Podcasts about Sakai

This is the conclusion of our two part conversation with Tariq Khan on his book The Republic Shall Be Kept Clean: How Settler Colonial Violence Shaped Antileft Repression. In part one of the conversation we laid out many of the general dynamics between anti-indigenous settler colonial violence in the 19th Century and the development of the earliest iterations of anticommunism in the so-called United States, long before McCarthyism or even what's recognized by historians as the first Red Scare. In this conversation we talk about some of the legal precedents that the Trump administration has dusted off for some of his attempts to remove or exclude people for political views.  Because we recorded this conversation in December before Trump took office for his second term, we did not directly address several of his actions that draw from this history. The renaming of Denali as Mt. McKinley, drawing directly on laws used to deport anarchists to go after immigrants for their political views, and continuing the genocidal legacy of this settler colonial empire in fueling the genocide in Gaza. In addition to McKinley who was assassinated by an anarchist motivated in part by the US's war in the Philippines, we talk about contrasting figures like Teddy Roosevelt, John Hay, and Albert and Lucy Parsons and the influence that the later half of the 19th century, and 1877 in particular, had on their political trajectories. In addition we talk about the history of lynching and sexual violence and the relationship this practice had to disciplining anarchists alongside its roles for white society and as a repression mechanism against solidarity across racial lines.  Dr. Tariq Khan is a historian with an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the intertwined forces underlying and shaping our social, political, economic, and cultural institutions. He has wide-ranging research, writing, and teaching experience in the fields of global capitalism, transnational studies, U.S. history, psychology, sociology, ethnicity & race studies, gender studies, colonialism & postcolonialism, labor & working-class history, radical social movements, history “from below,” public history, and community-based research and teaching. A few things to shout-out. Recently I had the pleasure of joining the good people of Tankie Group Therapy on the East is a Podcast. I also recently joined Nick Estes from the Red Nation Podcast for a discussion of J. Sakai's book Settlers and went on Saturdays with Renee with Renee Johnston and Jared Ball. Recent episodes on our YouTube channel include Freedom Archives, Abdaljawad Omar, Momodou Taal, Steven Salaita, and a couple of discussions on Pakistan, India, and Kashmir. Make sure you're subscribed to our YouTube channel so you can catch all of that work as well. If you like the work that we do, please support our show via patreon you can do so for as little as $1 a month and now you can also make a one-time contribution through BuyMeACoffee. Your support is what makes this show possible.     

**Producer's note: This episode went for an astonishing 2.5 hours -- our longest episode ever! We have released the first hour of the conversation on the free feed, and if you want to listen to the entire episode, become a patron for as little as $2 a month** Nick Estes was joined by Jared Ware (@jaybeware), host of Millennials Are Killing Capitalism, for a livestream conversation and analysis of J. Sakai's Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat From Mayflower to Modern (1983). Watch the episode on The Red Nation Podcast YouTube channel. The Red Nation Podcast is a collaboration between The Red Nation and Red Media. Empower our work: GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/empower-red-medias-indigenous-content  Subscribe to The Red Nation Newsletter: https://www.therednation.org/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/redmediapr     

Last time we spoke about the Battle for the Great Wall of China. In 1933, the Kwantung Army faced logistical struggles and sought political deals with Chinese warlords to seize North China. Despite capturing key areas, chaos reigned as their unauthorized operations defied Tokyo's orders. When Emperor Hirohito demanded a withdrawal, the army reluctantly complied, derailing a coup attempt. Though peace talks followed, distrust persisted, and rogue Japanese commanders plotted fresh offensives. The Tanggu truce was anything but fair to China. The Japanese followed it up with continuous negotiations aimed at slicing more and more out of China. By 1935 North China was practically annexed if but all in official terms. The Japanese seized postal rights, train rights, airline rights, set up puppets to police a new demilitarized zone and seemed never appeased fully. Yet they did not only have their eye on Northern China.    #149 Incidents in North China: Operation Chahar Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. May 1935, marked the peak of Sino-Japanese efforts at reconciliation. Yet this quickly fell apart in June as the Kwantung Army continued to encroach in North China. More specifically they began to look at Chahar province. Between January and May of 1935 some 50 instances of anti-Japanese violence had broken out in North China and behind these outbursts seemed to be Yu Xuecheng, the chairman of Hubei's provincial Government. He was not alone in his efforts as many KMT members, generals in the Central Army and Blue Shirt Society also had helping hands to play. The Japanese were particularly infuriated by incessant attacks from the bandit army led by Sun Yungqin and the assassinations of two pro-Japanese figures operating in Tientsin, Pai Yuhuan and Hu Enpu. Even with th support of the Kwantung Army, maintaining law and order in the demilitarized region established by the Tanggu Trace proved a serious undertaking. The Nanjing government tried exploit the situation, encouraging Sun Yungqin's bandits to create chaos in the demilitarized region. Sun Yungqin's bandit frequently crossed the Great Wall into Rehe in raids. Each time the Kwantung Army attempted to catch them as they fled into the demilitarized region. They particularly liked to do so in the Zunhua district where the official He Xiaoyi supplied the bandits with munitions and provisions. On May 17th, the Kwantung Army was fed up and elected to cross the Great Wall to crush Sun Yungqin once and for all. The Japanese army attache at Peiping, Major Takahasi Tan, notified the Chinese authorities of this decision, claiming the Kwantung Army had the authority to do so under certain provisions within the Tanggu agreement. Beginning on May 20th, the Sugihara Mixed Brigade began its hunt and claimed to have uncovered evidence that Yu Xuecheng had helped guide Sun Yingqin's bandits away from their force. The Japanese also argued the bandits were operating in Manchuria and were calling themselves the “Northeastern Patriotic Volunteers” led by General He Yingqing, the current chairman of the Peiping Branch Military Council.  The bandits were said to have been completely crushed within 5 days by a single brigade. The Japanese also forced the resignation of Yu Xuecheng who refused to organize an anti-chiang kai-shek movement. Shortly before the operation launched, two pro-Japanese newspaper publishers, secretly supported by the Japanese Special Service Agency were assassinated in Tientsin. On May 2nd, Hu Enpu of the Kuochuan pao “national rights” was shot in bed at the Peiyang Hotel in the Japanese concession. That same night, Pai Yuhuan of Chen Pa was murdered in his home. Consul General Kawagoe reported to Tokyo, Hu Enpu and Pai Yuhuan were performing a mission through their newspapers to arouse anti-chiang Kai-shek sentiment in North China. As stated by Kawagoe "Hu and Pai did not have a particularly close personal relationship, but they were regarded with extreme suspicion by the Chinese. Since they were assassinated on the same night, we immediately suspected there was some political intrigue behind these crimes."   Japanese police looked into the matter and discovered the criminals had used a car bearing the plate number 1063 which was owned by Shen Qucheng who was a resident of the Japanese concession. Many suspects were interrogated, and given what they were saying, the Japanese suspected the man behind the assassinations was General Yang Hu, the peace preservation commissioners of Shanghai and an alleged member of the Blue Shirt Society. The Japanese also believed Yang Hu was hiding in the French concessions in Shanghai. In protest of this, the Japanese invoked the Boxer Protocol and Tanggu Truce: “1) The Sun incident and the assassinations of the pro-Japan, proManchukuo newspaperpublishers violated the North China [T'angku] Cease-fire Agreement of May 1933. The North China Cease-fire Agreement stipulated that China would not take any action disturbing the peac e on either side of a line from Lut'ai to Paoti and T'ungchou. The above provision extends to all of China and should of course be applied to any defiant deeds of Chines e officials that threaten the peac e in the Peiping-Tientsin region. The Sun incident and the assassinations of Pai and Hu are clearly contrary to the above agreement.  2) The official note exchanged by China and Japan upon the return of Tientsin in 1902 is applicabl e to the murder of Pai Yühuan. This note stated: "In the event a Chines e national who is employed by a foreign army is accused of disobeying the law, the commander of the army that employs the said Chines e national, in order that the matter may be decided in the most suitable manner has the option of punishing him personally or voluntarily delivering him to the appropriate Chinese authorities. Your government must agree to this arrangement.” Since Pai, as already stated, was in the employ of the Japanese army, his murder is clearly a deed which violates the above note."  Thus the Japanese invoked the right that the commander of the Tientsin garrison had the authority to maintain security and try any criminals. Because the Japanese Army claimed it had authority to conduct investigations, trials and deal punishment within two miles of the Peiping-Shanhaigaun rail line it insisted to do so given the recent events. This actually distorted some of the specifics of the Tanggu Treaty, thus the Japanese were on loose grounds. On May 25th, Tokyo HQ was forewarned of the actions the Kwantung Army would undertake in North China. So Tokyo sent Colonel Sakai Takashi the Tientsin army chief of staff and attache Takahasi Tan called upon Yu Qiaqi, the secretary general of the Political affairs council and General He Yingqin. In fact Sakai backed this up with a threatening public statement: “The execution of anti-Manchukuo plots under the direction of the Chinese authorities, assistance to the "Chinese Patriotic Volunteer Forces," and various acts of terrorism directed against Japan are destructive of the cease-fire agreement. The headquarters for these crimes are in Tientsin and Peiping. Should this state of affairs continue, it will become necessary to incorporate the above two cities in the demilitarized zone. The murders of Hu and Pai are violations of the provisions of the Boxer Settlement and a challenge to Japan. If similar acts hereafter occur, Japan will, on the basis of its treaty rights, be forced to consider what action is necessary for the defense of its rights”. Additionally, Sakai demanded the withdrawal of all KMT aligned units, Blue Shirt Society members, the Political Training Corps of the Peiping Branch Military Council and the 3rd Regiment Military Police from North China. He also wanted Yu Xuecheng dismissed as chairman of Hubei. The next day in a move to intimidate Yu Xuecheng, the Tientsin Army deployed armored vehicles, artillery and machine guns directly in front of his official residence. It seemed now the Japanese sought to incorporate all of Hubei into the new demilitarized region. To make this happen, Sakai had independently put forward these demands, but they were recognized as an ultimatum from Japan, one for which for now had no deadline.  Chiang Kai-Shek, Wang Jingwei, Huang Fu and He Yingqin conferred over the situation and chose to informally talk with the Japanese while they kept the press quiet on the matter. The Chinese took their time, so to pressure them further, the Kwantung Army deployed a infantry battalion and one cavalry brigade at Shanhaiguan, while the Kawaguchi detachment concentrated around Gubeikou and two air force squadrons were brought over to Jinzhou. The Tientsin Army readied two battalions at Tientsin and Tangshan, both prepared to advance to Peiping at a moments notice. After sending numerous orders not to escalate things, Tokyo HQ sent Colonel Kita Seiichi, the chief of its China desk to demand the Kwantung Army not use anymore force. Meanwhile the Imperial Japanese Navy, under the fear of Anglo-American intervention avoided escalating the situation, but kept the 3rd fleet on full alert.  Under immense pressure the Chinese buckled. At 6pm on June 10th, He Yingqin orally advised Major Takahashi that Nanjing would issue a directive ordered the immediate withdrawal of local KMT organs from Hubei; that the 51st NRA Army would depart by rail from Hubei between June 11th and 25th; that the end and 25th NRA divisions of the Central Army would also depart Hubei and that the KMT would issue a directive prohibiting anti-japanese activities throughout China. It was an incredibly embarrassing act and became known as the He-Umezu agreement. Under its provisions the Japanese had expelled the Central Army from North China, Yu Xuecheng's forces, all anti-Japanese organizations of any sort and all anti-Japanese officials were removed. The Japanese had heavily capitalized on the assassinations in Tientsin, however other incidents enabled our good friend Doihara to cause further mayhem.  Following the Tanggu truce, Song Queyuan's 29th Army, consisting of the 37th, 38th and 132nd divisions had been deployed throughout Chahar with his headquarters based at Kalgan. His troops understandably displayed a lot of anti-japanese attitude and behaviors. Like a broken record, it was only a matter of time until an incident organically presented itself. One of the first ones broke out in Changpei. According to the Japanese, so get your grains of salt ready, a group of 8 led by staff officer Kawaguchi Kiyotake of the Tientsin garrison and Ikeda Katsumi of the consulate at Kalga and planned an excursion to Inner Mongolia late October 1934. After completing all the necessary paperwork and procedures, such as securing visas and giving advance notice to the Chinese officials in the areas they would voyage, the Japanese departed Kalgan for Tolun on October 27th. Upon entering Changpei's south gate they were suddenly stopped by troops under Song Queyuans 132nd division alongside some Peace Preservation Corps men. Their commanding officer punched Ikeda as the rest of the party were threatened with Dao swords and rifles. After 40 minutes a Chinese security officer showed up to allow them all to pass through the South Gate.  The Japanese foreign Ministry and Army were obviously outraged by this incident. The vice Consul at Kalgan, Hashimoto Masayasu complained to the chief of staff of the 132nd division and Major Takahasi at Peiping lodged an official complaint with Song Queyuan. On November 25th, Song Queyuan ordered the general commanding the 132nd division, Chao Tengyu, to apologize and dismissed the officer who punched Ikeda. Song Queyuan then guaranteed safe travel for all Japanese throughout Chahar, without any inspection of their possession and he promised to withdraw his troops west of the Great Wall. All of this because a guy was punched, you can really get the sense the Chinese were walking on eggshells. In late 1934, a large contingent of Song Queyuan's cavalry had deployed to the area around Fengning in Rehe. They were defending strategic positions and establishing large peace preservation corps. The Kwantung Army repeatedly demanded they withdraw from the area and the Chinese had made promises as to such by December 31st. Rather than comply, the Chinese launched an offensive and captured 40 Manchukuo militiamen. Song Queyuan rewarded his men with a bounty of 300 silver yuan and ordered the arms of the enemy by handed to the district government of Kuyuan.  On January 17th, the Kwantung Army moved the Nagami detachment of the IJA 8th Division from Chengde to launch a punitive expedition against Song Queyuan's forces in the Kuyuan area. On the 20th the Peiping Branch Military Council informed the Kwantung Army Song Queyuan was already withdrawing his men. Thus the Nagami detachment who had advanced as far as Tat'an turned around for the Great Wall on the 22nd, when they were suddenly attacked by Song Queyuan's troops near Hungnit'an. The Kwantung Army were outraged by what they were calling the first incident in western Rehe. The so-called incident would be resolved on February 2nd nar Ta'an when Zhang Yueting acting on behalf of the NRA 37th division and Major General Tani Hisao on behalf of the IJA 7th division agreed to the following terms: “1) In the future China will strictly prohibit actions that antagonize the Japanese army and will neither move troops into Manchukuo nor adopt a threatening attitude toward Manchukuo. The Chinese will completely suspend their current spying activities, such as scouting the movements of the Kwantung Army.  2) If China violates the above pledges in the future, the Japanese  army will act independently and firmly, but the responsibility will be borne by the Chinese . If the Chinese forces increase their military strength or contemplate strengthening their fortifications, the Japanese army will regard these moves as hostile acts.  3) China is to have the government of Kuyuan district return all arms confiscated (from the Manchukuo militia and turn them over to the Japanese army at Nanweitzu by February 7.  4) The outcome of this conference will be jointly announced on February 4. In particular, the Chinese should be careful that in making their announcement they do not distort the contents of the agreement or engage in counterpropaganda”. Can you imagine there was a second incident at Changpei? 4 members of the Japanese Special Services Agency based out of Abga, some 40 miles northwest of Tolun had come to the same southgate around 4pm on June 5th, traveling to Kalgan. There they were detained by units of the 132nd division who refused to recognize their identification papers. They were apparently held without proper bedding or food, threatened with Dao swords and bayonets. The Japanese claimed it was all done under orders from Song Queyuan's chief of staff and that their officials were interrogated by the chief of military police at Changpei. On June 11th, Lt Colonel Matsui Gennosuke, the head of the Japanese Special Service Agency at Kalgan, demanded an apology from Song Queyuan and for the men responsible to be punished and for further guarantees for safe travel. Matsui also insinuated that unless Song Queyuan severed ties to Nanjing and became Pro-Japanese he might suffer the same fate that had befallen Yu Xuecheng. Clearly the Kwantung Army was looking to remove Song Queyuan's army from Chahar province. There were two major reasons for such a thing, so they could better protect the northwestern flank of Manchukuo and to support Prince De who was attempting a campaign to make Inner Mongolia independent from China.  On June 11th the Kwantung Army directed the Mukden Special Service Agency chief of staff, our old buddy, Doihara, currently in Peiping, to confer with the army attache there and with the Tientsin garrison. They were to push for Song Queyuan's army to be withdrawn south of the Yellow River as rapidly as possible. Tokyo HQ always keeping a close eye on their troublesome Kwantung Officers dispatch this notice to Doihara "Although we desire the evacuation of Song Queyuan's army from Chahar province, we disagree that we should, at this time, demand its withdrawal south of the Yellow River. Rather, its transfer to the Peiping-Hankow Railway line would be advisable." On June 13th, the General Staff advised the Kwantung Army the same message. The General staff then ordered every detachment in North China to act discreetly "If we shun excessive publicity at this time, we should, in view of the present situation, be able to achieve practical results without publicity." Since they were already getting their way in Hubei, Tokyo HQ did not want to risk rocking the boat in Chahar concurrently.  Then came a second western Rehe incident, according to the Chengde Special Service Agency, "On June 11, when a party led by a senior official of Fengning hsien was about to enter the town of Tungchatzu [in Manchukuo, about eight kilometers north of Tushihk'ou], it was attacked by rifle fire from Sung Che-yuan's troops stationed at Tushihk'ou. The next day, June 12, a member of the border police force in Hsiaoch'ang [in Manchukuo, about fifteen kilometers north of Tushihk'ou] was also fired upon by the same troops of Sung in the vicinity of Hsiaoch'ang."  On June 17th, the Kwantung Army General Minami Jiro met with the Tientsin Army chief of staff Sakai and the Special Service Agency chief at Kalgan, Matsui for a full report on the incident. After reviewing it, Minami drafted a policy to guide the Kwantung Army:  “The withdrawal of Sung Che-yuan's army will worsen the confusion in the Peiping-Tientsin region. This incident should be handled separately from the North China problem and should be negotiated locally with Sung Che-yuan. Our demands will be limited to the following:  1) withdrawal of the troops invading Manchukuo, together with their advance unit at Tolun;  2) removal of the forces back to the Kalgan area;  3) an apology by Sung Che-yuan;  4) punishment of those directly responsible for the Changpei incident; and  5) prohibition of anti-Japanese actions in the future.” The Chinese realized they needed to reach a quick settlement with the Kwantung Army. On the 18th He Yingqin met with Consul General Suma over in Nanjing. Suma was presented with a set of harsh demands from the Kwantung Army and that same day reported to the Executive Yuan he had decided to relieve Song Queyuan of his posts as governor and commander of the 29th Army. He then appointed as acting governor and provincial commissioner of civil affairs, Qin Dechun, who would take the 132nd division implicated in the Changpei incident south. The message was relayed to the Japanese military attache in Nanjing, Lt Colonel Amamiya Tatsumi. The man who relayed the message was Vice Foreign Minister Tang Yujen who also stated this "In view of the fact that China has moved voluntarily to dismiss Sung Che-yuan, to transfer his army, and to punish those responsible, we request that we not be confronted with an ultimatum in the form of various demands from the Kwantung Army with a deadline for reply." On June 19th, Nanjing officially implemented the promises made by He Yingqin and Tang Yujen and in turn the Kwantung Army wired Doihara in Peiping to stand down and wait to see if the Chinese did what they said they would. Doihara was probably disappointed he could not perform his 100th false flag operation he must have been cooking up. For any of you who watch my Youtube content, I used clips from the Chinese WW2 Drama series “Young Marshal” that depicts Doihara hilariously. You can check it out in my long format documentary on the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, its meme gold Doihara's clips, freaking out and smashing phones and such.  At 10 pm on June 23rd, Doihara, alongside Matsui and Takahasi visited Qin Dechen at his residence to negotiate a final understanding. There Doihara demanded China implement several measures to promote better relations with Japan such as withdrawing Song Queyuan's army southwest; give an apology for the Changpei incident; punish all those responsible; dissolve all the anti-japanese organizations in the region; ban Chinese immigration into Inner Mongolia; cease any oppressive actions against Mongolians and cooperate and encourage trade between Manchukuo, Inner Mongolia, North China; and appoint more Japanese military and political advisers. Just a laundry list he had worked up. So Qin Dechen apologized for the Changpei incident, stated they were already withdrawing Song Queyuan's men and dissolving all the anti-japanese organizations. Now he was orally agreeing to all of this, but he refused to put it in writing, prior to receiving the greenlight from Nanjing. Doihara understood and gave him time to talk to his government. The next day however another incident occurred, this time near Tuxukou. There a contingent of Song Queyuan's withdrawing troops fired upon Manchukuo police forces and in response the Tolun Special Service Agency dispatched a Mongolian unit led by Li Shuxin. It was not really much of an incident, just a minor confrontation all things given, so the Kwantung Army told Doihara to deal with Qin Dechen in private about it.On June 27th, Qin Dechen sent a formal reply to Doihara's demands in what became known as the Qin-Doihara agreement. It conformed with all the demands, seeing Song Queyuan's troops depart southwest while the security of Chahar was entrusted to two peace preservation units. One unit was responsible for the Chinese population, the other over the Mongolian. On August 28th, Song Queyuan was appointed garrison commander over the Peiping-Tientsin region with his 29th division joining Chao Tengyu's 132nd division and Liu Juming's 2nd division. Thus after the He-Umezu and Qin-Doihara agreements the Japanese had now expanded their influence into both Hubei and Chahar. 1935 saw a wave of incidents break out in the demilitarized region, prompting the Japanese to go into numerous negotiations with the Chinese to clamp down on anything they didn't like. Then on October 4th, Japan unleashed a document titled  “Concerning Policy towards China”: “The goal of our foreign policy is the development of East Asia and the maintenance of the security of East Asia through the cooperative concert of Japan, Manchukuo, and China, with Japan as the nucleus; this is likewise the objective of our policy toward China. To realize this objective on the basis of the outline below, the central and regional authorities of China must, by fair and just means, adjust their relations with Japan and Manchukuo so as to bring about an environment favorable to the establishment of basic relations between Japan, Manchukuo, and China.  1) China should adopt a good neighbor policy toward Japan, thoroughly suppress anti-Japanese activities, and abandon its policy of reliance on Europe and the United States. It should put this policy into practice and as a matter of course cooperate with Imperial Japan on practical problems.  2) Although China must eventually extend formal recognition to Manchukuo, until then it must recognize de facto the independence of Manchukuo and abandon its anti-Manchukuo policy. At least in North China, which borders on Manchukuo, the Chinese should promote economic and cultural cooperation with Manchukuo.  3) In view of the Communist threat emanating from Outer Mongolia and posing a common menace to Japan, Manchukuo, and China, China should cooperate in measures aimed at eliminating this menace from the region bordering Outer Mongolia.  4) When the above points have been put into effect and we recognize the good faith of China concerning friendly cooperation with Japan and Manchukuo, we shall first conclude comprehensive agreements on friendly cooperative relations between China and Japan, and thereafter draw up the agreement needed for regulating new relations between Japan, Manchukuo, and China” To this Chiang Kai-Shek replied could not recognize Manchukuo but that his government would do whatever it could peacefully to maintain economic activity between the people north and south of the Great Wall. He also stated no other country on earth was more concerned with the Communist menace in Mongolia than China. All of the appeasement efforts had brought Wang Jingwei to his boiling point and on August 8th he departed for Shanghai as he and his entire cabinet resigned. Chiang Kai-Shek personally came over and asked Wang Jingwei to withdraw his resignation given he offered him further support, and Wang Jingwei relented. Then on the morning of November 1st, after attending a meeting, Wang Jingwei was shot by a Chinese reporter for the Chenkuang Press, a company notably associated with Chiang Kai-Shek. Rumors spread the assassination attempt was inspired by anti-japanese elements such as Generals Yang Qi and Tang Shengzhi. With Wang Jingwei in the hospital, Chiang Kai-Shek was forced to take a larger role with the North China situation. Then Wang Jingwei departed for Europe seeking better medical care and wired his resignation on November 29th. Thus Chiang Kai-Shek succeeded him as president of the Executive Yuan and the coalition between him and Wang Jingwei had officially ended. With Chiang Kai-Shek now the only funnel from which action could be directed, the Japanese sent Ambassador Ariyoshi to China to persuade Chiang Kai-Shek to grant some form of autonomy for North China. By this point autonomy for North China had become part of Japan's national policy. Chiang Kai-Shek in response to this growing threat went to Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi, to meet with Yan Xishan. There he proposed that if Yan Xishan could unite the Northern Warlords, Chiang Kai-Shek would appoint him chairman of the political affairs council, with added authority over finances and diplomacy. Chiang Kai-Shek urged him to come attend the 6th plenum of the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee scheduled for November 1st. At this time Yan Xishan's Shanxi was struggling financially so he reconciled with Chiang Kai-Shek. To this effect Chiang Kai-Shek sent his vice chief of the Army General Staff Xing Pin to tour the north trying to persuade those like Song Queyuan and Han Fuju to not support the North China autonomy movement. The Japanese interpreted these efforts to thwart the autonomy movement as the underlying cause of all the anti-japanese incidents breaking out continuously. To this the Nanjing government disclaimed no responsibility and insisted they were doing everything the Japanese asked of them.  The Japanese began a massive campaign aimed at all the important leaders in North China. One man they managed to gain influence over was Yin Jukeng who on November 25th at Tungzhou, announced the inauguration of the East Hubei Anti-Communist Autonomous Council, claiming autonomy for the entire demilitarized region. Yin Jukeng's council consisted of 9 members whereupon he was chairman and took charge of foreign relations and military affairs. As you can imagine Nanjing immediately labeled him a traitor and ordered his arrest. Chiang Kai-Shek then rapidly sent word to the Japanese an official response to their “Concerning Policy towards China” document:  “To satisfy the various demands from the Japanese side, there should first of all be established in Hopei province an autonomous political administration; ultimately, this administration should be similar to that governing the southwestern region. Whether or not this administration should be extended to other regions will be determined after the results in Hopei have been ascertained.  1) Although the campaign to wipe out the Communists is progressing, the Communist bandits have fled toward Kansu. Since this raises the danger that the Communists may spread into Inner Mongolia, the defense against the Communists in North China should be conducted jointly.  2) Certain aspects of the new monetary system are not suited to North China, and appropriate modifications will be made in this respect.  3) Efforts are to be made to harmonize economic interchange among the people on both sides of the Great Wall.  4) To meet the special needs of the region, the local administration should be given authority to enable it to exercise suitable control over financial matters in North China.  5) Pending issues are to be settled locally in a rational manner.  6) The aim will be to employ talented people to carry out the above tasks and to establish an ideal government.” Chiang Kai-Shek dispatched He Yingqin to reign in the situation at Peiping, but upon his arrival he believed the situation was beyond his control. He Yingqin reported that it was his belief the only way for Nanjing to retain some degree of authority in the region was to create a new political organ to do so. Thus on December 11th, the Nationalist government established the Hubei-Chahar Political Council chaired by Song Queyuan. Song Queyuan declared the new council would assume all responsibility for administering Hubei and Chahar and promised  "to respect the wishes of the people, endeavor in particular to relieve the economic distress of the region, and maintain the peace of East Asia on the basis of Sino-Japanese amity."  Thus within all this madness now two autonomous regimes co-existed in North China. The East Hubei Anti-Communist Autonomous Council would administer 22 prefectures while the Hubei-Chahar Political Council would administer Hubei, Chahar, Peiping and Tientsin. As you might imagine, relations between these two councils was complex and ambiguous. The 22 prefectures the former administered were under the jurisdiction of the other. One was a Japanese puppet, the other was controlled by Nanjing who refused to recognize the other. Japan immediately exploited their newfound chaotic gains in North China. In May of 1936 the 2000 troops of the Tientsin garrison army was boosted to 5600 led by General Tashiro Kan'ichiro. This was done under the guise it was to defend against communists and protect Japanese citizens. The position of the commander of the Tientsin garrison was officially promoted to encompass full responsibility for the situation in North China, exactly the same as the Kwantung Army's role over Manchukuo. Thuse both the Kwantung Army and what was henceforth called the China Garrison had clearly defined roles. One would be responsible for Manchukuo, the other over North China. Japan had neutralized Rehe, Chahar and Hubei, all of whom would fall directly under their influence. But was Japan satisfied?  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Its not always through military means that nations can encroach upon other nations. Japan was showcasing how it could bully away parts of China through threats alone it was working miracles. How long could Chiang Kai-Shek carry on like this? Would it be Japan or his own people that would hang him for losing China?

