 At dawn on 8 February , the U.S. Army forces on both coasts resumed their advances , encountering only a few sick and dying Japanese soldiers . Patch now realized that the Tokyo Express runs over the last week were evacuation , not reinforcement missions . At 16 : 50 on 9 February , the two American forces met on the west coast at the village of <unk> . Patch sent a message to Halsey stating , " Total and complete defeat of Japanese forces on Guadalcanal effected 16 : 25 today ... the Tokyo Express no longer has a terminus on Guadalcanal . " 
