Then the Marines didn't have to just worry about the Jap soldiers... they had to sweat out those big naval guns.
We were lucky in one way, the Jap commanders on Guadalcanal suffered from “victory disease”.
They thought they were invincible. After the Ilu and Bloody Ridge defeats, they got a taste of Marine courage.
The Japanese would make regular runs down "The Slot" at night to bombard the Marines and Henderson field. They made life pretty miserable for the Marines.