Leyte, 1944: The Soldiers' Battle by Prefer Nathan

Author:Prefer, Nathan [Prefer, Nathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781612001562
Publisher: Casemate
Published: 2012-12-07T08:00:00+00:00

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General Suzuki had not been idle during the Battle for Shoestring Ridge. He still cherished the idea of a decisive counterattack against the American airfields, which he believed existed around Burauen. With these in Japanese hands, the Americans would lose their air support and be unable to bring in supplies and troops as easily as they had been doing. He had dispatched Colonel Saito and his detachment from the 26th Infantry Division precisely to keep open his flank movement across the mountains from Albuera toward Burauen. While he sent some of his staff south to supervise Colonel Saito's attack, he busied himself with details of his coming counterattack.

The problem was that the Americans, besides not relying on the airfields around Burauen, were about to attack themselves. With Shoestring Ridge securely in their hands, the 184th Infantry was directed to continue the attack north towards Ormoc, General Suzuki's staging area. The 17th Infantry, relieved by elements of the 11th Airborne Division, was moving to the west coast and would support the coming attack. The entire 7th Infantry Division was about to be assembled on the west coast for the move north.18

Colonel O'Sullivan briefed his commanders on the plan after receiving his orders from General Arnold. After relieving the 32nd Infantry, the regiment would clear any remaining enemy stragglers from the area before moving up the highway. The front lines now were almost exactly the same as they had been before the Battle of Shoestring Ridge, and Colonel Saito's detachment still barred the way north. Moving Colonel Saito out of the way became what the Americans termed the “Battle of The Ridges.”

As mentioned earlier, the ridges were a series of sharp hills and spurs heavily overgrown with bamboo thickets and high cogon grass. They rose from the coastal plain to the central mountain range. The most important tactically was Hill 918, which had briefly been in American possession before the Battle of Shoestring Ridge. Another high point was Hill 380, which lay between the Palanas River and the Tabgas River. General Arnold ordered his division to attack with two regiments abreast. To do this, he had to await the arrival of the 17th Infantry, which appeared on December 3rd. General Arnold then ordered a renewal of the attack for December 5th. The 17th Infantry would attack on the right and the 184th Infantry on the left. He also ordered Lieutenant Colonel O'Neill K. Kane to move his tanks of the 776th Amphibian Tank Battalion to a position west of Balogo, a mile north of the front lines. The tanks were to move out on the 5th to fire on the town and the enemy positions in the hills above it. Coordinating with the two assault regiments, the tanks were to lead off the battle.

That the tanks were available at all was due to American ingenuity. Because the bridges along the Abuyog-Baybay Road would not support the heavy American tanks, and the Camotes Sea still was insecure due to forays by

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