Send us a textThis week we look to deunk myths about rising autism rates and explain the genetic and environmental factors at play, while exploring the resurrection of dire wolves through genetic engineering and how puppy cognition predicts adult dog behavior.• CDC data shows autism diagnoses increased from 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 1 in 31 in 2022• Approximately 80% of autism cases stem from inherited genetic variations with 200+ genes linked to early brain development• Better screening, diagnosis, and awareness accounts for much of the increase in autism rates• Scientists have genetically engineered puppies with dire wolf traits using DNA from ancient remains• The three pups—Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi—received 20 gene edits targeting coat color, body size, and facial features• Study of 1,400+ puppies shows early cognitive traits persist into adulthood• Puppies good at following pointing gestures became more trainable adults, while those with better impulse control grew into calmer dogs• Understanding puppy cognition allows for customized training approaches that support lifelong well-beingSome Links and Studies:https://www.sciencenews.org/article/autism-adhd-risk-not-linked-prenatal-exposure-antidepressantsS. Gilman et al. Rare de novo variants associated with autism implicate a large functional network of genes involved in formation and function of synapses. Neuron, Vol. 70, June 9, 2011. DOI:10.1016/j.neuron.2011.05.021D. Levy et al. Rare De Novo and Transmitted Copy-Number Variation in Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Neuron, Vol. 70, June 9, 2011. DOI 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.05.015Y. Sakai et al. Protein interactome reveals converging molecular pathways among autism disorders. Science Translational Medicine, Vol. 3, June 8, 2011. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3002166Sanders et al. Multiple Recurrent De Novo CNVs, Including Duplications of the 7q11.23 Williams Syndrome Region, Are Strongly Associated with Autism. Neuron, Vol. 70, June 9, 2011. DOI:10.1016/j.neuron.2011.05.015C. Schaaf et al. Oligogenic heterozygosity in individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. Human Molecular Genetics. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddr243. Available online: [Go to]C.P. Schaaf and H.Y. Zoghbi. Solving the autism puzzle a few pieces at a time. Neuron, Vol. 70, June 9, 2011. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.05.025I. Voineagu et al. Transcriptomic analysis of autistic brain reveals convergent molecular pathology. Nature. doi: doi:10.1038/nature10110Our links:Our Website!  www.bunsenbernerbmd.comSign up for our Weekly Newsletter!Bunsen and Beaker on Twitter:Bunsen and Beaker on TikTokSupport the showFor Science, Empathy, and Cuteness!Being Kind is a Superpower.https://twitter.com/bunsenbernerbmd

With Usagi Yojimbo: Ten Thousand Plums, Stan Sakai enters his forty-first year as the rabbit ronin's chronicler. Each decade represents about a year in the title character's life, which you can track if you're paying attention to the seasons surrounding Usagi's adventures. If you're paying even closer attention, you can map his footsteps across sixteenth-century Japan and anticipate his next conflict or reunion, but don't worry if you lack such concentration. As you'll hear in today's episode, Sakai certainly does not. Usagi Yojimbo Ten Thousand Plums begins with a fox spirit and her daughter struggling to survive. Sickness has taken the child, and the mother seeks help from a nearby village. They reject her despite having access to the Shogun's prized plum orchard and the healing umeboshi (pickled plums) it produces. By the time Usagi, his cousin Yukichi, and the bounty hunter Gen arrive, fury has rained down upon the town, creating a dangerous suspicion of outsiders. With Ten Thousand Plums, Stan Sakai continues to explore the themes of deceptive appearances, selflessness, and selfishness, which he thoroughly dug into with the previous Usagi Yojimbo storyline, The Crow. We chat with Sakai about this current preoccupation, how it challenges Usagi and Yukichi, and where it could lead the cousins. No major spoilers lie within our conversation, but Stan Sakai does tease a few things that will undoubtedly spark intense curiosity for longtime Usagi Yojimbo readers. The Sword of Narukami is in play. Could another famous sword re-appear, too? Following Ten Thousand Plums' first three issues, a new story entitled "Tabo" should prove to be Stan Sakai's most personal comic yet. It was written shortly after his younger brother Kenneth passed away, and Sakai kindly expands on what this tale means for him and his family. You'll hear how "Tabo" places Usagi and Yukichi on a pilgrimage in search of the miraculous goddess called "The Mother," forcing Usagi to confront his skepticism in ways he never has before. The first issue of Usagi Yojimbo Ten Thousand Plums is now available from Dark Horse Comics and Dogu Publishing. The second issue will arrive on April 16th, and we have an exclusive preview of its first five pages on the Comic Book Couples Counseling website. Make sure to keep up to date on all things Usagi Yojimbo by visiting Stan Sakai's website and Instagram. This week's episode is sponsored by 2000 AD, the greatest comic you're not reading! Within its pages is a whole universe of characters, from Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog to Rogue Trooper, Shakara, Halo Jones, and the poor sods slogging across the Cursed Earth in The Helltrekkers. Get a print subscription at your door every week - and the first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, get free back issues, and download DRM-free copies of each issue for just $9 a month. That's 128 pages of incredible monthly comics for less than $10. We're also sponsored by the Beyond the Cape Podcast. If you enjoy Comic Book Couples Counseling, you'd undoubtedly enjoy their show. Beyond the Cape is a laid-back talk show in which every episode highlights their love of this beautiful comic book medium, their personal journey with it, and the respective artists they feature on each podcast. This June will mark their second anniversary, which we certainly recognize as a massive accomplishment. So, follow them on Instagram @BeyondTheCapePodcast and Spotify with The Uncensored Nerds Network. Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode: Stan Sakai on CBCC: Samurai Rabbit Stan Sakai and Julie Sakai on CBCC: Ice and Snow This Ink Runs Cold Kickstarter Support Your Local Comic Shop - Episode 2 - Now Or Never (San Diego, CA) Final Round of Plugs (PHEW): Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY. The Comic Book Couples Counseling TeePublic Merch Page. And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren. Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts. Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators. Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

Zach is joined by the host of the I Read Comic Books podcast, Mike Rapin to discuss the much heralded, deeply beloved stories of a ronin Samurai rabbit: Usagi Yojimbo!Delving into several of the original stories from the 1980s, Zach and Mike talk the history of the comics beginnings, gush over Sakai's brilliant work and talk about why the series has stood the test of time for over 40 years.---------------------------------------------------Want to hear more from Mike? Check out I Read Comic Books!And go here to see the amazing IRCB 10th anniversary Zine titled: Totally Not A Cult: An Anthology Art Zine curated by IRCB---------------------------------------------------Check out Dreampass and all their killer tracks on Spotify!---------------------------------------------------Join the Patreon to help us keep the lights on, and internet connected! https://www.patreon.com/tctwl---------------------------------------------------Listen to my other podcast!TFD: NerdcastAnd I am also part of the team over at...I Read Comic Books!---------------------------------------------------Want to try out all the sweet gigs over on Fiverr.com? Click on the link below and sign up!https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=323533&brand=fiverrcpa---------------------------------------------------Follow on Instagram!The Comics That We LoveFollow on Tiktok!The Comics that We LoveFollow on Twitter!@Z_Irish_Red

Yoshi Sakai is a super talented artist who is showing at my gallery, @Dog_House_Gallery for funny artists at The Brooklyn Comedy Collective. She was here all week and we sort of worked together since I have to manage working with the BCC inside of their busy space. So it was super cool to have gotten to know her and her work process before she came on the show. Yoshie is the first artist in her family and also (first) second generation. Yoshie trained as a professur in great and Latin, but at 30 took a turn and discovered art. Yoshie is very self-effacing, but in my fake-shrink opinion—I think shes self-effacing mostly because she cant quite grasp how successful she is at something so unusual and personal. I also think her humility is part of the secret sauce which makes her work so good. See Yoshie's work and more HERE Follow Yoshie on Instagram: @yoshie_sakai_studio Yoshie's Artist Statement: I create characters that respond and negotiate contemporary social issues of cultural identity, gender roles, and familial and personal relationships. As a subtly transgressive undercover cultural agent, I expose the absurdities of manipulative social structure while humorously struggling and reveling in those structures as a participant. By staging my videos within intimate installations that become psychological and imaginative playhouses, I give form to our vulnerability and evoking, sometimes, nervous laughter. My sculptures are created from found objects and composed into imaginary characters and interior sceneries grounded in both tangible and fantastical domesticity. I use tropes including East Asian soap operas, Hollywood musicals, and the wellness industry to expose the anxieties of aspiration, model minority myths, and filial piety through the lens of the longstanding, yet under-represented Japanese American community in South Los Angeles. My ongoing project has been an East Asian/Asian American hybrid soap opera video installation series called “KOKO's Love,” where I challenge the “model minority” myth to reveal the guise of superficial “perfection” of being a 1.5 generation Japanese American woman—the “.5” feeling of not belonging to either the first generation or the second. Loosely autobiographical, I felt it was important to write, produce, direct, and play every character as a performative process. My work is about accessibility while nurturing human connection. I plan to focus on grandparents and the challenges within a family structure of varying generations in order to encompass a wider audience beyond “KOKO's Love.” My work can function as a a critique of capitalism's production of space and ways of being, while also drawing on popular forms of entertainment and media to engage diverse audiences, especially those historically devalued, ignored, and seen as burdens. People often ask, “Why are you so happy all of the time?” and my response is “It's better than crying.” Ultimately, in my work I would like to continue the exploration of humor as a complicated intersection where hope, happiness, anxiety, and darkness reside much like our society, a tension-filled existence of both criticality and complacency.

Happy Halloween, and welcome to another chilling episode of the NAVAS podcast, where we venture into the eerie depths of veterinary anesthesia! Join us as we lift the curtain on a topic that, while vital to advanced anesthesia practice, often sends shivers down the spine of even the bravest veterinary professionals—neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) in veterinary patients. While paralytic agents play an important role in providing excellent quality muscle relaxation that can help facilitate a variety of procedures, their use often spooks even the seasoned anesthetist, as they can cause frightening problems if not used with great care. After listening to this episode, we hope you can avoid a jump scare anytime you need to use NMBA. Our guest for this spine-tingling episode is the highly esteemed Dr. Daniel Sakai from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Sakai, boarded veterinary anesthesiologist, has conducted extensive research on NMBAs, exploring their invaluable role in patient immobilization as well as how to optimize recovery from neuromuscular blockade. He's here to help us demystify these powerful agents, dissect their practical applications, and reveal how to use them safely and effectively to prevent any nightmarish outcomes for your patients. So, as the leaves fall and the shadows lengthen, grab a cozy blanket, tune in, and get ready to learn from one of the top minds in veterinary anesthesia. Just be warned—this episode might leave you spellbound!If you like what you hear, we have a couple of favors to ask of you:Become a member of NAVAS for access to more anesthesia and analgesia educational and RACE-approved CE content.Spread the word. Share our podcast on your socials or a discussion forum. That would really help us achieve our mission: Reduce mortality and morbidity in veterinary patients undergoing sedation, anesthesia, and analgesia through high-quality, peer-reviewed education. Thank you to our sponsor, Dechra - learn more about the pharmaceutical products Dechra has to offer veterinary professionals, such as Zenalpha.If you have questions about this episode or want to suggest topics for future episodes, reach out to the producers at education@mynavas.org.All opinions stated by the host and their guests are theirs alone and do not represent the thoughts or opinions of any corporation, university, or other business or governmental entity.

Cookbook season is back, and we talk to the authors of some of our favorite picks. We're joined by Carolina Gelen, who talks to us about learning how to cook, her favorite Romanian dishes, and how she comes up with her signature recipes like Butter Beans alla Vodka, a fast, one-pot dish inspired by the famous vodka pasta sauce. Carolina is the author of Pass the Plate: 100 Delicious, Highly Sharable, Everyday Recipes. Then, Sonoko Sakai tells us how to “wafu” our food! Wafu means Japanese in style, and Sonoko takes familiar dishes and adds a little Japanese flair. Check out her recipe for her Pasta with Miso Bolognese Sauce. Sonoko is the author of Wafu Cooking: Everyday Recipes with Japanese Style. Then, Jody Eddy talks to us about the incredible food she found and cooked in religious communities around the world. She walks us through some of her favorite recipes, from condiments and Chicken soup in Tibet to a recipe she learned from a Minnesotan monastery, Honey Glazed Turkey Tinga. Jody's book is Elysian Kitchens: Recipes Inspired by the Traditions and Tastes of the World's Sacred Space.Broadcast dates for this episode:October 25, 2024 (originally aired)Sign up for our Weeknight Kitchen newsletter here and enter to win one of the incredible cookbooks featured in this episode.Donate to The Splendid Table today and we will show our appreciation with a special thank-you gift.

There is a new $2.8 billion budget and possible downtown moves for the Spurs and the Missions. County Judge Peter Sakai joins us to update listeners about the latest developments.

