Note 42 — Chapter XXI · Westward to the Sea
Reading edition
On the same day, probably because of the information received from Manila, General Suzuki ordered a conference of the staff officers of the 1st and 102d Divisions. At this meeting, General Suzuki ordered the 1st Division to retreat to the northern sector of the Matagob area and the 102d Division to the southern part of the same sector. At Matagob the divisions were to reorganize for a counterattack. The order did not give any specific time for the withdrawal; each division was to take action according to the situation in its sector. On 20 December, General Suzuki moved his headquarters farther west to a point approximately three and a half miles north of Palompon.42