During the night the Japanese made several attempts to penetrate the American lines. The 3d Battalion destroyed a demolition squad that entered its position, while the 2d Battalion beat back one attack at 0245 and another one, which was accompanied by mortar fire, at 0630. The 305th Infantry killed an estimated 100 Japanese with no casualties to the regiment.[22]
At 1000 on 24 December the assault troops jumped off. The Japanese resistance was light and intermittent, but American progress was slow because of the rough, irregular hills in which the enemy had established positions in foxholes, spider holes, and caves. Since it was not possible to bypass these positions, the regiment had to clear each one before the advance could continue. The force received some artillery fire but a mortar platoon from Company A, 88th Chemical Weapons Battalion, silenced the enemy guns. At 1500 the battalions set up their night perimeter 500 yards short of the road bend. During the night a Japanese force of twenty men, which tried to penetrate the defenses of the 3d Battalion, was killed.[23]
At 0800 on 25 December the attack was renewed, but made very slow progress. The enemy, dug in in small pockets along the road, resisted stubbornly. The 3d Battalion advanced 200 yards and was pinned down by machine gun, mountain gun, and rifle fire. The 2d Battalion attempted to envelop the enemy strong point on the Japanese right (south) flank but was repulsed.[24]
On 26 December the regiment limited its activity to patrolling. Since it was Christmas Day in the States, “All guns of the Division Artillery fired ... at ... 1200 as a salute to the nation on Christmas Day. This was followed by one minute of silent prayer for the dead and wounded of the 77th Division.”[25] That night General Bruce ordered the troops to build bonfires and sing, and employ other ruses in the hope that the Japanese might believe that the troops were celebrating Christmas and might therefore try to enter the defensive perimeters. These ruses were unsuccessful in the sectors of the assault battalions, but a similar one employed in the area of the regimental command post attracted some Japanese patrols, which were either destroyed or driven off.
At dawn on 27 December the 3d Battalion moved around the Japanese left flank toward the high ground six hundred yards from the line of departure. Despite enemy artillery and machine gun fire and the difficult terrain, the battalion reached the objective, killing 160 Japanese. The remainder fled to the hills.
When it became apparent that the Japanese resistance was strong and determined and might unduly delay the progress of the 305th Infantry, General Bruce decided to move the 2d Battalion of the regiment overwater to the vicinity of Palompon at the western terminus of the road. The 2d Battalion could then attack east along the road while the 3d Battalion continued the attack west. The Japanese defenders would thus be under fire on their front and rear. This eastern attack force, which was called the Provisional Mountain Force, moved to Ormoc and thence, after arrangements had been made with the naval representatives of Krueger’s staff, overwater by LCM’s to Palompon. It arrived at the latter without incident at 1500 on 28 December. On the same day the 3d Battalion, reinforced, continued the attack westward. The Japanese resisted strongly with small arms fire from pillboxes and with artillery. The 3d Battalion advanced approximately 1,000 yards during the day.[26]
At 0800 on 29 December, the 3d Battalion moved out. The battalion had advanced 650 yards at 1000 when it encountered very determined resistance from an enemy force in very well camouflaged, dug-in positions. The troops were pinned down for the rest of the day. The Provisional Mountain Force moved out of Look at 1200 to a position from which it could launch its assault eastward along the road.
At 0930 on 30 December the 305th Infantry struck along the Palompon road, the 3d Battalion driving west, and the Provisional Mountain Force attacking east. The Mountain Force encountered only scattered resistance until 0930, when the Japanese, from well-entrenched positions in the precipitous sides of the road at a point about four miles east of Palompon, directed strong machine gun fire along the road. The Mountain Force dug in for the night on high ground overlooking the point at which its advance had been halted. The 3d Battalion succeeded in overcoming the opposition which had halted it the previous day, and pushed forward to a point about 1,000 yards southwest of Tipolo. The Japanese had emplaced artillery on curves in the road and could fire directly on the advancing American troops. Although the 305th Infantry lost one tank to enemy artillery fire, it was able to destroy three 75-mm. guns and capture two others intact.[27]
During the night, the Japanese force withdrew; only scattered troops were left to delay the advance. At 0800 on 31 December, the assault forces of the 305th Infantry resumed the attack, and encountered only sporadic rifle fire. At 1225 at a point two miles northeast of San Miguel the 3d Battalion and the Provisional Mountain Force met. This ended all organized resistance along the Palompon road and secured an overland route from Highway 2 in the Ormoc Valley to Palompon on the west coast.[28] The 77th Division made the astounding estimate that for the period from 21 through 31 December 1944, it had killed 5,779 Japanese, taken 29 prisoners, and had lost 17 men killed, 116 wounded, and 6 missing in action.[29]