The Japanese may have been disjointed, desperate, and ultimately doomed, but they made excellent use of the terrain, and fought to the death, proving the enduring lesson that, in modern war, committed defenders ensconced in good defensive ground can wreak havoc on a superior attacking force. “Visibility was no more than a few yards in any direction,” Captain Love, an eyewitness to the fighting, wrote. “The Japanese had prepared positions and tremendous firepower. A gain of a few feet was an accomplishment.” In the thick brush or amid the boulders—“bigger than car tires,”
