[66] 14th Area Army Opns Leyte, Appended Table 1. [↑]
CHAPTER VII
Southern Leyte Valley: Part One
The SHŌ Operations
In their preliminary planning, the Japanese considered that the defense of Leyte would be only a delaying action. The defenders were to inflict as many casualties as possible upon the invaders and also to prevent them from using the Leyte airfields, but the decisive battle for the Philippines would be fought on Luzon. As late as 10 October the chief of staff of the 35th Army received the following order from Manila: “Depending on conditions the 35th Army will prepare to dispatch as large a force to LUZON ISLAND as possible.”[1]
On 21 October, after receiving news of the American landings, General Yamashita activated SHŌ ICHI GO (Victory Operation Number One). He made it clear that the Japanese Army, in co-operation with “the total force of the Air Force and Navy,” was to make a major effort on Leyte and destroy the American forces on the island. The 35th Army was to concentrate its forces there. The 1st and 26th Divisions, the 68th Brigade, and an artillery unit from the 14th Area Army would be sent to augment the 35th Army troops. At the same time General Suzuki received information that the Japanese Air Force and Navy would engage in “decisive” battles in support. “The morale of the 35th Army rose as a result.”
The Japanese thought that only two American divisions had landed on Leyte, and that if the 1st, 16th, 30th, and 102d Divisions engaged the Americans, a decisive victory would be theirs. General Suzuki decided to send forward the following reinforcements to Leyte: the main force of the 30th Division, only three battalions of which would remain in Mindanao; three infantry battalions of the 102d Division; and one independent infantry battalion each from the 55th and 57th Independent Mixed Brigades. These forces were in addition to the two battalions previously sent on 23 October.
General Suzuki believed that the Americans would attempt to join and strengthen their beachheads in the vicinity of Tacloban and Dulag before they tried to penetrate inland. At the same time, since Catmon Hill and the high ground west of Tacloban Valley were in Japanese hands, the 16th Division should be able to contain the Americans until reinforcements arrived.