Har Bin Jiara Reh Na Sakai, ਹਰਿ ਬਿਨੁ ਜੀਅਰਾ ਰਹਿ ਨ ਸਕੈ (Sri Guru Granth Sahib Page 506 Sabad 1321)

Last time we spoke about the battle of the Driniumor River. In July and August, American and Japanese forces clashed near Afua in New Guinea. Troop A of the 112th Cavalry engaged Japanese units, pushing them back temporarily. Troop C replaced Troop A but was soon isolated by Japanese attacks. The American TED Force, including the 124th and 169th Infantry, launched a counteroffensive, facing heavy resistance. Despite supply and terrain challenges, TED Force advanced, forcing the Japanese to gradually withdraw. By early August, the Japanese launched fierce and desperate attacks, but American defenses held firm. TED Force continued its advance, encountering further fierce Japanese resistance but successfully disrupting their supply lines. The Japanese, suffering heavy losses, were finally forced to begin a general retreat, as the American forces consolidated their positions by early August. It seemed Green Hell was still living up to its dreadful nickname. This episode is Operation Dan Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  This week we are picking up with the action along the CBI theater. In Yunnan, by the end of July, General Wei's Y Force was still engaged in efforts to eliminate the resilient but small Japanese garrisons at Tengchong, Mount Song, Pingda, and Longling. Simultaneously, the 33rd Army was striving to accelerate preparations for Operation Dan, anticipating resistance from General Honda's main garrisons until September's end. Following the fall of Myitkyina in August, Honda recognized the need to expedite his offensive plans, despite delays in the deployment of the 2nd and 18th Divisions. Additional reinforcements from the 49th Division were expected in Mandalay by September, bolstering Honda's position. Meanwhile, General Matsuyama faced the challenge of isolated garrisons cut off from his 56th Division, surrounded by superior enemy forces. With his main forces focused on imminent offensive preparations, Matsuyama could only provide moral support through radio messages. Colonel Matsui's recent successes reduced Chinese activity on the Mangshi front, allowing for the rehabilitation of the 113th Regiment by August, despite occasional small-scale raids. At Tengchong, Colonel Kurashige resolved to defend the Walled City to the last man against relentless infantry assaults, air bombardments, and continuous enemy artillery preparations. Compared with the defenses of Lameng, the positions at Tengchong were much less effective due to the factors of disadvantageous terrain and the lack of time to make defense preparations. Tengchong Castle covered an area slightly over a half-mile square; and was surrounded by a rampart 16 to 20 feet in height and over six feet thick at the top. Although the rampart had a stone facing and was backed with clay, it was not proof against an artillery bombardment and considerable work was required to strengthen it. Concrete or stone pillboxes were constructed adjacent to all gates and at the four corners. Shelters were built to protect guns and machine guns mounted on the rampart as well as for the troops and supplies inside the wall. Other entrenchments were prepared within the castle itself. While these measures greatly strengthened the defenses, the castle was still not proof against an intensive air or artillery bombardment. Recognizing the southeast as the primary avenue of approach, General Huo directed his forces to concentrate their main efforts in that direction. On August 2, following another bombing raid by twelve B-25s that created a gap fifteen feet wide, the 36th and 116th Divisions initiated a new general assault. The Japanese quickly worked to repair the breach and fired machine guns to cover it. It was only after concentrating guns, rockets, and flamethrowers on the southwest pillbox, along with five waves of fighter cover fire, that the Chinese were able to position scaling ladders against the wall. Two companies then seized the top of the wall just east of the southern corner on August 3. Overnight, Kurashige led a successful counterattack that restored defenses along the rampart, except for one platoon that held its ground all night. This platoon's resilience allowed Chinese reinforcements to pass through the breach on August 4 and seize a pillbox inside the city. With the walls breached, the fall of Tengchong became inevitable, but the determined defenders continued to resist fiercely in the coming days, inflicting heavy casualties on the Chinese attackers. Meanwhile, Major Kanemitsu's Lameng Garrison defended Moung Song fiercely. After the Hondo Position fell, the 308th Regiment resumed the advance on 3 August it had flamethrowers which it used with devastating effect to take the crest of Kung Lung-po. There the Chinese found several Japanese tankettes, which had been dug in for use as pillboxes. Despite repelling enemy attacks with great effort, the Japanese faced dangerously low ammunition supplies. As a result, Kanemitsu decided to raid the 8th Army's artillery positions and supply dumps to replenish his ammunition stocks. Twenty-nine men, selected from the artillery battalion, were divided into two teams for the purpose. One team was to raid the artillery positions on Shirakabe and Haraguchi Hills as well as to attack motor vehicles on the road between Lameng and Huitung Bridge. The second team was to operate in the area to the south and west of the Gake and Hondo Positions. On the night of August 9, seven groups of Japanese volunteers launched a surprise attack, destroying several howitzers and seizing light weapons and ammunition. Despite Kanemitsu's initial success and his troops' resilient defense against Chinese infantry assaults, General Song opted to revert to conventional siege tactics starting August 11. His divisions began digging tunnels beneath key Japanese strongholds in the Mount Song triangle, each tunnel stretching 22 feet to accommodate two powerful mines aimed at enemy pillboxes.One mine held 2,500 pounds of TNT, the other mine held 3,500 pounds of TNT.  The mines detonated on August 20, causing significant damage that engineers exploited swiftly with flamethrowers, capturing Kanemitsu's primary stronghold. In one pillbox forty-two Japanese were buried alive, of whom five were rescued. The prisoners stated that they had been asleep and had never suspected that they were being undermined. At 0920 the 3d Regiment against light opposition took the few strongpoints that remained on Sung Shan proper. In spite of particularly heavy pressure being exerted against the Sekiyama Position, the enemy had made little progress. However, on 19 August, following a heavy bombardment three tremendous blasts shook the Sekiyama Position. The Chinese, becoming discouraged with trying to storm the position, had tunneled under it, the defenders of the Sekiyama Position were virtually annihilated and the position fell to the enemy. On 23 August the Lameng Garrison regrouped to make final resist- ance in the Otobeyama, Nishiyama, Matsuyama, Yokomata and Urayama Po- sitions. The total number available for defense had been reduced to about 150 men, all of whom were wounded, some seriously. Even those who had lost an arm or a leg were propped up in positions where they could fire a rifle or sight a gun. The Lameng Garrison continued to resist in scattered pockets, launching futile counterattacks, Song recognized the battle's turning point.  During the latter part of July and early August, the Yunnan Force made new troop dispositions and moved in three divisions to attack the town. The main force of the Chinese 87th Division was on the east front, with an element along the Tien-Mien Road; the New 28th Division was between the two elements of the 87th; elements of the 1st Honor Division were on the north front with the New 39th Division on the south and west of Longling. At dawn on 14 August, preceded by an intense concentration of artillery fire and air bombardment, the Chinese forces launched a coordinated attack from all sides. Hill 6 bore the brunt of the enemy attack for eight hours but managed to hold, as did the defenders on the main line of resistance. After the attack had ceased, the Garrison spent the entire night rebuilding defenses, using rubble and half-burned mate- rial from the town. However, five days later, Chinese forces captured the eastern hills, weakening the entire Japanese defensive line. Consequently, by August 23, the eastern front collapsed, compelling the Japanese to retreat from their main defensive positions to reserve positions within the town. Matsuyama was aware that under the current conditions, Longling would likely fall before September began. While the timely reinforcement of the 3rd Battalion, 148th Regiment would enable the garrison to hold out for a few more days, he understood the urgency of accelerating the Dan offensive to relieve Longling. Starting on 26 August, the 2nd Division began moving from Namhkam to Mangshih under cover of darkness, requiring three nights to complete the movement. Shortly thereafter, the headquarters of the 16th Regiment was called from Bhamo to Mangshih and Col. Hara Yoshimi, commanding officer of the 2nd Reconnaissance Regiment, succeeded Col. Sakai as commander of the Bhamo Garrison, which was placed under 18th Division control. On 30 August, the Division conducted a war game followed by a conference to brief subordinate commanders on the plans and missions of the Dan Operation. With the recent arrival of the 4th and 146th Regiments, Matsuyama planned to send Matsui's Task Force and the 146th Regiment northwestward to clear the western sector. Meanwhile, General Okazaki's 2nd Division would attack northeastward to defeat the main enemy force in the eastern sector, thus fully relieving Longling. Subsequently, the 56th Division would advance towards Tengchong, while the 2nd Division moved towards Lameng, to relieve both isolated garrisons. However, before this offensive could begin, new developments emerged from Tengchong. Realizing that assaults on the ramparts were too costly, Huo ordered his Chinese troops to start tunneling under the walls. Additionally, air attacks increased in intensity, and on August 13, several large bombs struck the headquarters, killing Kurashige and leaving the garrison nearly leaderless. The following morning, after a heavy artillery bombardment of about 20,000 rounds, Huo launched his second general attack. Despite the garrison's determined defense against Chinese attempts to breach or scale the ramparts, Huo reinforced his southern assault with the 198th Division, applying intense pressure. While defenders held against the combined attacks of more than two divisions, the 198th Division, which had made several ineffectual attacks in the northwestern sectors, was brought south to reinforce the units already there. Three divisions pitted against the badly damaged southern wall could not be held off and Chinese troops began infiltrating beyond the rampart. The garrison launched successive counterattacks and, while they were successful in driving the enemy out on the first two occasions, the third counterattack so exhausted the defenders that the enemy held the southwest corner of the compound. The Chinese were not, however, able to make any appreciable headway in breaching any other part of the castle's defenses. Three days later, following another heavy air and artillery bombardment that succeeded in making seven breaches in the southern rampart, the Chinese resumed the offensive and managed to force the garrison to relinquish all but the southeast corner of the southern part of the castle compound. On August 22, a fourth attack was then launched; and, in spite of valiant efforts by the defenders, the west gate of the castle was finally taken by the 198th Division early in the morning of August 24. The following day, about 500 grenades and medical supplies were dropped by 12 Japanese fighters, which bolstered the garrison's morale even though their fate was pretty much sealed already. Simultaneously, Matsuyama initiated Operation Dan on August 26, with Matsui's Task Force struggling for six days to secure control of Komatsu Hill before advancing towards Shuangpo on September 1. The Dan Offensive opened inauspiciously with an unsuccessful attack on Komatsu Hill, about three miles south of Lungling. Launched by the 1st Battalion, of the 113th Infantry (Takeda Battalion), on the morning of the 26th, the attack was thrown back and it was not until the following morning after the 3d Battalion, of the 113th (Murakami Battalion) had been thrown into the attack that the Takeda Battalion succeeded in seizing the western half of the hill. Upon achieving the objective, the Murakami Battalion was withdrawn and the Takeda Battalion was exposed to severe counterattacks which the enemy repeated for four days. The Takeda Battalion sustained extremely heavy losses, including the loss of three company commanders. The Inose Battalion attacked the hill from the northeast on 30 August and succeeded in making contact with the Takeda Battalion the following day but the northern part of the hill still remained in the possession of the enemy. Unable to hold up the advance any longer, the Inose Battalion was left at Komatsu Hill to clean out the remnants of the enemy and the main body of the Matsui Column advanced to Shuangpo on 1 September, fighting their way through enemy resistance. The 146th Regiment successfully bypassed Chinese forces blocking the Tien-Mien Road, reaching the ridge west of Shuangpo. The 113th and 146th Regiments continued their northwestward advance, reaching the Longling River line by September 6, where they nearly wiped out the New 39th Division. Meanwhile, Okazaki assembled his 4th, 16th, and 29th Regiments at Shuangpo, preparing for an offensive. To the south, the 76th Division persisted in defending Komatsu Hill despite heavy casualties. Okazaki directed the 4th Regiment to attack the enemy's northern positions on September 3, resulting in repeated assaults over the next three days. Despite suffering significant losses, the Japanese were compelled to halt their local offensive. In the meantime, the 16th and 29th Regiments moved northeastward. The 29th Regiment successfully breached enemy positions and linked up with the besieged garrison by September 6. Despite this victory at Longling, subsequent events at Mount Song and Tengchong rendered Operation Dan futile. On August 29, following the fall of the Otobeyama Position, Kanemitsu realized that resistance could only last a few more days. On September 5 Major Kanemitsu sent to the commander of the 56th Division a final radio message: “All of my brave officers and men have determinedly defended our position for 120 days since May 10 with a sublime spirit of self-sacrifice and an attitude of absolute obedience. However, our ammunition has been entirely expended and practically every officer and man is wounded. The final moment has come. We will burn the colors and code books and make a suicide stand with what strength remains. I do not have the words to apologize for the fact that, because of my unresourceful command, we have been unable to hold out as long as expected. We are deeply moved by your long and special consideration of our situation. I respectfully ask that everything possible be done for the bereaved families of the officers and men of the Lameng Garrison. Our souls will continue to pray for the eternal prosperity of the Imperial Throne and the final victory of the Japanese Forces.” Consequently, on September 5, he concentrated his remaining forces in the northernmost positions, which came under heavy enemy fire the next day. After Kanemitsu's death from a mortar shell, the Japanese burned their colors and euthanized their wounded. They launched a final suicide charge on September 7, resulting in the death of the remaining 50 survivors. Of the 1260 Japanese at Lameng Garrison, only 9 were captured and 10 believed to have escaped, with the rest perishing at the hands of Song's divisions, totaling approximately 41,675 troops. The significance of Mount Song lies in the four-month siege to clear the block from the Burma Road, during which the Chinese suffered 7675 casualties, including around 5000 from the 8th Army, leaving it with only two understrength regiments fit for further combat at Longling. Meanwhile, on August 31, Huo's fifth attack pressed with great enthusiasm, eventually succeeding in taking the southeast corner, which had withstood the onslaught of two divisions for over a month. The garrison was then pressed back to a line running from the east gate through the center of the palace grounds to the northwest corner of the castle grounds. The number of survivors had been reduced to approximately 350, virtually all of whom were wounded. Five days later, the Chinese attacked once again, successfully effecting a breakthrough of the defensive line which split the defending force into two groups. By September 9, the northwest corner had been completely overrun and only 70 men remained to hold the northeast corner. Realizing that the end was near, the Japanese burned their colors and on September 14 launched a last suicide charge in which the remainder of the garrison was finally cut down. In a valiant defense, rivaling that of the Lameng Garrison, the 2025 men of the Tengchong Garrison held off the Chinese 20th Army, numbering an estimated 50,000 troops, for approximately 80 days. Despite this, the capture of Tengchong marked a significant victory for Y Force, as it opened a viable route to Myitkyina known as the "Tengchong cut-off". Moreover, the fall of Tengchong and Lameng allowed the Chinese to deploy more troops to counter the Dan offensive. In the early hours of September 7, the 113th and 146th Regiments crossed the Longling River and launched an assault on the 1st Honor Division, entrenched in strong defensive positions. Although General Matsui's battalions were repelled by determined defenders, the 146th Regiment made notable progress on the left, gradually pushing the Chinese forces northward. By September 9, the western and northern sectors had been partially cleared, and the Longling Garrison was nearly completely relieved. Simultaneously, the 29th Regiment, supported by remnants of the 16th Regiment and the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment, advanced northeast towards the eastern hills, encountering difficulty in capturing them. By September 9, they had only secured one of the hills. With Honda growing impatient due to the slow progress of the 2nd Division. Okazaki directed increased attacks in the following days. An attack was launched on 11 September but did not succeed. Then an attack conducted on the 12th, y the 3d Battalion, 29th Infantry was successful in seizing the hill, however a counterattack by the enemy resulted in the annihilation of the Battalion and the retaking of the hill by the Chinese. Furthermore, Okazaki also noted that the Chinese were still holding their ground to the south. Consequently, orders were issued for the 1st Battalion, 16th Regiment to address this lingering threat. However, the battalion exhibited such limited initiative that Colonel Tsuji Masanobu of the 33rd Army staff assumed direct command of the frontline units. With the addition of another battalion, this proactive commander led his troops in a series of vigorous assaults, culminating in the capture of the southern hill by September 15. Meanwhile, to the north, Matsuyama successfully relieved Longling, yet a new challenge emerged. The formidable 200th Division had arrived from Kunming and launched immediate attacks against the 113th and 146th Regiments by September 9. Fortunately, Matsuyama received reinforcements in the form of the 3rd Battalion, 148th Regiment and the reserve 168th Regiment, effectively clearing the northern sector by September 11. Positioned defensively, Matsuyama's forces continued to fend off repeated counterattacks from the aggressive 200th Division, while the 168th Regiment moved westward to confront a significant element of the 36th Division advancing south from Tengchong. At this juncture, the Japanese had suffered approximately 1800 killed and 2500 wounded, while Honda estimated inflicting over 63,000 casualties since May. Despite the costly relief of Longling by mid-September, the 33rd Army had failed to reach the Nu Chiang River or rescue the Lameng or Tengchong Garrisons. Moreover, with Tengchong's fall, the entire 20th Army Group was mobilizing to reinforce Chinese forces engaged in the Longling campaign. Realizing that Operation Dan faced inevitable failure, Honda opted to halt the offensive. Instead, he directed the 2nd Division to undertake a defensive stance south of Longling. Simultaneously, the 56th Division and the 168th Regiment disengaged from the enemy, moving southwards to relieve the Pingda Garrison. On September 16, the divisions rotated smoothly: the 56th Division gathered east of Mangshi, while Colonel Yoshida Shiro's 168th Regiment initiated a covering attack to the east. This left the Longling Garrison vulnerable, prompting its commander to defy Honda's orders and withdraw during the night. Lt. Col. Komuro's action came as a shock to Army and Division headquarters and, although he later committed suicide to atone for his act, the commander and the Garrison were considered to have disgraced themselves and the Japanese Army. Lt. Col. Nagai, a staff officer of the 56th Division, when questioned in 1959 made the following statement: "The Longling Garrison had twice before made great and courageous stands against tremendous odds. They were all exhausted by their efforts and had expected to be relieved. It is understandable that the Garrison should bitterly resent being placed in a position where they might possibly be surrounded in Longling a third time. The defense line of the 2nd Division was so drawn as to leave Longling projecting and constituting a primary target for enemy attacks. It should also be borne in mind that the Garrison was not an organic unit but was, instead, a composite group composed of various elements without the esprit de corps of a regular unit. Although Lt. Col. Komuro was a respected officer, his tendency toward a philosophical approach to life may have made it impossible for him to hold out against the unanimous discontent and resentment of his subordinates." Fortunately, Matsui's 3rd Battalion arrived in Longling two days later without encountering Chinese forces. Despite being outnumbered, the 2nd Division managed to maintain its extended front by destabilizing the enemy and conducting nightly raids. On September 17, Matsui launched a successful relief operation, driving the 9th Division from the Sahngzhai area. Concurrently, the 146th Regiment embarked on a forced march towards Pingda; by September 22, it breached the enemy lines, reaching the besieged city. Having been isolated for nearly six months, there were scenes of wild rejoicing as the besieged Garrison welcomed the Imaoka Column. Carrying about 150 casualties on stretchers the combined forces of the Imaoka Column and the Pingka Garrison broke through the enemy lines at night and, on the 24th, reached Liangtzuchai where they were covered by the Matsui Column. Both units withdrew to Mangshih and, when the Yoshida Force subsequently pulled back from Isao Hill, the Pingka relief operation was concluded. Following the conclusion of the Pingda relief operation, Honda began preparations for the impending enemy offensive.  Subsequently, the 56th Division was tasked again with defending Longling and Mangshi, while the 2nd Division relocated to Muse to prepare for a potential counterattack in the Shweli River valley. Meanwhile, the rested and reorganized 18th Division, now under Lieutenant-General Naka Eitaro, successfully concentrated at Namhkam by the end of September. The 33d Army expected that the main force would arrive prior to the end of the month, but the movement was executed very slowly and units were arriving in Namhkan throughout the month of September. Upon arrival of the Division at Namhkan, the units continued the work on fortification construction that had been started by the 2d Division. The main body of the Division moved via rail through Mandalay, while the 55th Infantry Regiment, with one artillery battalion and one engineer company advanced through Katha, Kunchaung and Sikaw on foot. The Division was gradually built up and, by the end of September, had achieved a strength of about 7,000 men. Since the replacements for the most part consisted of men recently discharged from hospitals, the complete recovery of the Division was understandably slow. The 18th Division finally managed to concentrate in Namhkam by 1 the early part of October. On 2 October, when Lt. Gen. Naka, who was replacing Lt. Gen. Tanaka, arrived at Namhkam, he found that the Division still had not fully recovered from the effects of the Hukawng Operation. However, abundant food supplies in the area, combined with excellent climate, enabled the division to make an unexpectedly rapid recovery during the month of October. By early November, the strength of the Division had been built up to about 9,000 men of whom about 3,000 were reinforcements from Japan. Some tanks and two 149-mm howitzers had been supplied and six mountain guns repaired. During this period of rehabilitation the Division engaged in the construction of defense positions on both sides of the Shweli River in the general area of Namhkam. This period allowed the Japanese ample time to strengthen their defenses, as Y Force had suffered significant casualties. General Wei found it necessary to retrain and reorganize his depleted divisions before resuming the offensive in Yunnan. Because all of his immediate reserves had been drawn into the fight for Longling, and considering that the Chinese Government had ignored his earlier pleas, Wei Lihuang asked General Dorn, chief of staff of the American personnel working with Y-Force, to present his further requests for 20000 trained replacements (Wei had not received one since the offensive began); for two more divisions; for permission to use the 5th Army's tank battalion; and for Baoshan to be developed as a supply base. Dorn, however, was only partially successful in that the National Military Council renewed its promises to send replacements. Shifting focus from Yunnan, we turn to the new operations of the 20th Bomber Command. Following the unsuccessful Yawata strike on August 20, Saunders continued planning for the return to Anshan, initially set for August 30 but postponed to September 8. On August 29, Major-General Curtis LeMay assumed command of the 20th Bomber Command. Despite the change in leadership, Saunders' plan remained unchanged: to deploy every serviceable B-29 aircraft. Saunders' plan was to dispatch every B-29 fit to fly; and so, by September 8, 115 bombers had gathered in the forward area and 108 successfully got off the runways. Of these, 95 reached Anshan to find good weather, with 90 of them dropping 206.5 tons of bombs at the Showa works and 3 bombing other installations while another 5 hit the Xinxiang Railroad Yards and 3 others hit various targets of opportunity. Total losses for the mission were four: a crack-up near Dudhkundi on the way up; two forced landings in China, one destroyed on the ground by enemy planes and one partly salvaged; and a plane listed as missing. The crew of this last plane later walked out with the loss of only one man. The Americans in turn claimed 8 kills, 9 probables and 10 damaged. The following day, a B-29 reconnaissance plane reported significant damage to the steelworks. Out of the sixteen coke oven batteries, three were estimated to be out of commission for a year, and another three for six months. Additional damage to related installations and the byproducts plant further compounded the impact. Overall, command intelligence officers calculated that the two attacks had reduced Showa's coking output by 35.2%, which in turn would decrease total Japanese rolled steel production by 9.3%. In response to the extensive damage, the Japanese launched their first counterattack against the 20th Bomber Command. Shortly after midnight, Japanese bombers came over Xinjin and attacked the American headquarters, storage areas, and the parked B-29s. Aided apparently by ground signals, the intruders made four runs, dropping fragmentation and high explosive bombs to inflict minor damage on one Superfortress and a C-46, and to wound two soldiers. Meanwhile, LeMay, who had accompanied the mission to Anshan, was encouraged by the promising results. Despite this, he had been tasked with implementing significant changes to the command. He began revising tactics, tightening and expanding formations, and enhancing training for greater bombing precision—effects that would become evident in the following months. Specifically, LeMay intended to substitute for the current 4-plane diamond formation a 12-plane formation similar to one he had used with his heavies in the ETO. He proposed further to follow 8th Air Force practice by subordinating night missions, so far numbering four of the command's eight strikes, to daylight precision attacks. This would not mean the abandonment of radar bombing, so vital in variable weather. LeMay's doctrine called for “synchronous bombing” in which both the bombardier and radar operator followed the bomb run in, with visibility determining who would control the plane during the crucial seconds before release. Precision bombing required training more sustained than the sporadic sessions which the command's crews had undergone, and fortunately new arrangements for nourishing strikes out of China would release B-29s and their crews from much of the Hump transport duty which had handicapped training. On September 5 LeMay had ordered each group to select 6 lead crews (later increased to 8) upon which other crews in a formation would drop. A week later a school was set up at Dudhkundi, occupied since early July by the 444th Group. Ground training and a simulated mission and critique on each of 10 successive days made the 11-day course at “Dudhkundi Tech” both strenuous and valuable. Meanwhile, the other crews of the 4 combat groups had been working with the 12-plane formation and had made some progress when training was interrupted for the ninth mission. Most of September was spent initiating LeMay's reforms, leaving time for only one major operation at the end of the month. Consequently, LeMay decided to finish off Anshan with another 100-plane strike. By September 26, he consequently had 117 B-29s forward, with 109 of them successfully getting airborne the following morning. Though take off had been improved since the last mission, bad weather and a cold front would see only 86 bombers reaching Anshan; 73 of them actually bombing the Showa works, all by radar. Subsequent photographic coverage, however, indicated absolutely no new darnage. In addition, two B-29s bombed Dairen, four Xinxiang, and nine bombed various targets of opportunity. Japanese opposition was likewise ineffective, with the Americans suffering no losses. but during the night, enemy bombers managed to sweep into the Chengdu area to drop three strings of bombs and damage five bombers, two of them seriously. The Chinese warning net had tracked the Japanese planes in from Hankow airfields and the 317th Fighter Control Squadron at Chengtu had ample time to alert command personnel. But the one P-47 up could not make contact. The 312th Wing had suffered with other China-based units from lack of supplies, and in the interest of economy of fuel one of its P-47 groups had been exchanged for the 311th Fighter Group, equipped with P-51B's. Chennault, reluctant to tie down two full groups for the static defense of Chengtu, had disposed part of the wing forward where the planes could take a more active part in the war, and events were to prove that this policy constituted no serious danger to the B-29 fields. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. By mid-September, intense battles in the CBI theater saw the Japanese forces grappling with diminishing supplies and overwhelming Chinese offensives. Despite heroic defenses at Tengchong and Lameng, Japanese positions fell after heavy casualties and strategic missteps. General Matsuyama's relief efforts at Longling achieved temporary success, yet the broader objectives of Operation Dan were unmet, marking a turning point in the campaign.

