![]() ![]() ![]() The Philippines would probably offer the last chance for the Japanese Army to recover its lost prestige and gain a victory over General MacArthur's forces. With the initiative entirely in Allied hands, the war had reached that decisive stage where another important Japanese defeat would seal the ultimate fate of Japan's Empire, and destroy a centuries-old tradition of invincibility. They were now poised with their full power at the very threshold of her inner structure and if they should break through, the Homeland itself would stand dangerously exposed-an inviting target for the next invasion. No longer were the Allies held at the outer periphery of her defense system. The war situation had grown progressively worse for Japan and by the autumn of 1944 her position was both critical and desperate. It was axiomatic, too, that the Japanese would fight to the bitter end to save the Philippines. General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz were committed to employ the maximum resources at their command. Military necessity demanded that the Allies achieve a decisive victory on Leyte. Leyte was to be the anvil against which he would hammer the Japanese into submission in the central Philippines, the springboard from which he would proceed to the conquest of Luzon for the final attack against Japan itself. 56) With Leyte under General MacArthur's control, the other islands would be within effective striking distance of his ground and air forces. Located in the heart of the archipelago, Leyte was the focal point where the Southwest Pacific forces of General MacArthur were to converge with the Central Pacific forces of Admiral Nimitz in a mighty assault to wrest the Philippines from the hands of the enemy. On its outcome would depend the fate of the Philippines and the future course of the war against Japan. The Leyte operation was to be the crucial battle of the war in the Pacific. ![]()
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