 The operation began on 14 January with the delivery of a battalion of infantry troops to Guadalcanal to act as rearguard for the evacuation . Around the same time , Japanese army and navy air forces began an air superiority campaign around the Solomon Islands and New Guinea . During the air campaign , a US cruiser was sunk in the Battle of Rennell Island . Two days later , Japanese aircraft sank a US destroyer near Guadalcanal . The actual withdrawal was carried out on the nights of 1 , 4 , and 7 February by destroyers . Apart from some air and PT boat attacks on the evacuating destroyers , Allied forces did not actively attempt to impede the withdrawal because Allied commanders believed the operation was actually a reinforcement operation , not an evacuation . 
