On 15 September , General Hyakutake at Rabaul learned of Kawaguchi 's defeat , the Imperial Japanese Army 's first defeat involving a unit of this size in the war . The general forwarded the news to the Imperial General Headquarters in Japan . In an emergency session , the top Japanese army and navy command staffs concluded that , " Guadalcanal might develop into the decisive battle of the war . " The results of the battle began to have a telling strategic impact on Japanese operations in other areas of the Pacific . Hyakutake realized that , in order to send sufficient troops and materiel to defeat the Allied forces on Guadalcanal , he could no longer support the major Japanese offensive on the Kokoda Track in New Guinea . Hyakutake — with the concurrence of the General Headquarters — ordered his troops on New Guinea , who were within 30 mi ( 48 km ) of their objective of Port Moresby — to withdraw until the Guadalcanal matter was resolved . The Japanese were never able to restart their drive towards Port Moresby ; the defeat at Edson 's Ridge contributed not only to Japan 's defeat in the Guadalcanal campaign , but also to Japan 's ultimate defeat throughout the South Pacific .