After the defeat in the Battle for Henderson Field, the IJA planned to try again to retake the airfield in November 1942, but further reinforcements were needed before the operation could proceed. The IJA requested assistance from Yamamoto to deliver the needed reinforcements to the island and to support the next offensive. Yamamoto provided 11 large transport ships to carry the remaining 7,000 troops from the 38th Infantry Division, their ammunition, food, and heavy equipment from Rabaul to Guadalcanal. He also provided a warship support force that included two battleships, and , equipped with special fragmentation shells, which were to bombard Henderson Field on the night of 12–13 November and destroy it and the aircraft stationed there to allow the slow transports to reach Guadalcanal and unload safely the next day. The warship force was commanded from "Hiei" by recently promoted Vice Admiral Hiroaki Abe.