This week, Jim welcomes Isabelle Sakai–the Global Chief Marketing Officer of Vancouver-based Mark Anthony Brands–to The CMO Podcast. The company was founded in 1972 by Anthony von Mandl. Mr. von Mandl's is a classic entrepreneurial story; at 22, he began selling imported wines out of his car, and now the company–which is still private–is estimated at about $4 billion in revenue. Mark Anthony Brands is best known for its top selling consumer brands, White Claw and Mike's Hard Lemonade, but they have a much larger portfolio, including a variety of higher-end British Columbia wine labels. Isabelle has worked at Mark Anthony for about 16 months in her second CMO role. She was previously the CMO at the Bata Group, a multinational footwear, fashion and accessories company, based in Switzerland. Isabelle and Jim have a shared experience; she spent nearly 18 years at P&G in Europe, whereas Jim spent five of his P&G years in Europe. Open a crisp White Claw, find a seat in the sun, and enjoy a conversation with a professional who loves to move fast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Fecha de Grabación: Miércoles 7 de agosto de 2024. Algunas noticias y temas comentados: La obra de Mike Zeck y otros artistas "olvidados" de Batman Algunos de los cómics más recomendables de Cullen Bunn ¿Es negativa la escasa presencia de DC Studios en la SDCC? La complicada continuidad del matrimonio de Spider-Man y MJ ¿Qué le depara el futuro al Universo Cinematográfico Marvel? Además: 47 Ronin (Richardson+Sakai), historias breves de cómic, Weapon X (Windsor-Smith), ¡...y mucho más! Comentario de series: Batman: Caped Crusader, serie animada desarrollada por Bruce Timm, producida por él mismo junto a Matt Reeves, J.J. Abrams, Ed Brubaker y otros, y con las voces de Hamish Linklater, Jason Watkins, Eric Morgan Stuart, Krystal Joy Brown, John DiMaggio, Gary Anthony Williams, Michelle C. Bonilla, Jamie Chung, Diedrich Bader, Christina Ricci, Mckenna Grace, Toby Stephens, Minnie Driver y Haley Joel Osment, entre otros. (Bad Robot/WB Animation/Amazon MGM Studios/Prime Video) Pueden escuchar el podcast en este reproductor: Descarga Directa MP3 (Botón derecho del mouse y "guardar enlace como"). Peso: 88.2 MB; Calidad: 128 Kbps. El episodio tiene una duración de 1:35:56 y la canción de cierre es "Wish You Were Here" de Pink Floyd. Además de en nuestras redes sociales (Twitter, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram), también puedes interactuar con nosotros en nuestro servidor en Discord, donde una pequeña comunidad comparte recomendaciones, arte, ofertas, memes y más, y la conversación gira alrededor de muchos temas además de cómics. ¡Únete a nuestro servidor en Discord! También tenemos un Patreon. Ahí cada episodio se publica al menos 24 horas antes que en otros canales, y hay un especial mensual exclusivo para suscriptores de esa plataforma. Puedes convertirte en uno de nuestros patreoncinadores™ con aportes desde 1 dólar, que puede ser cada mes o por el tiempo que tú lo decidas, incluyendo aportaciones de una sola vez. También puedes encontrar nuestro podcast en los siguientes agregadores y servicios especializados: Comicverso en Spotify Comicverso en iVoox Comicverso en Apple Podcasts Comicverso en Google Podcasts Comicverso en Amazon Music Comicverso en Archive.org Comicverso en I Heart Radio Comicverso en Overcast.fm Comicverso en Pocket Casts Comicverso en RadioPublic Comicverso en CastBox.fm ¿Usas alguna app o servicio que no tiene disponible el podcast de Comicverso? En la parte alta de la barra lateral está el feed del podcast, el cual puedes agregar al servicio de tu preferencia si éste ofrece la opción. Nos interesa conocer tus críticas y opiniones para seguir mejorando. Si te gusta nuestro trabajo, por favor comparte el enlace a esta entrada o a nuestro perfil en el servicio de tu preferencia, cuéntale a tus amigos sobre el podcast, y recomiéndalo a quien creas que le pueda interesar. Deja tus comentarios o escríbenos directamente a comicverso@gmail.com

In this episode of The Speed of Culture, Matt Britton interviews Isabelle Sakai, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Mark Anthony Brands International. Isabelle shares insights on driving innovation through deep consumer understanding, the importance of global experience, and the strategies behind creating and sustaining market-leading brands like White Claw. Follow Suzy on Twitter: @AskSuzyBizFollow Isabelle Sakai on LinkedInSubscribe to The Speed of Culture on your favorite podcast platform.And if you have a question or suggestions for the show, send us an email at suzy@suzy.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Seki y Sakai son los dos principales centros de producción de cuchillos en Japón, con una artesanía que deriva de la producción de katanas para los samuráis. Pero además de cuchillos, se siguen haciendo katanas (aunque no son baratas) y todo tipo de herramientas y utensilios con filo, además de que hay talleres donde puedes hacer tus propios cuchillos (están a medio acabar). Si no pasas por estos lugares, te contamos también otros sitios en Tokio, Kioto y Osaka (más céntrico que Sakai, que está bastante al sur) para que puedas conseguir tus cuchillos. ¿Quieres colaborar con el programa? - Colabora en Patreon - Únete a la Comunidad Japonismo - Reserva hoteles en Japón (y en todo el mundo) - Consigue seguro de viajes (¡no sólo para Japón!) - Busca los mejores vuelos - Lleva Internet (pocket wifi o SIM) - JR Pass para viajes ilimitados en tren ---- Continúa la conversación en: - Web: https://japonismo.com - Discord: https://discord.gg/hZrSa57 - Facebook: https://facebook.com/japonismo - Twitter: https://twitter.com/japonismo - Instagram: https://instagram.com/japonismo - Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/japonismo - Newsletter semanal: http://eepurl.com/di60Xn

報道各社のインタビューに答えるシャープの沖津雅浩新社長、１６日午後、堺市のシャープ本社６月末に就任したシャープの沖津雅浩社長は１６日、報道各社のインタビューに応じ、テレビ向け大型液晶パネルを製造する大阪・堺工場を「来月くらいには完全停止する」と明らかにした。 Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. will fully stop the operations at its plant for large liquid crystal display panels for televisions in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, by around August, President Masahiro Okitsu has said.

Ready to dig into the latest cardiology research? In less than 15 minutes, we'll give you the low-down on three new studies that'll help you in clinical practice. STUDY #1: First, we explore safety outcomes for carotid artery stenting and see how this could impact your clinical discussions and decision-making. And if you practice in the U.S., now that Medicare and Medicaid cover this procedure for a broader range of patients, this info will prove to be especially important.  Uchida, K, Sakakibara, F, Sakai, N, et al. 2024. Real-world outcomes of carotid artery stenting in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with carotid artery stenosis. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 9: 1160-1162. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcin.2024.03.014) STUDY #2: Next, we tackle a common cardiology conundrum: how should we handle significant coronary artery disease lesions discovered incidentally in patients with severe aortic stenosis who are undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement? Is it better to treat these lesions beforehand, or is there a better strategy? We'll probe the debate, highlighting the potential implications of this new data. Colaiori, I, Paolucci, L, Mangiacapra, F, et al. 2024. Natural history of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with aortic stenosis undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement: The role of quantitative flow ratio. Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 0: e013705. (https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCINTERVENTIONS.123.013705) STUDY #3: Lastly, we sip our way through the nuances of coffee consumption and its impact on blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmias. A new study lets us know whether our patients' daily caffeine fix can be left off the list of cardiac concerns. Trevano, F, Vela-Bernal, S, Facchetti, R, et al. 2024. Habitual coffee consumption and office, home, and ambulatory blood pressure: Results of a 10-year prospective study. J Hypertens. 6: 1094-1100. (https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000003709) Join us to break down these studies, and elevate your cardiology knowledge! Learn more with these courses: Coronary Angiography Essentials (3 CME) Coronary Angiography Essentials Workshop (1 CME) Get a Basic or Pro account, or, get a Trial account. Show notes: Visit us at  https://www.medmastery.com/podcasts/cardiology-podcast.

This special episode is a celebration of the wonderful music across the Super Monkey Ball series... but let's be real, it's more of an in-depth retrospective. A true meditation on the freeing feeling of being a monkey, rolling in a ball. ► Enjoy Toshihiro Nagoshi's performance in "Hello Banana!!" ✉️ Send email to bitharmonypod@gmail.com

シャープがテレビ向け大型液晶パネルの生産停止を決めた堺工場で、５００人規模の早期退職を募集していることが１２日、分かった。 Struggling Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. is seeking to shed 500 jobs through an early voluntary retirement program at its Sakai plant in the western prefecture of Osaka, sources have said.

EPISODE 247: Interview with Mariko Sakai. Mariko is a business woman, coach, thought leader, TEDx speaker, light worker, and sex-positive community builder. Mariko is passionate about helping people that successfully conformed to the society's expectations by suppressing and dissociating their true selves, their needs, and desires; to live a whole life bringing all parts of themselves, light or dark. She is a certified coach in sex, love, relationship, conscious dating, tantric intimacy, women's empowerment, FemDom and ethical BDSM. She is also trained in Human Designs, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), Co-Creative Science, and lives an alternative lifestyle. Follow her work on Instagram @mistressmariko. If you get value out of the Loving Without Boundaries podcast, then consider becoming one of our patrons! Not only will you enjoy exclusive content made just for you, your support will also help us continue creating educational content while helping more people have a deeper understanding of consensual non-monogamy and healthy, sex positive relationships in general. https://www.patreon.com/lovingwithoutboundaries

Lisa Sakai, Financial Consultant and co-founder of One Vision Retirement, talks about getting her start in Hollywood, how "Bucket List Acceleration" is bridging the present with the future, the one surprising group that often gets left behind in legacy planning, why it's hard for people to be HONEST about their goals, and why goals for yourself AREN'T selfish, one area where Gen Z is headed for disaster, the two biggest tips to getting your future financials in order, and digging so deep you can touch the bottom of the ocean.

Yasushi Sakai is a researcher, artist, and architect that lives in the computer terminal. In this conversation, Yasushi explains his journey from being an architect to his current research at MIT's Media Lab. He discusses his time working in architecture firms and his involvement in digital design divisions. He reflects on the limitations of parametric design tools like Rhino and Grasshopper in fundamentally changing the design process. Yasushi introduces us to the unique composition of the Media Lab and its focus on realizing research ideas and testing them in the real world. We discuss his research on propagational proxy voting systems, which combines fractional voting and liquid democracy. He explains how this voting system can be applied to decision-making in architecture and urban planning. Links: Shigeru Ban Fumihiko Maki Nikken Sekkei Flash Rhino Script Grasshopper Git Media Lab City Science Group City Scope

今回のゲストは、国立研究開発法人 防災科学技術研究所 水・土砂防災研究部門上席研究員 酒井直樹さんです！ 土砂災害の研究をされている酒井さん。防災科学技術研究所では、1時間に300mmの雨を降らすことができる大型降雨実験施設があり、土砂災害などの実験が行われています。地震や噴火、津波など自然災害が多い日本。被害を少しでも減らすために最新技術を活用しながら様々な研究が進められています。興味深いお話満載なので聴いてみてね！

From growing up in the farmlands of Hidalgo County to becoming one of the few Asian American county judges in Texas, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, as he puts it, has always followed the path least taken. In this episode of Texas County Voice, Judge Sakai shares his unique journey and how his family history, including his father's four-year stay in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, shaped his dedication to public service.

Wharton's Barbara Kahn and Dr. Americus Reed speak with Isabelle Sakai, Global Chief Marketing Officer of Mark Anthony Brands International (the owners of White Claw), about White Claw's new "Grab Life By The Claw" campaign. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Epigenetics Podcast, we talked with Sven Heinz from the University of California in San Diego about his work on the impact of sequence variation on transcription factor binding affinities and genetic diversity. Sven Heinz talks about a landmark study published in Nature that examined the impact of sequence variation on transcription factor binding affinities and downstream effects on gene expression. Modifying genetic sequences to understand the influence of different motifs provided valuable insights into how genetic variation shapes cellular responses and gene expression patterns, underscoring the importance of genetic diversity. Methodological approaches using inducible systems to observe changes in transcription factor binding patterns highlight the critical role of motif variation and redundancy in transcription factor families. These studies provide essential insights into the complex network of transcriptional regulation and chromatin dynamics, revealing the nuanced mechanisms that control gene expression and chromatin organization. In addition, he is investigating how small nucleotide changes can significantly affect transcription factor binding in macrophages from different mouse strains, shedding light on the intricate effects of genetic variation on transcription factor binding. Sven's career path from project scientist to assistant professor at UC San Diego and the Salk Institute reflects a journey marked by serendipitous opportunities and a collaborative, innovative research environment. The podcast delves into the effects of influenza virus infection on chromosomal territories, gene transcription, and chromatin structure, unraveling the sophisticated interplay between viral infection and host cell transcriptional regulation.   References Heinz, S., Benner, C., Spann, N., Bertolino, E., Lin, Y. C., Laslo, P., Cheng, J. X., Murre, C., Singh, H., & Glass, C. K. (2010). Simple combinations of lineage-determining transcription factors prime cis-regulatory elements required for macrophage and B cell identities. Molecular cell, 38(4), 576–589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2010.05.004 Heinz, S., Romanoski, C. E., Benner, C., Allison, K. A., Kaikkonen, M. U., Orozco, L. D., & Glass, C. K. (2013). Effect of natural genetic variation on enhancer selection and function. Nature, 503(7477), 487–492. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12615 Texari, L., Spann, N. J., Troutman, T. D., Sakai, M., Seidman, J. S., & Heinz, S. (2021). An optimized protocol for rapid, sensitive and robust on-bead ChIP-seq from primary cells. STAR protocols, 2(1), 100358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xpro.2021.100358   Related Episodes Pioneer Transcription Factors and Their Influence on Chromatin Structure (Ken Zaret) Multiple Challenges in ChIP (Adam Blattler) The Role of Pioneer Factors Zelda and Grainyhead at the Maternal-to-Zygotic Transition (Melissa Harrison)   Contact Epigenetics Podcast on X Epigenetics Podcast on Instagram Epigenetics Podcast on Mastodon Epigenetics Podcast on Bluesky Epigenetics Podcast on Threads Active Motif on X Active Motif on LinkedIn Email: podcast@activemotif.com

Feeling stuck in a budget rut and dreaming of a life beyond the 9-to-5? This episode's for you! We're ditching the restrictive money diets (hello, financial freedom!) and chatting with Lisa Sakai, a financial consultant who spills the tea on how to unlock your financial confidence and start living your bucket list life, today. Forget about traditional budgets - Lisa reveals why they don't work and offers practical strategies for managing your money effectively. Learn how to finally ditch the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle! Whether you're younger or over 40, Lisa's advice will empower you to take control of your financial future. Tune in for actionable tips, like reading financial articles to boost your money know-how, and discover why trying things out before retirement might be a game-changer.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Co-Founder of Airtight Concepts Inc., Maiko Sakai.Maiko's story is as fascinating as it is inspiring. Born and raised in Japan, she made her way to the United States with a passion for music, working with record labels and even shredding the guitar in a Guns N' Roses cover band. Her transition from the music industry to business consulting was driven by a desire to help creative entrepreneurs navigate the often turbulent waters of business operations.Maiko highlighted a common thread among creative entrepreneurs. While they excel in their craft and client acquisition, they frequently struggle with the operational side of their businesses. This struggle can hinder their ability to scale and grow. Maiko's approach to consulting focuses on decluttering and streamlining business processes, preparing these creative powerhouses for the next level of their entrepreneurial journey.Maiko doesn't believe in one-size-fits-all solutions. Instead, she offers strategies tailored to the specific stage of an entrepreneur's business, whether budding entrepreneurs, in the growth stage, mature stage, or even legacy planning. Her sales programs are designed to address the unique challenges at each stage, from inconsistent client acquisition to cash flow management.Maiko challenged the notion that simply creating great work is enough. Instead, she urged creatives to actively share their ideas, content, and products to gain visibility. Authentic engagement with their audience and sharing the creative process can be powerful tools for building a loyal following.Key Points from the Episode:Maiko Sakai's background and work with creative entrepreneursChallenges faced by creative entrepreneurs in managing their businessesStrategies for attracting more business using superpowersLeveraging social media and client attraction from a creative perspectiveThe impact of AI on creative entrepreneursMaiko's approach to working with clients and her tailored programsSigns indicating the need for entrepreneurs to seek assistanceImportance of authenticity and human connection in business communicationsAbout Maiko Sakai:Maiko Sakai, founder of Airtight Concepts, stands out as a strategic business consultant, assisting visionary entrepreneurs in evolving their businesses into profitable ventures. Dubbing her clients "Grounded Go-Getters," she transforms transactional models into transformational successes through programs like "10 Leads in 10 Weeks Challenge," "Define + Refine Your Profitable Niche," and "Business Optimizer 360." Maiko aims to streamline expertpreneurs' and creative agency owners' paths to scalability within six months, using established frameworks and systems to minimize trial and error. Born in Japan but feeling deeply connected to New York, her passions extend to ethnic cuisine, ultra-contemporary design, and exotic houseplants. Maiko's academic credentials include an MBA from Cornell University, enhancing her expertise in guiding businesses towards operational efficiency and market leadership.About Airtight Concepts Inc.:Airtight Concepts is a dynamic consultancy focusing on back-office optimization and business development for seven-figure businesses in the creative, lifestyle, and entertainment sectors in NYC and beyond. Specializing in guiding overworked founders and owners towards sustainability, scalability, and profitability, the firm offers comprehensive services, including growth advisory, business development, restructuring, and strategic placement of SOPs. The Business Optimizer 360 program is...

