in Guadalcanal, wrote in his memoirs that his constant fear was that his defense of the island would turn into another Bataan. Washing Machine Charlie (the Japanese night bomber) was giving the Marines no rest at night and often Japanese ships and submarines would lob a few salvoes during the day. There was even a point when the Japanese had more fresh troops and supplies on the island while many Marines (including valuable pilots) were down because of malaria, giving them a numerical advantage.

The conditions did exist for a Japanese victory. So what if Japan did win in Guadalcanal? I have my own views on how the Japanese would exploit this but I'd like to find out what everybody else would do.