To deal with these newly landed Japanese troops, Vandegrift stopped the Matanikau attack on 4 November. The Americans had 71 deaths and the Japanese around 400 killed.
At Koli Point early in the morning 3 November, five Japanese destroyers delivered 300 army troops. They were sent to help Shōji and his troops who were going to Koli Point after the Battle for Henderson Field.
When Vandegrift found out about the Japanese landing, he sent a battalion of Marines under Herman H. Hanneken to attack the Japanese at Koli. Soon after landing, the Japanese soldiers pushed Hanneken's battalion back towards the Lunga perimeter.
In response, Vandegrift ordered Puller's Marine battalion plus two of the 164th infantry battalions, along with Hanneken's battalion, to attack the Japanese forces there.
As the American troops began to move, Shōji and his soldiers began to arrive at Koli Point. Beginning on 8 November, the American troops tried to surround Shōji's forces at Gavaga Creek near Koli Point.
Hyakutake ordered Shōji to leave his positions at Koli and rejoin Japanese forces at Kokumbona in the Matanikau area. Between 9 and 11 November, Shōji and between 2,000 and 3,000 of his men escaped into the jungle to the south. On 12 November, the Americans killed all the remaining Japanese soldiers. The Americans counted the bodies of 450–475 Japanese dead in the Koli Point area and captured most of Shōji's heavy weapons and supplies. The American forces had 40 killed and 120 wounded in the attack.
On 4 November, two companies from the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson landed by boat at Aola Bay, east of Lunga Point. Carlson's raiders, along with troops from the U.S. Army's 147th Infantry Regiment, were told to protect 500 Seabees as they constructed an airfield at that location. Halsey had agreed with the plan to build an airfield at Aola Bay.
The Aola airfield construction was stopped at the end of November because the land was not good for building an airfield.
On 5 November, Vandegrift ordered Carlson to attack any of Shōji's forces that had escaped from Koli Point. Carlson and his troops did a 29-day patrol from Aola to the Lunga perimeter. During the patrol, Carlson's soldierz fought several battles with Shōji's retreating forces, killing almost 500 of them, while having 16 killed themselves.
In addition to the deaths from attacks by Carlson's raiders, tropical diseases and a lack of food caused more of Shōji's men to die. By the time Shōji's forces reached the Lunga River in mid-November, about halfway to the Matanikau, only 1,300 men remained. When Shōji reached the 17th Army positions west of the Matanikau, only 700 to 800 survivors were still with him. Most of the survivors from Shōji's force joined other Japanese units defending the Mount Austen and upper Matanikau River area.
Japanese destroyer trips on 5, 7 and 9 November, delivered additional troops from the Japanese 38th Infantry Division, including most of the 228th Infantry Regiment to Guadalcanal. These fresh troops were put in the Point Cruz and Matanikau area, and they stopped attacks by American forces on 10 and 18 November. The Americans and Japanese remained facing each other along a line west of Point Cruz for the next six weeks.
After the defeat in the Battle for Henderson Field, the IJA planned to try again to capture the airfield in November 1942. They needed new soldiers before the attack could start. The IJA requested help from Yamamoto to deliver the new troops to the island and to support the next attack.
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 force that included two battleships. The two battleships, and , with special fragmentation shells, were to bomb Henderson Field on the night of 12–13 November and destroy it and the aircraft stationed there. This would allow the slow, heavy transports to reach Guadalcanal and unload safely the next day. The warship force was commanded from "Hiei" by recently promoted Vice Admiral Hiroaki Abe.
In early November, Allied forces learned that the Japanese were preparing again to try to capture Henderson Field. Therefore, the U.S. sent Task Force 67, a convoy carrying Marines, two U.S. Army infantry battalions, and ammunition and food to Guadalcanal on 11 November. The supply ships were protected by two task groups, commanded by Rear Admirals Daniel J. Callaghan and Norman Scott, and aircraft from Henderson Field. The ships were attacked several times on 11 and 12 November by Japanese aircraft but most were unloaded without serious damage.
U.S. aircraft spotted the approach of Abe's bombing force and warned the Allied command. Turner sent all usable combat ships under Callaghan to protect the troops ashore from the expected Japanese naval attack and troop landing. He also ordered the supply ships at Guadalcanal to leave by early evening 12 November. Callaghan's force comprised two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and eight destroyers.
Around 01:30 on 13 November, Callaghan's force met Abe's bombing group between Guadalcanal and Savo Island. In addition to the two battleships, Abe's force included one light cruiser and 11 destroyers. In darkness, the two warship forces opened fire. Abe's warships sank or severely damaged all but one cruiser and one destroyer in Callaghan's force and both Callaghan and Scott were killed.
Two Japanese destroyers were sunk and another destroyer and "Hiei" was heavily damaged. In spite of his defeat of Callaghan's force, Abe ordered his warships to pull back without bombing Henderson Field. "Hiei" sank later that day after air attacks by CAF aircraft and aircraft from the U.S. carrier . Because of Abe's failure to destroyHenderson Field, Yamamoto ordered the troop transport convoy to wait an additional day before heading towards Guadalcanal.
Yamamoto ordered Nobutake Kondō to assemble another bombing force using warships from Truk and Abe's force to attack Henderson Field on 15 November.
At 02:00 on 14 November, a cruiser and destroyer force under Gunichi Mikawa bombed Henderson Field. The bombing caused some damage but failed to destroy airfield or most of its aircraft. As Mikawa's force went back to Rabaul, Tanaka's transport convoy, thinking that Henderson Field was now destroyed began its trip towards Guadalcanal.
Throughout 14 November, aircraft from Henderson Field and "Enterprise" attacked Mikawa's and Tanaka's ships, sinking one heavy cruiser and seven of the transports. Most of the troops were rescued from the transports by Tanaka's escorting destroyers and returned to the Shortlands. After dark, Tanaka and the remaining four transports continued towards Guadalcanal as Kondo's force approached to bomb Henderson Field.
In order to attack Kondo's force, Halsey, who was low on undamaged ships, sent two battleships, and , and four destroyers from the "Enterprise" task force. The U.S. force, under the command of Willis A. Lee aboard "Washington", reached Guadalcanal and Savo Island just before midnight on 14 November, shortly before Kondo's bombing force arrived.
Kondo's force consisted of "Kirishima" plus two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and nine destroyers. After the two forces met, Kondo's force quickly sank three of the U.S. destroyers and heavily damaged the fourth. The Japanese warships then damaged "South Dakota". As Kondo's warships concentrated on "South Dakota", "Washington" approached the Japanese ships and opened fire on "Kirishima", hitting the Japanese battleship and causing serious damage. After chasing "Washington" towards the Russell Islands, Kondo ordered his warships to pull back without bombing Henderson Field. One of Kondo's destroyers was also sunk during the battle.