On pourrait penser que les pyramides de Gizeh, en Égypte, et notamment la pyramide de Khéops, sont les plus grands tombeaux du monde. En termes de superficie, ce titre revient plutôt à une sépulture japonaise.Il s'agit du Daisen Kofun, situé dans la ville de Sakai. Insérée dans le tissu urbain, cette nécropole ressemble à un immense trou de serrure. Elle se présente sous la forme d'un tertre recouvert de végétation, qui se dresse au centre d'un bassin rempli d'eau.Long de 500 mètres et large de 300, cet impressionnant site funéraire, classé au patrimoine mondial de l'Unesco, aurait une superficie d'environ 100.000 m2.Le Daisen Kofun n'est pas un tombeau isolé. En effet, il fait partie du Kofungun de Mozu, un ensemble de 47 tumulus funéraires ("kofun," en japonais) situés dans la ville de Sakai. Cet immense site funéraire s'étendrait sur plus de 450.000 m2.Ce type de tombes a été édifié, au Japon, du IIIe au VIIe siècle. De son côté, le Daisen Kofun a été construit au IVe siècle, peut-être avant. Il abriterait la sépulture de l'Empereur Nintoku, le 16e monarque de la lignée impériale.On se doute que, sous ces monticules envahis par la végétation, dorment d'illustres personnages, et peut-être même certains des Empereurs légendaires qui auraient fondé la dynastie actuelle. On y trouverait aussi des quantités d'objets précieux.Mais il est difficile de le vérifier, dans la mesure où l'accès de ces lieux est strictement interdit. Il en va ainsi, au Japon, de tous les sites impériaux. Même les archéologues n'ont pas le droit de s'y rendre.Mais une équipe italienne a peut-être trouvé la parade. Ses chercheurs ont en effet étudié les images fournies par les satellites. Elles sont d'une grande précision, ce qui leur a permis de faire une découverte.Ils ont en effet remarqué que ces sites étaient orientés de telle sorte que le soleil ou la lune en éclairaient toujours l'entrée. Ce qui n'est pas sans importance quand on sait que les Empereurs actuels prétendent toujours descendre d'Amaterasu, la déesse du Soleil. Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

On pourrait penser que les pyramides de Gizeh, en Égypte, et notamment la pyramide de Khéops, sont les plus grands tombeaux du monde. En termes de superficie, ce titre revient plutôt à une sépulture japonaise. Il s'agit du Daisen Kofun, situé dans la ville de Sakai. Insérée dans le tissu urbain, cette nécropole ressemble à un immense trou de serrure. Elle se présente sous la forme d'un tertre recouvert de végétation, qui se dresse au centre d'un bassin rempli d'eau. Long de 500 mètres et large de 300, cet impressionnant site funéraire, classé au patrimoine mondial de l'Unesco, aurait une superficie d'environ 100.000 m2. Le Daisen Kofun n'est pas un tombeau isolé. En effet, il fait partie du Kofungun de Mozu, un ensemble de 47 tumulus funéraires ("kofun," en japonais) situés dans la ville de Sakai. Cet immense site funéraire s'étendrait sur plus de 450.000 m2. Ce type de tombes a été édifié, au Japon, du IIIe au VIIe siècle. De son côté, le Daisen Kofun a été construit au IVe siècle, peut-être avant. Il abriterait la sépulture de l'Empereur Nintoku, le 16e monarque de la lignée impériale. On se doute que, sous ces monticules envahis par la végétation, dorment d'illustres personnages, et peut-être même certains des Empereurs légendaires qui auraient fondé la dynastie actuelle. On y trouverait aussi des quantités d'objets précieux. Mais il est difficile de le vérifier, dans la mesure où l'accès de ces lieux est strictement interdit. Il en va ainsi, au Japon, de tous les sites impériaux. Même les archéologues n'ont pas le droit de s'y rendre. Mais une équipe italienne a peut-être trouvé la parade. Ses chercheurs ont en effet étudié les images fournies par les satellites. Elles sont d'une grande précision, ce qui leur a permis de faire une découverte. Ils ont en effet remarqué que ces sites étaient orientés de telle sorte que le soleil ou la lune en éclairaient toujours l'entrée. Ce qui n'est pas sans importance quand on sait que les Empereurs actuels prétendent toujours descendre d'Amaterasu, la déesse du Soleil. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode I had the pleasure to sit down with Lisa Sakai, a Financial Consultant renowned for her expertise in Bucket List Acceleration. With over a decade of experience under her belt and as the co-founder of One Vision Retirement, Lisa has helped countless clients nationwide achieve their dreams. Her approach offers straightforward advice and actionable steps, making financial wellness and life fulfillment accessible to all. Join me and Lisa as we hop into the keys to living the life you want now. From overcoming financial challenges to prioritizing your goals, this conversation is packed with practical insights to inspire you on your journey towards fulfillment. Tune in for an empowering discussion that just might kickstart your path to a more vibrant, purposeful life! FOLLOW HER AT Website - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.onevisionretire.com/ Espeakers - ⁠https://speaker.innovationwomen.com/user/12369⁠ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/onevisionretirement If you've found the Life With Francy podcast helpful Follow, Rate, & Review on Apple Podcasts Like this Show? Please Leave us a review here - even one sentence helps!  Post a screenshot of you listening on Instagram & Tag us so we can Thank you Personally! STAY IN TOUCH ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LINKTREE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠INSTRAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FACEBOOK⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This conversation was thanks to Podmatch an amazing community for podcast guest and podcast host to make amazing collaborations like this one. Sign Up with Podmatch using this link or paste this URL ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://community.podmatch.com/share/rp3hc8C55fs6bWwL⁠⁠ Support and Join my Patreon community at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://patreon.com/Lifewithfrancy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ DOWNLOAD my Transform your Mind workbook for FREE here >>> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3mhiGQ9⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Hope you have a blessed day. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Support this podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://anchor.fm/francelyn-devarie/support⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/francelyn-devarie/support

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Kali Sakai's husband Ken was diagnosed with glioblastoma and ultimately passed away in 2021. In this heartfelt, honest interview, Kali shares:~ Ways to celebrate your loved one (quilts, special ceremonies, etc.)~ How to talk to your kids about the hard things in life.~ Forming a "Wellness Team" to keep you sane! ~ Changing friendships and NEW friendships~ Ways that grief changes us as a person~ Dating long distance as a widowed mom (Hint: It works!)Kali is an author who writes for an online parenting magazine called parentmap.com. She also has a blog called evidentlyblog.comBe sure to sign up for The Miracle Month group coaching program starting Monday March 4, 2024 at 8pm EST!Get all the info at https://www.widow180.com/miraclemonth Be sure to join our Facebook group, Widow 180 The Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/312036956454927Also follow us on Insta: https://www.instagram.com/widow_180/Check us out on YouTube at Widow 180: The Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-DK_dl31qMilJ5cE6t9MVQFor more blog posts and resources go to www.widow180.comQuestions? Email me at jen@widow180.com

