Battle of Leyte
The Battle of Leyte (Filipino: Labanan sa Leyte; Waray: Gubat ha Leyte; Japanese: レイテの戦い) in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the amphibious invasion of the island of Leyte in the Philippines by American forces and Filipino guerrillas under the overall command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita. The operation, codenamed King Two,[14] launched the Philippines campaign of 1944–45 for the recapture and liberation of the entire Philippine Archipelago and to end almost three years of Japanese occupation.
This article is about the battle on the island of Leyte. For the naval battle, see Battle of Leyte Gulf.Aftermath[edit]
The campaign for Leyte proved the first and most decisive operation in the American reconquest of the Philippines. Japanese losses in the campaign were heavy, with the army losing four divisions and several separate combat units, while the navy lost 26 major warships and 46 large transports and hundreds of merchant ships. The struggle also reduced Japanese land-based air capability in the Philippines by more than 50%. Some 250,000 troops still remained on Luzon, but the loss of air and naval support at Leyte so narrowed Gen. Yamashita's options that he now had to fight a passive defensive of Luzon,[106] the largest and most important island in the Philippines. In effect, once the decisive battle of Leyte was lost, the Japanese gave up hope of retaining the Philippines, conceding to the Allies a critical bastion from which Japan could be easily cut off from outside resources, and from which the final assaults on the Japanese home islands could be launched.[107]
1998 claims of Japanese intelligence[edit]
In 1998 it was claimed in Australia (see Royal Commission on Espionage) that Allied estimates of Japanese troop strengths including those on Leyte were given to Tokyo via the Soviet consulate in Harbin, Manchuria as Stalin wanted to delay an American victory over Japan until the Soviet Union could participate. MacArthur's G-2 Willoughby had underestimated the numbers, and the troops were reinforced. The secret "Ultra" estimates were not available to the Soviets, but were given to them by members of Australian Foreign Minister Evatt’s staff.[108]