Chase pulled his troops back into a tight perimeter. There was no barbed wire, so the whole area had to be covered. The ground was hard coral, which was good for airbase construction but made it difficult to dig foxholes. The twelve .50 calibre (12.7mm) machine guns were positioned in the front line. There was fighting throughout the night as small groups of Japanese attempted to infiltrate the position. An airdrop of ammunition was requested. A break in the weather allowed three B-25s of the 38th US Bomb Group to drop supplies at 08:30. Four B-17s of the 375th Troop Carrier Group each dropped three tons of supplies, including blood plasma, ammunition, hand grenades, and barbed wire. Some of the ammunition fell beyond the perimeter but for some reason men who moved out to retrieve it were not fired upon.