Unlike some of his Imperial Army colleagues, whose irrational belief in the spiritual over the temporal almost made them tantamount to twentieth-century ghost dancers, Adachi was realistic enough to understand that he was unlikely to snuff out the enemy base at Aitape. Instead, he hoped to inflict heavy casualties on the Americans and force MacArthur to spend time and resources to maintain the security of the Allied eastern flank. This could ease pressure on Japanese formations in western New Guinea and all over the western Pacific, perhaps even delay or sabotage MacArthur’s plan to return to
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