Last time we spoke about the invasion of Eniwetok and the end of Operation HA-GO in the Burma front. While Operation Hailstone was going on, the invasion of Eniwetok was greatly sped up as the Americans were simply too fast at conquering the Marshall islands. Codenamed operation Catchpole, Eniwetok was hit with the same kind of overwhelming force applied to Kwajalein and other islands. Aerial, naval and land base artillery smashed the defenders into submission before forces were landed. The Japanese launched so daring night time infiltration attacks, but were hopeless to stop the American seizure of the island. Within the Burma front the Japanese invaders were shocked at the performance of the newly improved Indian Army. Operation HA-GO was an utter disaster and worse it had weakened the Japanese to the point now the allies were going on the attack.  This episode is the invasion of the Admiralty Islands Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  The war for the South Pacific is reaching its climax. The allies are securing western New Britain, the Solomons and the Huon Peninsula. The Japanese are simply overwhelmed. The Japanese air forces have been utterly annihilated, their warships are being drained of fuel, are worn down by the war and are seemingly no longer ready for that decisive naval battle envisioned by Isoroku Yamamoto. The men are battle-weary, food is becoming more scarce, malnourishment is spreading. All those strung out at the furthest islands are basically being left to die. To end the misery for those in the South Pacific, the capture of the Admiralty Islands was one of the last steps in Operation Cartwheel and would seal off the Bismarck-Solomons area from supply and reinforcement, denying their use to the Japanese for effective air and naval operations, and left garrisons totaling over 100000 troops in isolated impotence In the South Pacific, the Admiralty Islands, that of Manus and Los Negros stood at the northeastern exist of the Bismarck Sea. They commanded the important strategic point some 600 miles from Rabaul, 820 miles from Truk and 1370 miles from Mindanao Island. The joint chiefs believed Seeadler Harbor had the potential to become a major naval anchorage for the Pacific Fleet and perhaps the springboard for the invasion of the Philippines. Back on April 7th, 1942 a Japanese destroyer and a merchant ship had landed invading forces at Lorengau, driving off the hundred or so Europeans who had been living there. At that time the only airstrip was at Lorengau, the administrative center for the group of islands. Apparently the Admiralties were not considered significant in the offensive phase of the Japanese conquest of the South Pacific area, for it was not until February 1943, that construction forces started to build a 5000-foot airstrip at Momote Plantation on Los Negros and to put the 3000-foot Lorengau airfield into operational use. After October 1943, the Momote field and the smaller Lorengau strip served as ferrying stops on the replacement routes to Wewak, Hollandia, and Rabaul, until Allied air attacks destroyed the effectiveness of the Admiralties' base. Seeadler Harbor was also being used for surface craft and possibly for seaplanes.  In late 1943, General MacArthur had assigned General Krueger's Alamo Force at that time based in Finschhafen to plan the seizure of the Seeadler Harbor area, with the aim of establishing an airdrome and light naval facilities for the support of subsequent operations along the north coast of New Guinea.  On February 13th however, MacArthur ordered Krueger to seize all of the Admiralty islands and to build air bases at Lorengau and Momote. This was to be Operation Brewer, beginning on April 1st. However one of Lt General Kenney's spotter planes noticed there was no sign of life on the Admiralty Islands and this prompted MacArthur to move up the time table, to the end of February. It would be quite a mistake. MacArthur's chief of intelligence, Colonel Willoughby, was convinced Kenney's intelligence was incorrect and information from ULTRA intercepts seemed to support his claims. It seemed Kenney had been fooled. The Japanese appeared to be absent on the islands, because Colonel Yoshio Ezaki had ordered his men not to move during the day, so as to conceal their work constructing two new airstrips and to conserve anti-aircraft ammunition. In spite of Kenney's arguments that the Japanese looked vulnerable, MacArthur's staff officers were not at all happy at the idea of taking such a high level risk assaulting them. Even Kenney would note “we had already outrun the capabilities of our supply system.” Ignoring the limitations, MacArthur was determined to take the islands, but would later reminisce “I felt that the situation presented an ideal opportunity for a coup de main which, if successful, could advance the Allied timetable in the Pacific by several months and save thousands of Allied lives.” This of course is MacArthur we are talking about and the capture of the Admiralty Islands would advance his timetable to retake the Philippines, so for him it was a no brainer. There was also the on going race. MacArthur was obviously taking notice of Admiral Nimitz's thrust into the Central Pacific, and what a thrust it was. The Gilberts and Marshalls were falling in extremely surprising speed. MacArthur, fully aware of the risks of forwarding Operation Brewer, nevertheless did so and would cover his tracks by describing the invasion as “a reconnaissance in force” The misgivings of this decision would be apparent when a covert reconnaissance mission led by Lt J.R McGowan and 5 other men of the 158th infantry reported on February 27th that the island were “lousy with Japs”, but by that point it was too late to pull back. For the operation, Krueger would assign Major-General Innis Swift's 1st Cavalry Division, which was training intensively in the Oro Bay area. Although the 1st Cavalry Division was dismounted for operations in the Pacific, it retained its organization as a cavalry unit with two brigades, each made up of two reinforced regiments. In addition to supporting units, each regiment comprised two squadrons of three rille troops and a heavy weapons troop. Air offensives against Rabaul and Wewak continued throughout February, seeing an enormous reduction in the Japanese ability for air action. On the 22nd and 23rd, Captain Burke's Destroyer Squadron 23, consisting of Destroyers Charles Ausburne, Stanly, Converse, Spence and Dyson made a daring sweep in the Admiralty island area. They managed to sink the 3800 ton Japanese tug Nagaura due east of Lorengau. 3 of his destroyers then sailed south of New Hanover where they sank a IJN minelayer and a cargo ship before turning around the coast of New Ireland. They encountered no shipping there, so they fired 1500 five-inch shells into Duke of York Island in order to damage the airfield under construction. Meanwhile the other 2 destroyers sailed north of New Hanover and bombarded the enemy base at Kavieng. At this point MacArthur realized the Japanese could not mount any significant air or naval support to defend the admiralties. He also believed Los Negros islands was lightly held and that they was a “coup de main” opportunity. As someone who speaks french as a second language, I gotta say its so weird how we anglophones use these random french phrases for things haha. Thus MacArthur decided to change his plans somewhat. In place of the scheduled assault set for April 1st, he now was tossing the “reconnaissance in force” I mentioned early against the Momote airstrip on Hyane Harbor and that it should be carried out no later than February 29th. The force performing this was to be known as the Brewer Reconnaissance Force; it consisted of 3 rifle troops and the heavy weapons troop of the 2nd Squadron, 5th Cavalry Regiment: 800 men with their complement of light and heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, and mortars. With them was a platoon from Battery B, 99th Field Artillery Battalion, carrying two 75-mm pack howitzers, four 50-caliber machine guns, and small arms. The 673rd Antiaircraft Machine Gun Battery, a unit of some 80 men, was equipped with twelve 50-caliber machine guns as well as individual weapons. Air and naval liaison officers and a shore fire control party were scheduled to land with the attacking force; Headquarters Troop, 1st Cavalry Brigade, would furnish a reconnaissance and a communications platoon. Arrangements had also been made for a detachment from the Australian New Guinea Administration Unit, usually called ANGAU; this group was to assist chiefly in gathering intelligence, patrolling, recruiting, and dealing with the native population as their villages were liberated.  If these men found Momote to be adequately defended, then they would establish a perimeter and await reinforcements, thus the reconnaissance turns into an invasion.With just 5 days to plan, General Kenney's 5th air force was given the task of bombing the objective area and northern Ireland. Meanwhile Admiral Barbey's destroyers were going to perform a heavy bombardment to cover the approach and landings. A patrol from the Alamo Scouts landed on the southeastern coast of Los Negros from a Catalina flying boat on the night of February 27th. They performed a reconnaissance, quickly discovering Colonel Ezaki Yoshio's forces were present. Yoshio's HQ was at Papitalai, the bulk of troops at Lorengau with garrison units were on Rambutyo, Peli, Pak, and Pityilu Islands and at the inland village of Kawaliap. One battalion was also at Papitalai covering HQ. The 2nd Battalion, 1st Independent Mixed Regiment at Salami and 1st Battalion, 229th Regiment at Hyane Harbor with its main elements south of Momote. It was obvious the enemy was still present in force. The Scouts discovered a large bivouac area on the southeast part of Los Negros and reported that the region between the Momote air strip and the south coast was as I mentioned earlier "lousy with Japs." This further allowed Admiral Barbey to make more specific bombardment plans. Three fire support areas had been established for the attack group, consisting of nine destroyers and the three destroyer-transports which were carrying the reconnaissance force. These areas covered the entire seaward side of Los Negros from the south coast to the northern end of Salami Plantation. In the final plans the attack group would bring the weight of its firepower against targets around Hyane Harbor and to the north. Additional fire to cover the southern part of the island would be furnished by another task group of two cruisers and four destroyers, which would meet the convoy at Cape Cretin. It was decided to split this latter group, giving one cruiser and two destroyers responsibility for the Japanese bivouac area, southwest of the Momote strip, which the Alamo Scouts had located. The other cruiser and two destroyers would fire on targets in the Lorengau-Seeadler Harbor region. In the 15-minute bombardment, scheduled from H-35 to H-20, 5-inch naval guns were each to expend approximately 350 rounds. Under the air force plan, two groups of heavy bombers would attack ground targets on Los Negros from H-28 to H-20. Two minutes later, four groups of medium bombers were to bomb and strafe the landing area until the first wave was ashore. Following H Hour a squadron of medium bombers and six smoke planes were to be on air alert for further missions.  The Japanese did not anticipate a landing would be made at Momote, thus only a few elements of the 1st battalion, 229th regiment were there while the bulk of their forces were concentrated at the beaches of Seeadler Harbor and on the other side of the island. Now despite the Alamo scouts best efforts, there was quite a lot of unknown variables. In light of that the landings would be done simplistically. 3 waves of 12 LCPRS would carry the troops to White Beach, lying near Jamandilai Point. From there the reconnaissance force led by Brigadier-General William Chase would advance and hold Momote airstrip. If this proved too difficult, the men would be loaded back up and return to Oro Bay. Now in the event of a successful landing, the remainder of the 5th cavalry regiment would come over 2 days later and the rest of the cavalry division, the main body of the Brewer force, would follow the reconnaissance and support forces as soon as shipping could be made available. On February 27, the 2nd Squadron, 5th Cavalry led by Lt. Colonel William E. Lobit loaded up at Oro Bay, and the following morning departed aboard 3 APDs and nine destroyers under the command of Rear-Admiral William Fechteler. They would rendezvous with Admiral Kinkaid's light cruisers at 13:26, around Cape Cretin, with General MacArthur onboard, and finally would arrive at a point about 10 miles south of Los Negros at 6:00 on February 29. While the troops climbed aboard their LCPRs, Fechteler's destroyers opened fire on their assigned targets. Unfortunately, when the LCPRs reached the line of departure, about 3700 yards from the beaches, the defenders responded with heavy machine-gun and battery fire.At H-28 minutes enemy machine-gun fire opened on the boats, whom began maneuvering radically as they could. Machine-gun fire was also directed against the destroyers and the Phoenix group to the south. Heavier shore batteries opened up; flashes could be seen from d gun near Southeast Point on the island, and what appeared to be 3- or 4-inch shells landed in the vicinity of the Flusser and the Mahan. In response the Phoenix and Mahan fired upon the batteries and 9 B-25's strafed and bombed the area. Their participation was limited by a heavy overcast and a low ceiling. Of the 40 B-24s scheduled to arrive during the naval bombardment, only 3 appeared before their appointed time to bomb the target area at H-47 minutes. The planned missions of four groups of B-25s fared little better, only nine appearing and these later than scheduled. No communications had been established with the B-25s nor could any of the planes be seen from the flagship, so the plan was called off for stopping naval gunfire at H-20 minutes to permit low-level bombing and strafing. The naval bombardment was continued for another 15 minutes. The order to cease fire was given at H-5 minutes and, although no aircraft were visible, starshells were fired as the attack signal for any strafers that might be in the vicinity. The first wave of LCPRs reached the shore at 8:17, meeting slight enemy fire. Troop G led by 1st-Lieutenant Marvin Henshaw rushed beyond the narrow beach to the edge of a coconut plantation, taking cover under fallen trees and kunai grass. Here they laid prone, forming a rough half-circle with a 50-yard radius. They saw scattered groups of the enemy fleeing inland, some as far away as the other side of the air strip. Lieutenant Henshaw killed one with a long distance shot, and members of his platoon killed another. Not one of the soldiers who landed in the first wave was a casualty. As the bombardment lifted, the defenders gradually came out of their dugouts and began subjecting the returning boats to cross-fire. As the second wave approached, the enemy fire became so heavy, the LCPR's were forced to turn back so the Mahan, Flusser and Drayton could further bombard them. At 08:23, the second wave finally landed, moving swiftly past the troops of the first wave to a point 100 yards inland. 22 minutes later, the third wave landed, rapidly fanning south and establishing a line 300 yards inland by 09:00. Meeting slight opposition, the cavalrymen managed to secure the Momote airstrip by 9:50 and completely unloaded by 12:50. 4 of the LCPRs had been left out of action during the landings, so the reconnaissance force could not be evacuated. From the positions held by the first waves, the troops then gradually moved forward to cover the whole dispersal area of the airdrome, sending patrols beyond the airdrome which identified evidence of concerning recent Japanese activity. As patrols sent out beyond the airdrome began to report back, the commanders could decide the next move. One patrol had scouted 1,000 yards west to Porlaka without contact, and another almost as far north as the skidway before meeting any enemy, there was plenty of evidence that the Japanese had recently been in the vicinity in some strength. One patrol that went about a mile south found the hastily vacated quarters of a high-ranking officer, as well as a bivouac area, and fired at a fleeing Japanese officer. Another found three big kitchens and a warehouse of food. Although the Japanese in the area had offered negligible resistance, our command expected a change in the near future. Captured documents revealed that 200 antiaircraft personnel had been encamped nearby.  Given this information, General Chase decided to pull back to a perimeter due east of the airstrip and had the cavalrymen dig in for the night. During the afternoon the reconnaissance force organized its defenses, which presented many difficulties. A good foxhole required back-breaking efforts, because the soil was heavy with coral. Since there was no barbed wire to put around the beachhead, men and weapons had to be spaced closely and every man available used for the perimeter defense. The 40 field artillery officers and men were assigned sectors for close-in defense, because their two pack howitzers could not cover the critical space in front of the defense line from such a shallow depth as the perimeter allowed. They took over these sectors after the howitzers had blasted away for a while at the Japanese known to be in the skidway area. For heavy weapons support, the twelve 50-caliber machine guns of the antiaircraft unit were moved into positions along the front line. Signalmen strung the perimeter with wire to make the necessary hook-ups for officers in the chain of command, and removed the radio sets for communication with Sixth Army Headquarters from an advanced position to a more sheltered bomb crater. Outposts were stationed beyond the strip on the far edges of the dispersal area. Meanwhile, MacArthur came ashore during the afternoon and decorated the first man to land, Lieutenant Henshaw, with a Distinguished Service Cross. He decided to stay, ordering Chase to hold his position until the follow-up force arrived. MacArthur then returned to the Phoenix, which got underway shortly afterwards at 5:29 for Cape Sudest, taking with it all the ships except two destroyers.  On the Japanese side, Colonel Ezaki immediately ordered the 1st Battalion, 229th Regiment to attack the beachhead during the night and annihilate the enemy or die trying. Suspicions that the Momote landing was a diversion, however, would prevent him from sending the rest of his troops to assist. Colonel Ezaki issued the following orders to the infantry battalion defending the Hyane Harbor sector: “Tonight the battalion under Captain Baba will annihilate the enemy who have landed. This is not a delaying action. Be resolute to sacrifice your life for the Emperor and commit suicide in case capture is imminent. We must carry out our mission with the present strength and annihilate the enemy on the spot. I am highly indignant about the enemy's arrogant attitude. Remember to kill or capture all ranking enemy officers for our intelligence purposes…” As ordered, 200 men with 3 mortars; 2 platoons of the 229th Infantry and 1 platoon of crept up to the Americans during the night. Yet by the time they reached the American line, their movement was no longer coordinated and they could only achieve some minor infiltrations. Groups of 7 to 15 Japanese edging in, flinging grenades at the weapons that fired. The only way the Japanese could be seen was by the light of grenade explosions or when the attackers got close enough so that a cavalryman crouched in a fox hole could see them silhouetted against the sky. Many of the Japanese were cut down by machine-gun and rifle fire, but some got through and succeeded in cutting all telephone lines. Although infiltrations occurred on all edges of the perimeter, the attack was heaviest near the shore on the southern side. Here some Japanese reached the shore in the rear of the main defense line by swimming in from the sea with life preservers. The vegetation bordering the beach provided protection for these infiltrators. One group found an opening in the left flank of Troop E, holding the south sector, next to the field artillery unit that held along the shore. The enemy penetrated Troop E's defense line, entirely isolating the 3d Platoon. Without communication with its troop, the unit had to fight it out alone against very heavy attacks. Come daylight, the majority of the Japanese survivors had disappeared back into the jungle, leaving 66 dead against 7 Americans killed and 15 wounded. However, those who had infiltrated and reoccupied some of their former pillboxes and fortifications in the perimeter had to be cleared out by the tired cavalrymen.  During the afternoon, patrols were also sent west and north to check how much strength the enemy had and the perimeter was further contracted and tightened. At 5:00, 2 companies of the 229th regiment made another coordinated effort against the perimeter, yet its intensity was lowered by the death of the battalion commander. The afternoon was free from enemy activity except for a patrol which was discovered inside the perimeter at about 4:00. The patrol's mission was evidently to kill or capture the American commanding officer. It was led by Captain Baba, the commander of the battalion who made the major attack on the preceding night. Although operating in broad daylight, the patrol came close to succeeding. The Americans were confident that the morning's mop-up had taken care of all the enemy within the perimeter. Secondary growth was thick in the area and the Japanese were unnoticed until they were within 35 yards of the task force command post. Once the group was sighted, a considerable amount of fire was placed on it. The Japanese lay concealed in the undergrowth and a single sniper pecked away with his rifle in the direction of the CP. Not knowing the size of the party, Major Chiaramonte set out with four men "to get the sniper." The task force commander and his executive officer directed the movement of the group either right or left according to movements in the underbrush, and the soldiers and Major Chiaramonte opened up whenever they detected any movements. As Major Chiaramonte and his party finally entered the area on which they had been firing, they heard a click followed by grenade explosions. Three of the Japanese had committed suicide. Another rolled over on his back and used his sword to commit hara-kiri. Fifteen dead officers and sergeants were counted, including Captain Baba. Thus, the attackers were kept beyond the perimeter until nightfall, when the attack finally stopped.  On March 2, after clearing Jamandilai Point by 10:45, 6 LSTs landed the 1st Squadron, 5th Cavalry plus artillery and Seabees. While the troops landed, Captain Emile Dechaineux's and will be honest very curious how Americans would pronounce that one, like i've said before there is no rhyme or reason as to how Americans pronounce french last names haha, well Dechaineux's destroyers bombarded Hauwei Island and Hyane Harbor. With reinforcements in hand, General Chase launched a new attack to extend his perimeter. At 2:15 B-25's, P- 38's, and P-47's bombed and strafed the area. The western half of the airfield and the dispersal area were softened up for the ground attack, and the skidway and Hyane coast beyond were also targets. Bombs were also dropped on the strip of land forming the northern arm of the harbor. After this at 3:00 the two cavalry squadrons advanced across the airstrip, rapidly taking the entire aerodrome against light opposition and finally digging along a new perimeter.  To block possible enemy landings from across Hyane Harbor, two anti-aircraft batteries and E Company of the 592nd Boat and Shore Regiment defended the shore. Seabees formed an inner defense line to the west and northwest of the brigade. Six rough trenches were dug out by a bulldozer and ten men stationed in each. The remainder of the 40th Construction Battalion elements remained in their trench on the right flank, which was now a secondary line behind the troopers. The critical north and northwest sectors were the 2nd Squadron's responsibility. They prepared their positions with careful attention to interlocking bands of machine-gun fire, while the 1st Squadron dug in on the left flank. The first night in the enlarged beachhead passed by without a crisis. An attack came at 9:00pm, but it was not as severe as expected. The chief enemy effort was to push machine-gun parties and infiltration groups through the 2nd Squadron's sector, and in particular through that held by Troop G. Communication lines were cut, radio equipment was slightly damaged, and a few Japanese penetrated as far as the field artillery positions. The artillery, prepared for interdiction fire, was not called on.  The following morning, a systematic search for enemy troops within the position was started and all Japanese within the perimeter were killed while the Seabees began work on the airstrip. At the same time, Krueger arranged with Barbey to expedite the movement of the rest of the cavalry division. The 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment was to arrive on March 4; the remaining units of the 1st Brigade would arrive by March 6; and the 2nd Brigade was to arrive on March 9. At this point Colonel Ezaki realized his situation was desperate, his 1st battalion, 229th regiment was being obliterated. He moved his HQ from Papitalai to Papitalai Mission and began concentrating his garrison units at Lorengau. He also ordered the 2nd battalion ,1st independent regiment at Salami to perform an assault from the north, coordinating with the 229th regiment. Their advance was slowed by constant naval and land artillery fire, but they got into position by the night of March 3rd. The Americans expected the attack, as prior, an enemy officer patrol had attempted to land on the shore of Hyane Harbor. The platoon leader of the shore company guarding the beach there allowed the boat to come in to land, then opened fire, killing all members of the patrol. Among the valuable documents discovered on the bodies was one which gave the information that a strong attack would be launched that night.  With this knowledge, the Americans fortified their front line defenses. Since infiltration was still the greatest danger for a small force holding a large perimeter in jungle and darkness, the front line positions were of prime importance. To offer as little space as possible for infiltration, each troop in the line would use all three of its rifle platoons. Automatic weapons covering front-line positions were basic in the fire plans; each of these weapons, in turn, was protected by two, three, or four dugouts on both flanks and rear manned by two or three riflemen. The approaches to these positions were strewn with mines, and trip signals were made of empty "C"-ration cans with lumps of coral inside for clappers, and hung on lengths of wire strung taut ten inches off the ground. In organizing defenses, good use was made of Japanese revetments, built to protect their airplanes in the dispersal bays on the airstrip. These revetments were steep banks of earth reaching some 15 feet high; usually a large one was at the end of a bay with two smaller embankments flanking it to form a pattern which, from the air, looked like cleats on the sole of a football shoe. Near the crest of some of these mounds, on the reverse slopes, cavalrymen dug foxholes. Two 30-caliber water-cooled machine guns were then placed on the flat ground alongside the bunker and mounted to fire across the front of the position.  All the 81-mm mortars were massed near the center of the perimeter, while all the 60-mm mortars were moved close to the front line. The water-cooled 50-caliber machine guns of the antiaircraft were returned to their units, except for those on the northern end of the air strip. This side of the perimeter faced the skidway, whence the chief attack was expected. Patrols had met the greatest opposition when working in this direction and toward Porlaka; enemy barges and troop concentrations had also been sighted on the northwestern shore of Hyane Harbor.  Nearby naval units would also coordinate by firing upon any Japanese concentration discovered. At 9pm the Japanese began their attack as a single Japanese bomber dropped 8 bombs.  As soon as the plane had departed, two yellow flares went up from the vicinity of Podaka, and a tracer, apparently 20-mm, was fired almost vertically from a position in front of the Troop B sector to the southwest. Almost immediately an attack supported by mortar fire was launched there as well as against the position held by Troops F and G to the northwest. The attack against the 1st Squadron on the southwest was relatively light, the enemy strength here being estimated later at two reinforced platoons. Since the 1st Squadron's sector was covered by a heavy growth of secondary jungle forest, infiltration was a great danger. The sited positions of our automatic weapons were of little value in the darkness, so the cavalrymen picked up the guns and fired them from the hip. The Japanese moved automatic weapons forward apparently with no other plan of action than to set them up in the open in front of our lines, depending on darkness to conceal their positions. The excited talking of the crews gave their positions away and they became easy targets for the defending riflemen. The attackers were blanketed by mortar fire accurately placed 20 to 50 yards in front of the perimeter. Nevertheless, many of the enemy did infiltrate, some as far as the south end of the air strip where they hid in heavy brush or climbed trees to begin sniper operations at dawn. Because of the relative weakness of the attacking force, there was never any real danger that the 1st Squadron's positions would be overrun.   The attack upon the 2nd Squadron's position on the northwest was a greater threat, with over a battalion, as later estimated, advancing on this sector from the direction of Pori aka and the skidway against the whole of Troop G's position and the right flank of Troop F. Apparently the enemy's intention was to drive our troops from their perimeter and occupy the north end of the air strip. The attacks against the sector held by Troops E and F were limited to infiltrations toward mortar positions and command posts. The rear installations were covered hy enemy mortar fire and machinegun fire while Japanese with grenades closed in on them and overran the positions. The Seabees, holding their secondary defense line behind the cavalry on the north side of the perimeter, also felt the effects of the furious attacks. Cavalrymen whose guns were knocked out, or who had run out of ammunition, carne back to the Seabees' trenches. When a weak place developed toward the left side of the Seabees' positions, their extra ammunition was at the other end of their line. First the men passed the ammunition to the front line by throwing the boxes from hole to hole, but when that seemed too slow they got out of their holes and ran with it, holding it low.  The Japanese advanced relentlessly, talking and singing though damaged and hampered by antipersonnel mines and booby traps, until they were cut down by the fierce machine-gun fire of the cavalrymen. Yet more and more kept coming behind them, marching over the bodies of the first. The Americans hunkered down in their holes and fired upon anything that moved,  continuing to inflict heavy casualties. The Japanese attempted a number of tricks and were occasionally successful. Somehow they learnt the names of platoon leaders. On one occasion a Japanese yelled, "Retreat, Thorne, the whole regiment's falling back to another line." This caused the mortar platoon commanded by 1st Lt. William D. Thorne to leave their positions. Not only did the platoon suffer three casualties, but it was unable to direct its mortar fire during the rest of the night. Another trick was to have individuals move about in front of the perimeter to draw the fire of machine guns. Then two or three snipers would fire tracers at any weapon that disclosed itself, enabling a mortar to open up on the position. Several cases of wiretapping of a 90-mm anti-aircraft battery took place between 10:30 and midnight, the wire-tapper claiming to be, on one occasion, a certain officer commanding a platoon, and on another, a sergeant. He reported in each case the disruption of our plans and the success of the enemy. Since his voice was not recognized, his messages were not heeded. However, a later message, although believed false, made the 211th Coast Artillery (AA) Battalion change its CP. At 11:30 a single enemy plane with landing lights on made several runs at a low altitude dropping flares. In spite of orders to hold their fire, the anti-aircraft battery opened up on the fourth run and drove the plane to the north, where it dropped bombs on Japanese positions.  Japanese using knives and grenades managed to get themselves into Troop G's defenses. A ferocious counterattack by the cavalrymen would shortly regain the positions just in time to face another strong frontal attack, in which more Japanese were cut down in front of the 2nd Squadron. By daylight, the infantry attacks were finally over, with the cavalrymen counting over 750 Japanese dead as they established a new outpost line on March 4. Against them, the Americans lost 61 killed and 244 wounded, 9 of the dead and 38 of the wounded were Seabees. That same day was met with another heavy bombardment of the Japanese positions, then the 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry landed against slight enemy resistance. The defensive perimeter was strengthened again and the damage of the previous night was repaired. Colonel Ezaki now believed that his troops had successfully pierced the American first line of defense and thus ordered to continue the attack that night; but upon learning the truth and how many casualties he had suffered, he decided to cancel the attack and ordered a general withdrawal towards Lorengau, leaving some units to hold Papitalai and delay the American advance. 600  men had been lost in the skidway area and in the attacks upon the perimeter. The remaining 200, with an additional 100 stragglers from other disorganized units, were ordered to retreat through Salami Beach and across Papitalai Harbor to Papitalai Mission. Natives on Mokerang Peninsula later told the Angau Party that the Japanese retreat developed into a rout. They were panic-stricken; some did not even wait to take paddles for the native canoes that they had appropriated for their escape to Papitalai Mission. Not more than 80 Japanese, frantic from fear and exhaustion, arrived at the mission to bolster the force already there. By the 5th, General Swift arrived to the secured  beachhead in the Admiralties, and with the arrival of the 12th Cavalry Regiment the following day, he was now ready to launch an offensive west towards Seeadler Harbor, the Lorengau airdrome and north against Salami Plantation. The same day, to clear the way for the 2nd Brigade's landing at Red Beach, General Swift ordered the 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry to move across the skidway to a point about 500 yards north. Despite a thorough artillery support, the advance did not go smoothly, with the Japanese immediately launching a strong attack from both Porlaka and the native skidway. Luckily the few Japanese who penetrated the position were killed, around 25 of them and the attack was broken up by mortar and artillery fire. At 4:30, the squadron finally began their offensive, moving with difficulty across a mined area and only gaining about 500 yards by nightfall.  The next morning, the squadron advanced, with the 12th Cavalry soon joining them. Despite the occasional pillboxes and the congested trail, the cavalrymen made ample progress towards the beaches of Seeadler Harbor and closed in on Salami by 4:30. To further secure the harbor, General Swift planned to clear the enemy presence at the Mokerang Peninsula, Papitalai Mission and Lombrum Point. That day, the 5th Cavalry had already begun the work of clearing the southern shore of Seeadler Harbor by pushing patrols west from the airstrip. Finding much more enemy corpses that opposition, Troop F would be able to establish a bridgehead at Porlaka. At 12:00 on the 7th, after an artillery bombardment, a reconnaissance patrol consisting of 40 volunteers from Troop B, led by Capt. William C. Cornelius advanced across Lemondrol Creek and successfully landed on Papitalai against an estimated 50 Japanese defenders. Captain Cornelius, leading the first wave, was reported to have single-handedly killed four of the enemy with rifle fire and grenades while operating 50 yards in advance of the troops. Yet severely wounded, he would die the next day; for his courage and leadership he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.  The Japanese quickly withdrew. Simultaneously after a heavy air and artillery bombardment, the 2nd Squadron, 12th Cavalry departed Salami and advanced across Seeadler Harbor to land on Papitalai Mission, meeting heavy resistance.  By nightfall, Troop G had secured a beachhead, though it would have to break up three determined counterattacks during the night. This ultimately forced the Japanese to pull out from their beach defenses at Papitalai Mission and retreat towards Lorengau, allowing the cavalrymen to secure the beachhead the following morning. By 12:00 on the 8th, supplies for the 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry's attack on Lombrum Plantation also began arriving at Red Beach over the difficult road from Momote. Equipping the 12th Cavalry and the 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry, at Salami with enough supplies to carry on their overwater attacks was a difficult and hazardous operation. The single road from Momote to Salami was impassable for most vehicles during the days when the supplies were most urgently needed. Buffaloes got through by going overwater part of the way, but the rest of the essential supplies had to be dropped from airplanes or sent in LCMs from Momote around Mokerang Peninsula. The sending of LCMs into Seeadler Harbor was an operation which was possible only after continued naval efforts from D-Day on. Magnetic mines, dropped by American planes in May 1943, were presumably still in the harbor and had to be removed. To make entry into the harbor safe for their forces, destroyers also had to neutralize the Japanese harbor defense guns, which had already proved effective. The destroyers and minesweepers worked to accomplish these missions, but even by 7 March, when six LCMs loaded with supplies were to make their way around the point, it was not certain that enemy resistance on the islands guarding the harbor had completely disintegrated.  LCMs then successfully landed TROOP E, F and G on Lombrum two hours later against sporadic fire. The Americans extended their perimeter by 5:00, successfully completing the task of securing Seeadler Harbor while other units of the 12th Cavalry secured the Mokerang Peninsula to cover the north flank of the 2nd Brigade's landing. On the 9th, the 2nd Brigade successfully landed at Salami while destroyers pounded the main Japanese positions at Lorengau. This ended the first phase of Operation Brewer. The Americans had suffered a total of 116 killed and 434 wounded during their occupation of Los Negros while counting 1288 enemy dead by March 8. Their next objective would be Lorengau airdrome on Manus Island, but that it for the Admiralties as we now need to travel over to New Britain. Over on New Britain, General Rupertus was planning to invade the Willaumez Peninsula in order to cut off the Japanese retreat line there and take the Talasea airdrome. He assigned the 5th marines under Colonel Oliver Smith for the task. They were going land at a point about midway on the west coast of the Willaumez Peninsula north of Volupai, labeled Beach Red. The chosen zone of operations was about as good as the Marines could have found. It presented them with a short, comparatively flat route to their objective which might make possible utilization of tanks. A dirt track approximately four miles long connected Beach Red with Bitokara, and although it was not designed for motor transport, the Marines could hope. Beach Red contained about as much depth as Beaches Yellow 1 and Yellow 2 in the Gloucester landings, but was more confined on its flanks. Its 350 yards of sand nestled between a cliff on the right and a swamp on the left. The cliff constituted the northwestern slope of Little Mt. Worri, a mass rising 1360 feet above the beach and enfolding the native villages of Liapo to the south and Volupai on the west. Overlooking this smaller mountain from the south was Big Mt. Worri, higher by 300 feet and with a more encompassing base. Included in its ridge line was Mt. Schleuther, on the peninsula's eastern coast which dominated Bitokara, Talasea and the Waru villages from an altitude of 1130 feet. Volupai Plantation was 400 yards inland from Beach Red, containing a collection of small buildings and groves of coconut palms and cacao trees. Volupai track, linking Beach Red with Bitokara, skirted the northern bases of the several mountains. The country, except for the plantations and villages, was typical of New Britain: overgrown jungle and underbrush. Sea and air control in the New Britain area had passed so completely into Allied hands that it was decided to transport the assault forces from Iboki to Volupai in a convoy of 38 LCMs, 17 LCVPs and 5 LCTs, with only 5 PT boats as escorts. Furthermore, on March 3rd, an amphibious patrol landed on Cape Bastian and managed to contact friendly natives in order to learn that the enemy had a weak presence in the area. This was the reinforced 7th Company, 54th Regiment, which had been sent by General Sakai to defend Talasea while the bulk of the Matsuda and Komori Detachments retreated towards Malalia. Sakai was planning to engage the enemy in a decisive battle with the entire force of the 17th Division; but on February 23, General Imamura had ordered him to withdraw towards Rabaul. Thus Sakai assigned the 17th Provisional Battalion to secure Toriu; the 2nd Battalion, 53rd Regiment to hold Ulamona; the 39th Anti-Aircraft Battalion to remain at Malalia; the 17th Engineer Regiment to facilitate the crossing of the Kapuira River; and the 17th Transport Regiment to establish supply depots at Ubai, Butiolo and Sulu. He also ordered the bulk of the 54th Regiment to leave some naval units at Gasmata and begin to retreat towards Amio and then Ubai, where barges were to finally evacuate the detachment. Over in Bougainville, General Griswold's 14th Corps had just taken over the protection of the Cape Torokina base. As such, nearly 62000 men were stationed in the area, defenses were consolidated, and an impressive artillery complement under Brigadier-General Leo Kreber was directed to cover the perimeter. During this period of consolidation, the most important actions were the establishment of an important Fijian outpost at Ibu village. One of the most effective units operating under corps command was the 1st Battalion of the Fiji Infantry Regiment. This battalion, consisting of 777 enlisted men and 34 officers, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel J.B.K. Taylor of the New Zealand Army, whom arrived at Bougainville in late December. Taylor was wounded the first night ashore and was replaced as commander by Major Gregory Upton, who was in charge of the battalion during its long-range patrols in late December and January. The Fijian troops were well trained, proud of their uniforms and ability to march, and according to reports, loved to sing a wide variety of Fijian songs as well as the more modern American tunes. Almost immediately after their arrival, plans were under way to use their unique abilities as jungle fighters to establish a combat outpost far to the east of the mountain range, most of which was controlled by the Japanese. The managed to gain valuable information on Japanese movements before withdrawing in late February, and a successful expansion of the perimeter east of the mouth of the Torokina River. But the first real test of the Corps in Bougainville was approaching.  Under immense pressure from his superiors, General Hyakutake had been preparing to launch his main counterattack, codenamed Operation TA, since early January. He assembled over 15000 men from his total strength of nearly 40000 to take part in the operation. General Kanda the 6th Division commander was given command of the force and his mission was simple. 3 task forces, named after their commanders; the Iwasa unit of Major General Iwasa Shun consisting of the 23rd Infantry Regiment, the 2nd Battalion of the 13th Regiment, attached engineering troops, and two batteries of light field artillery and a mortar battalion–in all, approximately 4,150 men; the Magata Unit, commanded by Colonel Magata Isashi, consisting of most of the 45th Infantry Regiment (less 2nd Battalion), with artillery, mortar battalions, and engineers attached–a total of approximately 4,300 men; The smallest of the forces, the Muda Unit, commanded by Colonel Muda Toyohorei , consisted of the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 13th Regiment and an engineering company–a total of 1,350 men.  These 3 units would  attack strongpoints in the American perimeter. Thus, the Iwasa Unit was to strike towards Hill 700 on the right flank of the 37th Division line and then drive directly toward the two Piva airfields, which Hyakutake planned to capture by March 10; the Magata Unit was to take the low ground west of Hill 700 and then drive south to capture the Torokina airstrip by March 17; and the Muda Unit was to seize Hills 260 and 309 in the Americal sector and then capture the strategically-important Hill 608 by March 10. Bougainville was about to see some major action. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Despite the admiralty islands certainly holding significant enemy units, General MacArthur went ahead with his reconnaissance in force and turned it into a full blown invasion. Yet again MacArthur proved, he was willing to do whatever necessary to make sure the drive of the Pacific pointed in the direction of the Philippines.

