Japanese were killed in these minor encounters.” Though strategically doomed, the Japanese gave no thought to any organized surrender, a pattern that had begun at such places as Buna and Guadalcanal and one that would hold for much of the rest of the war. They were rather like the shards of a shattered window or mirror—sharp enough and dangerous enough to require an exacting, occasionally exhausting cleanup. MacArthur’s headquarters had already invented the trivial and patronizing term “mop up” for this harrowing process.
