attack on the Matanikau

Sumiyoshi was informed by Hyakutake's staff of the postponement of the offensive to 24 October, but was unable to contact Nakaguma to inform him of the delay. Thus, at dusk on 23 October, two battalions of Nakaguma's 4th Infantry Regiment and the nine tanks of the 1st Independent Tank Company launched attacks on the U.S. Marine defenses at the mouth of the Matanikau.[28]
The wreckage of the Japanese 1st Independent Tank Company at the mouth of the Matanikau
Nakaguma's tanks attacked in pairs across the sandbar at the mouth of the Matanikau behind a barrage of artillery. Marine 37 mm (1.46 in) anti-tank guns and artillery quickly destroyed all nine tanks. At the same time, four battalions of Marine artillery, totalling 40 howitzers, fired over 6,000 rounds into the area between Point Cruz and the Matanikau, causing heavy casualties in Nakaguma's infantry battalions as they tried to approach the Marine lines. Nakaguma's attacks ended by 01:15 on 24 October, inflicting only light casualties on the Marines and gaining no ground.[29]
Partly in response to Nakaguma's attacks, on 24 October the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines under Lieutenant Colonel
Herman H. Hanneken deployed to the Matanikau. After Oka's forces were sighted approaching the Marine Matanikau positions from the south, Hanneken's battalion was placed on a ridge facing south which formed a continuous extension of the inland flank of the Marine's horseshoe-shaped Matanikau defenses. A gap, however, still remained between Hanneken's left (east) flank and the main perimeter.