The Inland Offensive

From the hilltops, Japanese officers could see the broader pattern of U.S. tactics and troop movements as Americans secured the beachhead at Asan and kept moving uphill and inland. Japanese forces had dug into strong defensive positions on the hillsides, with a command post and communications center in the hills to the right, but they could only delay the inevitable. With superior numbers as well as naval and air support, U.S. Marines captured the ridge to the right and advanced toward the higher ground of Fonte Plateau, now Nimitz Hill. At Asan Point were Japanese caves and pillboxes, at Asan Landing Beach U.S. forces made an amphibious landing on July 21, 1944, and banzai charges followed on July 25-26. U.S. Marines also set up a trolley stretcher to evacuate their wounded from Nimitz Hill.