In this episode, we explore the secrets of financial success with Lisa Sakai, a seasoned Financial Consultant and co-founder of One Vision Retirement. Unveiling the principles of effective retirement planning, Lisa shares expert advice on achieving financial independence, the significance of Bucket List Acceleration, practical exercises for immediate implementation, and insights into wealth-building strategies and investment planning. Discover the roadmap to financial freedom through Lisa's easy-to-follow steps, empowering you to take control of your financial destiny and live the life you've always envisioned. Lisa Sakai, a trusted Financial Consultant with over 12 years of experience, brings her expertise to guide you through the complexities of financial planning.  Take charge of your financial future! Join us as we discuss actionable steps for Bucket List Acceleration and living your dream life now.

In this enlightening episode, we delve into the world of financial independence and lifestyle design with the renowned financial consultant, Lisa Sakai. As the co-founder of One Vision Retirement and a passionate advocate for helping women professionals and their families, Lisa brings over a decade of experience in guiding her clients towards realizing their dreams through effective financial planning. Our conversation with Lisa centers on the innovative concept of Bucket List Planning. This approach is not just about saving for the future, but actively shaping it to enjoy the lifestyle you love now. Lisa breaks down complex financial concepts into easily understandable steps, empowering our listeners to take immediate action towards their financial goals. We explore a range of critical topics, such as the essence of Bucket List Planning, the most effective places to save, and the art of setting and achieving personal goals. Lisa also sheds light on the concept of financial perfectionism, the importance of understanding your 'why', and practical tips to get started on your financial journey. For those wondering if their 401K savings are sufficient, Lisa provides insightful perspectives, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive plan that aligns with individual aspirations. Join us in this episode as we uncover the secrets to accelerating your bucket list, transforming financial confusion into clarity, and building a lifestyle that resonates with your deepest desires. Whether you're looking to kickstart your financial independence journey or seeking to refine your existing strategy, Lisa's expert advice and actionable steps are a gateway to a life of fulfillment and success. Questions Discussed: What is bucket list planning? Where is the best place to save? How to put together a financial plan? Setting and accomplishing personal financial goals Understanding and overcoming financial perfectionism The importance of knowing your 'why' in financial planning Steps to get started on your financial journey Evaluating the adequacy of 401K savings and beyond. To connect with Lisa, visit her website: http://www.onevisionretire.com/ Disclaimer: Not advice. Educational purposes only. Not an endorsement for or against. Results not vetted. Views of the guests do not represent those of the host or show. Do your due diligence. Click here to join PodMatch (the "AirBNB" of Podcasting): https://www.joinpodmatch.com/drchrisloomdphd We couldn't do it without the support of our listeners. To help support the show: CashApp- https://cash.app/$drchrisloomdphd Venmo- https://account.venmo.com/u/Chris-Loo-4 Buy Me a Coffee- https://www.buymeacoffee.com/chrisJx Thank you to our sponsor, CityVest: https://bit.ly/37AOgkp Click here to schedule a 1-on-1 private coaching call: https://www.drchrisloomdphd.com/book-online Click here to purchase my books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2PaQn4p Follow our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/chL1357 Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/drchrisloomdphd Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereal_drchrisloo Follow us on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@thereal_drchrisloo Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drchrisloomddphd Follow the podcast on Spotify: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/christopher-loo⁠ Subscribe to our Substack newsletter: https://substack.com/@drchrisloomdphd1 Subscribe to our Medium newsletter: https://medium.com/@drchrisloomdphd Subscribe to our email newsletter: ⁠https://financial-freedom-for-physicians.ck.page/b4622e816d⁠ Subscribe to our LinkedIn newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=6992935013231071233 Join our Patreon Community: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=87512799 Join our Spotify Community: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/christopher-loo/subscribe⁠ Thank you to our advertisers on Spotify. Financial Freedom for Physicians, Copyright 2024

This episode we will finish up with many of the smaller episodes in the reign of Kashikiya Hime, aka Suiko Tenno.  Most of these are mentions of various public works projects, omens, expansion of the realm, and a couple of other stories, some more believable than others. As usual, more information can be found at https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-101 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 101: Ponds, Peaches, and Thunder-gods. First off, a big thanks to Red and Ryan for helping to support the site and our show.  If you would like to join them, we'll have more information at the end of the episode, or check out our website at sengokudaimyo.com. When we last left off, we were going through some of the more random events that happened in the reign of Kashikiya Hime, aka Suiko Tennou. and we're going to continue with that this episode, touching on some of the things that happened in the latter part of her reign, starting in about 613 and going from there—and some of this is more exciting than others.  I'll try to hit the high points, but some of this will be familiar if you've been listening along. For example, one of the THRILLING things we'll start with (at least if you are a frog) is the building of ponds.  In the winter of 613, we are told that the ponds of Waki no Kami, Unebi, and Wani were constructed.  We've seen the construction of ponds since at least the time of Mimaki Iribiko, aka Sujin Tennou, the purported “first” sovereign, from around the probable time of Queen Himiko.  The exact nature of these ponds doesn't seem to be known, but one theory is that they are for irrigation of rice paddies in places where the water wasn't consistently sufficient for everyone's needs—a pond would allow for water to be gathered up throughout the year and then released when it was needed for the rice paddies.  More ponds may have indicated the opening of more fields, indicating continued growth.Ponds also had other uses, however, including breeding fish, and they were a habitat for birds, so this would also help encourage hunting and fishing.  Finally, the ponds were public utilities, and part of the way the Court flexed their power as they raised levies for the ponds' construction.  We might also say something about the way they indicated a certain amount of control over the land – but of course, most of these ponds are in the Nara basin and Kawachi regions, and so it doesn't tell us a whole lot more than what we already know about the centralized control there.  They were important enough, however, that by the 8th century the creation of these ponds was still being tracked and attributed to specific rulers. If you're wondering what it might have been like to travel around in this period of Japan, you might be more interested in the fact that in the same line about the ponds, we are also told that a Highway was built from Asuka to Naniwa.  This is believed to be the path of the ancient Takeuchi Kaidou in Kawachi, which some of the literature  claims is the “oldest official road” in Japan.  This road  connects to the Yoko-ohoji in Nara, which links the modern city of Sakai, near Ohosaka, with the city of Katsuraki, and presumably it then connected with other paths down to Asuka.    I suspect that the “official” qualifier is in there is because we have evidence of when it was made, whereas other roads and highways, such as the old highway along the foot of the mountains on the eastern edge of the Nara Basin, are perhaps even more ancient, but are simply mentioned, without evidence of how or when they were created—they may have been more organic footpaths that came to be heavily traveled, or just created with no record of who and when. This new highway was notable for connecting the port at Naniwa to the current capital and to the newly built temples in the Asuka area, as well. These temples were new institutions, but they were also fairly permanent structures, unlike even the palace buildings, which were still expected to be rebuilt each reign.  Of course, they could be moved—and were, in later periods—but it was going to take some doing.  That said, there were other permanent structures and religious sites—heck, many of the kami were associated with mountains, and you couldn't exactly move those, though they did have the ability to build sacred spaces elsewhere and bring the kami to them, so you weren't exactly tied to the physical geography.  And there were the giant kofun, but I'm not sure how often people were going to the kofun to worship the ancient kings and other elites, other than perhaps family members paying their respects.  The building of a highway to the capital alone would probably be an interesting flex, since the next sovereign could move somewhere else entirely.  But the temples were intended to be relatively permanent institutions, as far as I can tell, so even if the capital did move, the fact that there was a road there was probably going to be a big boon to the area. Of course it probably didn't hurt that this area was also a Soga stronghold, and so at least the Soga family would continue to benefit, which may have gone into *some* of the political calculus, there. It was also going to help with envoys to and from the continent.  And that leads us along to the next item of note about Kashikiya-hime's reign: sure enough, in the sixth month of the following year, Inugami no Kimi no Mitasuki and Yatabe no Miyatsuko were sent on a new embassy to the Sui court.  By the way, quick note on these two.  Inugami no Mitatsuki is given the kabane of “kimi”.  If you recall, the sovereign is “Oho-kimi”, or “Great Kimi”, and so “Kimi” is thought to be an important title, possibly referring to a high-ranking family that held sway outside of the immediate lands of Yamato, and Yatabe is given to us as “Miyatsuko”, also generally referring to one of the higher ranks of nobility under the kabane system—though not necessarily the inner court families of the Omi and the Muraji.  It is unclear whether those kabane were in use at the time, but it does indicate that the families were important.  An ancestor of the Inugami first shows up in the reign of Okinaga Tarashi Hime, aka Jingu Kougou, which is interesting as there are some who claim that the stories of that reign really solidified around the time of Kashikiya Hime, which is to say the current reign.  We'll get more into that in a future episode, but for now we can note that the Inugami family doesn't really seem to show up after that until this reign, and from here on out we see them as one of the regular interlocutors with the continent, whether the Sui, Tang, or on the Korean peninsula. The Yatabe are much more enigmatic.  Other than this entry, we don't have a lot.  There is an ancestor, Takemorosumi, mentioned in the reign of Mimaki Iribiko, aka Sujin Tennou, and there is some reasonable thought that they may have been set up for the maintenance of Princess Yata, the wife of Ohosazaki no Mikoto, aka Nintoku Tennou, but I don't see any clear indication one way or the other.  They aren't really mentioned again except as a family during the late 7th century. These two, Inugami no Mitatsuki and the unnamed envoy of the Yatabe family, would return a year later, bringing with them an envoy from Baekje.  Later in the year they would throw the envoy an elaborate feast.  We aren't given much else, but seems like relations were good. Shortly after the feast for the Baekje envoy, however, the monk Hyeja—or Eiji, in the Japanese reading—returned to his home in Goguryeo.  Hyeja had been one of the teachers of none other than Prince Umayado, aka Shotoku Taishi himself, and the two are said to have shared a special bond.  Shotoku Taishi eventually became Hyeja's equal, and it is said that they both discussed Buddhist teachings and philosophy together, with Hyeja appreciating Shotoku Taishi's unique insights.  When Prince Umayado eventually passed at an all too early age, the news reached Hyeja on the peninsula and he held a special feast in his student-turned-peer's honor.  They say that he then predicted his own death, one year later, on the anniversary of Shotoku Taishi's own passing. But that was still to come.  For now, you could say that everything was peachy—and so they did… sort of, in the next item of note.  What they actually said was that in the first month of 616, at the beginning of Spring, the Peach and Plum trees bore fruit, which may seem an odd thing to comment on.  However, Peach and Plum tress flowering or fruiting would be something that the Chroniclers commented on for at least the next two reigns, as well as in the reign of Oho-ama, aka Temmu Tennou, in the 7th century. It is possible that they were commenting on how they were fruiting out of season—the peach, or momo, in Japanese, blossoms between late March and mid-April.  This is around the same time as the plum, in this case the Sumomo, rather than the “ume” plum, sometimes called a Japanese apricot.  Momo and Sumomo would blossom towards the start of spring, and so it might be possible for them to blossom around the first month of the New Year, especially if that was a little later than it might be today, but highly unlikely that they would be fruiting.  Assuming they were talking about the blossoms—and some later accounts explicitly call out the flowers instead—it may have indicated a particularly warm winter or early spring season that year.  It is also possible that the Chroniclers were off on the dates at times, and so may have made some mistakes. It is also possible that they were recounting an odd event—having the peach trees and plum trees fruit or blossom at the obviously wrong time would likely have generated some concern, and thus be worthy of noting down as an omen.  It is also possible that this is part of a stock phrase that was used to indicate something else, like the start of Spring or a good or bad omen.  Peaches were thought to keep away evil spirits and it was said that they were the fruit of immortality in the western paradise of the Queen Mother of the West.  Peaches are often common decorations on Buddhist temples, as well—going back to the same stories about warding off evil and longevity. Whatever the reason, the blooming and fruiting of peach and plum trees was particularly important to the Chroniclers for this period—for whatever reason. Beyond the talk of peaches, in 616 there was something else, something fairly simple, but apparently important:  Men from the island of Yaku arrived as immigrants. This is the first mention of Yaku Island, and if you haven't heard of it I wouldn't blame you.  It is an island south of modern Kagoshima, off the southern tip of Kyuushuu, and just west of another famous island, that of Tanegashima.  Yakushima, today, is known for its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site—so classified for its incredible natural beauty.  It is the home to some truly ancient cedars, with some thought to date back as far as 2300 years ago, well into the Yayoi era.  It is mentioned in the Nihon Shoki as well as Sui dynasty records, and in numerous other travel accounts since. We have evidence of human activity going back at least 17,000 years ago, so before even the Jomon era, though the earliest evidence of habitation on the island is more like 6,000 years ago—about 500 to a thousand years after the famous Akahoya eruption, which devastated Kyushu and which we discussed back in episode 4.  Yakushima would also have been devastated, situated as it is just south of the Kikai caldera, and it was likely devastated by pyroclastic flows along with its neighboring islands.  Since then, it was populated by people that were now, in the 7th century, making contact with the people of Yamato—perhaps indicating that Yamato had even further expanded its reach. Over the course of the year 616 the Chronicles note several groups of immigrants from Yaku Shima.  First was a group of three men who came as immigrants in the third month.  Then seven more arrived two months later.  Two months after that, you had a group of twenty show up.  They were all settled together in a place called Eno'i.  It isn't exactly clear where this is.  Some sources suggest that they came to the Dazaifu in Kyushuu, and so were settled somewhere on Kyuushuu, possibly in the south of the island.  There is also a connection with the name “Enoi” coming out of Mino, in the form of the Enoi family, which the Sendai Kuji Hongi says was an offshoot of the Mononobe family. Wherever they ended up, they stayed there for the rest of their lives. We aren't done with Yaku Island, though.  Four years later, we are told that two men of Yaku were “cast away”—which I suspect means banished—to the island of Izu, Izu-no-shima.  Once again, we are left wondering exactly where that is, though it may refer not to an island, at least not entirely, but to Izu no Kuni, the land of Izu, on the Izu Peninsula.  Aston suggests that perhaps at this time “shima” didn't mean just an island, but any place that was mostly surrounded by water, including a peninsula like Izu.  It could also mean one of the nearby islands, such as Ooshima, the largest of the islands to the east of the Izu peninsula. Nine years later, in the reign of the succeeding sovereign, Yamato sent an envoy, Tanabe no Muraji, to the island of Yaku.  I suspect that this was part of making the island an official part of the country. Records of the island fall off for a bit, but it does get mentioned, along with neighboring Tanegashima, in the reign of Temmu Tennou, in the latter part of the 7th century.  To be fair, the Nihon Shoki only continues until 696, but we continue to see them in the Shoku Nihongi, the continuation of the court historical records.  Sure, Yakushima was probably never going to be a huge story from a political perspective, but it does give us some insight into just how far Yamato's influence reached at this point. Going back to the record, we have another fruit related account.  This time it is about an enormous gourd coming out of Izumo—one as big as a, well… we aren't exactly sure.  The character they use is read “kan”, and today often refers to aluminum cans and the like, but that is a relatively recent meaning, if you'd believe it.  In the 7th and 8th century it was probably something more like “pou” and may have meant an earthenware pot for storing alcohol, like the Greek amphorae, or it may have been in reference to a kind of musical instrument.  Either way, we are talking a pretty good sized gourd.  Not sure if it would take a ribbon in some of today's largest pumpkin contests, but still, impressive for the time. Moving beyond the State Fair category of entries, we come to one of my favorite events.  It takes place, we are told, in 618, when Kawabe no Omi was sent to the land of Aki to build ships.  He went with his crews up into the mountains to fell timber when he met with something extraordinary, which was still being depicted in paintings centuries later, although most people probably haven't heard the story. Now the name Kawabe first shows up as the location of one of the Miyake, or royal granaries and administrative centers set up in the land of Ki, south of Yamato on the peninsula, in 535.  The first record of a person by the name, however, is less than auspicious:  It was the assistant general Kawabe no Nihi, who is panned by the Chroniclers for his actions during the reign of Amekunioshi.  As we discussed in Episode 82, Kawabe snatched defeat from the jaws of victory due to his lack of military expertise. This next mention of a Kawabe family member is coming a good many years later, but the family does seem to have recovered somewhat.  Kawabe no Omi no Nezu would be appointed a general several years later—and that could be the same Kawabe no Omi from this story, as there was only about seven or so years between events.  Furthermore, members of the family would find themselves in the middle of some of the most impactful events of the court, indicating their high status.  Multiple family members would be remembered and memorialized in the histories over the rest of the century, whether for better or for ill.  Which makes it a little interesting to me that the story of this Kawabe family ship builder does not give us a personal name of any kind. Now, later interpretations of this particular story would say that this Kawabe no Omi was out building ships on the orders of Prince Shotoku Taishi himself, though the Nihon Shoki would seem to indicate that he was out there, instead, at the behest of the sovereign herself, Kashikiya Hime.  Of course, given what the Nihon Shoki has to say about Shotoku Taishi's contributions to running the government, it could be either one.  Regardless, he had a job to do.  He searched through the forest and he found suitable trees for the timber he needed:  in all likelihood he was looking for large, straight trees, which would have a good grain and not so many knots to cause problems.  I suspect that older trees were likely preferable for the task.  Having found what he was looking for he marked it and they began to chop down the marked trees. Suddenly a man appeared—a stranger, or perhaps just a local coming to see what all the fuss was about.  He warned Kawabe no Omi and his men that the tree they had marked was a “thunder tree” and it shouldn't be cut.  To this Kawabe no Omi asked: “Shall even the thunder-god disobey the royal commands?”  However, he didn't just barrel on with the task.  Instead, he and his men started by offering mitegura, offerings of cloth.  This was likely done to appease any spirits before the crew got started, and I wonder if this was something exceptional, or perhaps something that people regularly did, especially when you were taking large, older trees.  It isn't clear, but an 8th century crowd no doubt understood the significance.  Once they had finished providing recompense to the kami, they went about their task. Suddenly, out of nowhere, it began to rain.  As the water poured down from the sky, thunder and lightning came crashing down.  Apparently the offering had *not* been accepted, and the kami was now quite angry.  While his men sought shelter, Kawabe no Omi drew out his iron sword and held it aloft, crying out to the angry kami:  “O Kami of Thunder, do not harm these men!  I am the one that you want!”  So saying, sword held aloft in the midst of this unexpected thunderstorm, he stood there, watching the roiling clouds, and waiting.  Ten times the lightning flashed and crashed around them, the thunder rolling each time.  One can only imagine the sight as Kawabe no Omi stood there, wind whipping his hair and clothes as he challenged the storm.  And yet, try as it might, the thunderous lightning did not strike Kawabe no Omi.  Finally, the lightning stopped, and Kawabe no Omi was still unharmed. As the men came out of hiding, they noticed a disturbance.  Above them, there was movement, and the men saw the strangest thing:  Up in the branches of the tree was a small fish.  Near as anyone could reckon, the god had turned visible, taking the form of a fish, and so Kawabe no Omi caught the fish and burnt it.  After that, they were able to safely harvest the rest of the timber and build the ships. While we may have some doubts as to the veracity of the story, or may even wonder if a particularly violent storm hadn't picked up fish from a nearby water source, an event that has been known to happen, it still holds some clues about how the people of the time thought and how they believed the world worked.  Even today, older trees and even rocks are thought to house spirits.  In some cases, shrines are built up, and people will worship the spirit of a particular tree or rock, so it isn't so far fetched to think that they were harvesting ancient trees that were believed by locals to contain some kind of spirit, which, if aroused, could bring serious harm to Kawabe no Omi and his men.  This is probably why they made their offering in the first place, hoping that would be enough to placate the spirit. At the same time, we see them drawing on the power of the sovereign, who isn't even present.  Kawabe no Omi's protection is in that he is following the sovereign's commands, and that alone is his shield.  Heck, he even goes so far as to raise up his sword.  I know we are still an eon from Ben Franklin and his kite, but I'm pretty sure that people had figured out certain things about lightning, beyond just “don't be out in it”, namely “don't wave around pointy metal things in the middle of a storm”. As for the symbolism of the kami turning into a fish, well, who knows just how kami think about these things?  They don't always do things that make sense.  For instance, there is one story where a man prayed for a boat, and the kami gave him one, but put it on top of a nearby mountain.  Maybe they just weren't that accurate, or maybe they didn't quite get how the visible world works, sometimes.  It is also possible that the kami turned itself into a helpless fish on purpose, as a sign that it was giving up, since it clearly had not been able to best Kawabe no Omi, and the burning of the fish may have also had some significance. Whatever the reason, the boats were built and not even the kami could defy the will of the sovereign. Now there were a few other things that happened the following year—more strange and bizarre happenstances.  The first was the on the fourth day of the fourth month, when there came a report of a creature shaped like a man in the Kamo river in Afumi.  Who knows what it was?  Perhaps it was some kind of kappa or other river spirit.  Or perhaps it was some stranger skinny-dipping and he just really put everyone off.  Or it was just a weird log viewed from the wrong angle.  Whatever the reason, the people were put off, and Aston notes that this was probably considered an inauspicious omen. Then, in the 7th month, a fisherman from the land of Settsu caught something in one of the manmade canals, or horie, in the area of modern Osaka.  The creature he caught was part fish and part man—perhaps that same creature that had been seen three months earlier further upriver, like some kind of ancient Yamato mermaid.  What exactly did it mean, though?  Certainly it seems a strange occurrence, but was it considered a good or bad omen?  Or was it just weird and strange? The following year, there was a shape in the sky.  The Chroniclers say it was red, shaped like a rooster tail, and over a rod—about ten feet or so—in length.  Perhaps this was a rogue cloud, being kissed by the red light of the rising or setting sun.  Or perhaps it was something else entirely.  These were the kinds of things that were likely seen as omens, though whether a good or bad omen, who could say?  A fishman in the rivers?  A red glowing light in the sky?  Often it wouldn't be until later that such things would be pieced together. In this case, the omens were likely pretty dire, as in that same year we are told that none other than Prince Umayado—Shotoku Taishi himself—grew ill, and passed away.  The whole of the realm mourned their collective loss.  The Crown Prince of the Upper Palace, heir to the throne of Yamato, was dead.  So yeah, I would say those were some pretty bad omens. Umayado's death would leave a real void.  Where there had once been certainty of succession, the land was back in the chaos of wondering what would happen when Kashikiya Hime finally passed away.  Would they be returned to a state of civil war for the throne?  Who could say?  And there was more.  The continent was also in a state of uncertainty, as only recently, the Sui dynasty had been overthrown, and now the new Tang was in its place.  In addition, a resurgent Silla on the Korean peninsula was getting ever more bold and sure of its own power.  There were many things to be concerned about. But let's not leave it on such a note.  We can cover all of that in future episodes—we really don't have time to go over all of it here.  But there is one other story I'd like to leave you with this episode. You see, a little earlier that year—the same year that Umayado passed away—the Yamato court had finished covering the tomb of Hinokuma with pebbles.  Although the kofun, today, are often overgrown, and seem as much like wooded hills as anything else, back in the day there would have been no mistaking their manmade origins.  The ground was cleared and tamped down into place.  The sides rose in distinct terraces, and the surface was covered in stones.  Around it would be the clay and wood haniwa.  Families were employed to keep the kofun, and likely refreshed them from time to time.  In the case of Hinokuma, recall that earlier in the reign Kitashi Hime, Kashikiya Hime's mother, had been re-interred with her husband.  This was likely further ceremonies for her, perhaps the culmination of years of work on the tomb.  We are also told that earth was piled up onto a hill, and each family erected a wooden pillar.  One official, Yamato no Aya no Sakanoue no Atahe, decided to go all out.  Maybe he didn't get the memo.  Or maybe he thought he would make a name for himself.  Either way, brought in the largest pillar—larger than any other of the family heads that were present. And, well, he did make a name for himself, though perhaps not the name he wanted.  That name was Ohohashira no Atahe, or the Atahe of the Giant Pillar.  Probably not exactly what he was going for, but there you have it.  By the way, if you recognize that name, Sakanoue, then you may have noticed that yes, this is likely an ancestor of the famous Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, a famous warrior of the late Nara and early Heian period, and the second person ever to carry the title of Sei-i Taishogun—but that is still over a century and a half away. For now, in the coming episodes, we'll finish up the reign of Kashikiya Hime, perhaps touch briefly on what was happening on the continent, and continue on as we make our way through the latter part of the seventh century. Until then, thank you for listening and for all of your support. If you like what we are doing, tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website, SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to Tweet at us at @SengokuPodcast, or reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for her work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

