Note 2 — Chapter III · Plans Are Made and Forces Are Readied

In the spring of 1944 General MacArthur’s headquarters received information that the Japanese were starting to reinforce their Philippine garrisons. An early estimate, made in June, put the number of enemy troops on the island at 20,000, a sharp increase over the 5,900 of the previous month. The increase resulted from the movement to Leyte from Samar of the veteran 16th Division, which had fought at Bataan, and the arrival of 4,000 naval troops from the Palau Islands.2 For the next month reports flowed in to General Headquarters that the 16th Division was building coastal defenses and air-raid shelters, and improving the airfields and garrison defenses of the island.3