THE JAPANESE GARRISON, 11,000 MEN STRONG, was drawn from the crack Fourteenth Division of the Kwantung Army. The commanding officer was Colonel Kunio Nakagawa, a heavily decorated “star” officer who had commanded the division’s Second Regiment. The force had shipped in from Manchuria after the sudden loss of the Marshall Islands earlier that year. Tokyo did not expect the Peleliu garrison to survive, and had made no plans to evacuate survivors. These seasoned veterans were expected to sell the island as dearly as possible, and then die to the last man.