The Bexar County judge assesses his first year in office, and talks about a possible new Spurs arena, the recent rift between the DA and police chief, and the need for more mental-health resources. SUGGESTED READING: County Judge Peter Sakai open to possibility of Spurs move to center city. With big caveat Let's keep the momentum going for Bexar County in 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last time we spoke about the two pronged offensive against Wareo and the ongoing operation on Bougainville. Katagiri's men had lost the battle for sattelberg and were performing their long retreat to Madang, but the Australians were not going to let up. Wootten immediately ordered the capture of Wareo and soon the allies were right back on the Japanese heels. General Katagiri lacked manpower, supplies and even physical strength to fight the advancing Australians off. The Australian took Bonga, Horace, the Kalueng lakes, Nongora, the Christmas hills and Kuanko during the drive to Wareo. Katagiri could do little more than order his men to continue fleeing north. 455 Japanese were killed, while the Australians suffered 47 deaths and 332 wounded. On Bougainville, General Geiger expanded his perimeter and launched a bold and dangerous amphibious raid against Koiari. Luckily for the raiders, the Japanese were taken by surprise and the Americans were able to pull out before they were annihilated.  This episode is The Landing at Arawe Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  The allies were edging ever closer to Rabaul as the Japanese were facing a long string of defeats in New Guinea and the Solomons. General Douglas MacArthur had elected to carry out two amphibious landings on western New Britain, in an effort to gain dominance over the Dampier strait. Codenamed Operation Dexterity, MacArthur was going to perform amphibious landings at Arawe and Cape Gloucester. Initially Operation Lazaretto called for an amphibious landing on southern New Britain 5km away from Gasmata in mid November. This would have been done to neutralize the Japanese base as Gasmata and protect the eastern flank for future operations, however the Japanese anticipated the attack and rapidly built up their  forces there. The 7th fleet was not capable of hitting both Gasmata and Cape Gloucester simultaneously, so instead Admirals Carpender and Barbey formulated the plan to invade Arawa that was thought to not be as heavily defended. With Arawe in hand the allies could establish a PT boat base with the objective to “establishment light naval forces and to protect the southeastern flank of our forces in the impending seizure of the Gloucester Peninsula”. But Morton C. Mumma, who commanded the motor torpedo boats in the Southwest Pacific Area, would have none of Arawe. He already had all the bases he could use, and the Japanese barges used mostly the north coast of New Britain. Apparently Morton spent days “camping on 7th Fleet's doorstep to protest against setting up a PT base at Arawe”. Morton only left after he was assured by the Admirals that he need not have one if he did not want it.  By November 22nd, MacArthur ditched Operation Lazaretto and created Operation Director. Operation Director was to land at Arawe was slated for December 15th, 11 days prior to the landings at Cape Gloucester. Operation Director would also act as a diversion for operation backhander. The operation would be performed by two squadrons of the 112th cavalry regiment combat team. This regiment had spent its time as a National Guard patrolling the Mexican border before they were shipped off to New Caledonia in July of 1942. They were assigned to General Patch's Americal division and were deployed as a horse mounted security force on New Caledonia. General Patch initially thought horse mounted cavalry could be used in jungle warfare, but the torrential and muddy pacific weather, quickly changed his mind. The regiment was sent to Goodenough island for training and was tossed into Operation Director quite at the last minute. The regiment had not yet seen combat and was converted to an infantry units in late may of 1943.  The regiment consisted of two squadrons: the 1st Squadron of A, B and C Troops and 2nd Squadron of D, E and F Troops. For combat support there was the M2A1 howitzer-equipped 148th Field Artillery Battalion and the 59th Engineer Company. The other combat units of the Director Task Force were two batteries of the 470th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion, most of the 236th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion, A Company of the United States Marine Corps 1st Amphibious Tractor Battalion and a detachment from the 26th Quartermaster War Dog Platoon. The 2nd Battalion of the 158th Infantry Regiment was held in reserve to reinforce the Director Task Force if required. Not only was the 112th regiment's attachment to the operation rushed, its planning was as well. The allies lacked good aerial photographs and the troops would only have 10 days to practice amphibious warfare at Goodenough Island. After this the regiment would be embarking aboard the LSD Crater Hall, the LSI HMAS Westralia and the two APD's Humphrey's and Sands departing on December 13th. A and B of the 1st squadron would also have additional missions, A would land at Umtingalu and B would land on Pilelo island. They were going to hit the beaches in rubber boats from the APD's while the main force would be hitting their beaches in LVT 10 Buffaloes and 29 Alligators. For those of you wondering, the Buffalo LVT were more heavily armed with 37mm, turrets from Stuart tanks and Howitzer Motor Carriages. The Alligator LVT were designed to operate in swampy areas and less armed. The LVT's would be hitting the western shore at a place called Cape Merkus.  The original plan was devised by General Krueger's Alamo Force and called for the 7th marines to land east of the Tsurubu airdrome, the 2nd battalions, 1st marines west of it and the 503rd parachute battalion to land in a large patch of kunai grass southeast of it. The three units would work to converge on the airdrome. The plan was heavily criticized by General Kenney and Major General Rupertus. When they looked over the operational maps it seemed to them the planners had completely overlooked the mountains, swamps and jungle terrain. The marines were expected to drive though the jungle to link up with the paratroopers and that did not sit at all well with the air commanders. The Marines hated the plan because the converging of the 3 forces over the rough terrain, against a more than likely larger enemy would also see problems telling friend from foe. In early December General Kenney added his voice to their criticism on behalf of the air forces. Kenney argued the plan intended to use piecemeal paratroops instead of performing a mass drop, the piecemeal drops would require innumerable flights of troop carriers and these flights would require approaching enemy air reaction dangerously close. In conclusion he said "Commander, Allied Air Forces, does not desire to participate in the planned employment of paratroops for DEXTERITY." On December 14th, Colonel Edwin Pollock bluntly voiced his opposition of the plan to MacArthur who apparently walked out of the meeting quite pissed off.  It is difficult to know why an invasion of the southern area was believed to be necessary. It is most likely because the Navy wanted a PT boat base at Gasmata to better operate against IJN barge traffic. However Captain Morton Mumma's declaration of not needing a base as long as Cape Gloucester was secured made the decision to hit Arawe final. Kenney also found the Lindenhafen plantation at Gasmata unsuitable for an airfield. To twist MacArthur's arm somewhat, an intelligence report indicated Arawa was only defended by 500 men of the 115th infantry of the IJA 51st division. MacArthur was much more worried over Operation Backhander so he agreed. The use of paratroopers for operation Backhander was eliminated and instead they would concentrate strength for a potentially decisive stroke rather than a dispersal of forces. The 1st marines wold land immediately behind the 7th marines to hit the airdrome. Furthermore the 2nd battalion, 1st marines would make a secondary landing on the western shore of New Britain in order to block the Japanese from reinforcing the airdrome and to cut off the retreat of its garrison. After all was said and done the planning had finalized just 11 days prior to the landing date, it was quite a last minute ordeal. Given Backhander was a success, MacArthur also sought to hit Saidor on the northeastern coast of New Guinea, hopefully by the start of the new year. This would cut off General Adachi's 18th army from retreating. Thus on December 10th, MacArthur ordered General Krueger to begin preparations for Operation Michaelmas with the 32nd division earmarked for this task. Over on the other side, General Imamura deployed General Sakai's 17th division in western New Britain with their command center being at Gavuvu. Units already in the region consisted of the Matsuda Detachment and the 2nd battalion, 228th regiment, both of whom would now be under Sakai's command. The original mission of General Matsuda's 65th mixed brigade had been maintaining the supply line to New Guinea. Thus his unit was quite topheavy with transportation personnel alongside an assortment of orphan units that had become separated from their parent units on New Guinea. Matsuda's HQ was near Kalingi, his 4th shipping detachment were located between Tsurubu and Natamo and his 65th engineer regiment was at Tsurubu. Matsuda concentrated the majority of his strength along the south and west coasts at placed like Cape Bushing, Aisega, Nigol, Arawe and Cape Merkus.  At Tuluvu, the name the Japanese used for Cape Gloucester, the detachment had been relieved by Colonel Sumiya Koki's 53rd regiment in early november, successfully establishing defensive positions between Mount Talawe and Borgen Bay. Colonel Sumiya had prepared several small roadblocks to cover his eastward approaches while placing the bulk of his troops and weapons in and around two main strong points. The first point was the crescent shaped Borgen Bay around 1000 yards east of the airdrome. Over there he had an elaborate system of mutually supporting bunkers with mounting weapons up to 75mm guns, connected by a network of rifle trenches. The second point was in the broken foothills of Mount Talawe, dominating the flat grounds for several hundreds of yards to the south. Further south, Colonel Katayama Kenshiro's 141st regiment were defending Cape Bushing; Colonel Jiro Sato's the 51st reconnaissance regiment were defending Rooke Island; an understrength provisional company was defending Cape Merkus; and the 3rd battalion of the 141st were defending Nigol alongside a few orphan units of the 51st division. General Sakai dispatched Colonel Hirashima Shuhei's 54th regiment were sent to reinforce Gasmata and their 7th company was detached to garrison Talasea. In early  December Major Komori Shinjiro's  understrength 1st battalion, 81st regiment landed at Iboki. Sakai was concerned with the safety of the Cape Merkus Garrison, so he sent Komori's detachment to proceed to Arawe urgently. Komori's men would have to traverse an extremely difficult trail that saw them going through jungles, swamps, mountains and rivers over the entire width of the island. Back over with the allies, General Cunningham's convoy rendezvoused with Admiral Barbey's escorting force at Buna on December 14th. From there they would head for Arawe after dusk, also accompanied by Admiral Crutchley's supporting force. On that same day, Kenney's 5th air force performed bombing campaigns, dropping some 433 tons of bombs against Arawe. At 3:30am on the 15th Barbey's convoy reached the transport area and prepared their assault. To get the vulnerable rubber boats ashore, General Cunningham had to rely on the element of surprise rather than strength. So he chose to land under the cover of darkness with no forewarning. According to Barbey "Although it was considered that the moonlight might prevent surprise, the Landing Force Commander desired to attempt it without any preliminary bombardment." Unfortunately an American party of amphibious scouts had landed on that beach back on the 10th, causing the Japanese to suspect another landing would soon take place. There would be machine guns ready to hit the boys. At 5:05 Humphrey's launched 15 rubber boats for Pilelo island while Sands launched 15 others for Umtingalu. The landing at Pilelo went off without a hitch. Troop B landed and immediately attacked a Japanese radio station near the village of Paligmete. Troop A came under attack from a small group of Japanese hiding in some nearby caves. One american and 7 Japanese would die in the fighting. The landing at Umtingalu was another story entirely. The Japanese defenders unleashed heavy enfilading machine gun fire upon incoming rubber boats. 12 out of the 15 were punctured and sank quickly. Most of the men swam for their lives seaward and were rescued by small boats later on near House Fireman Beach. Around 12 men would die, 4 went missing and 17 were wounded. The submarine chaser SC-699 would manage to rescue 71 from the water while under fire. Between 6:10-6:25 allied destroyers bombarded the beach with 1800 5 inch shells and B-25 mitchells made a bombing pass around House Fireman Beach. The main landing force approached the area on amphibious tractors, facing slight opposition that they easily silenced using the rockets. The first wave consisted of 10 LVT-2 Buffalos that hit the beach in a chaotic fashion at 7:28am. The other waves of LVT-1 Alligators kept stalling and this caused the landing force to be strung out in columns for a couple of miles. Once ashore the cavalrymen stormed the Arawe peninsula's base. The two understrength Japanese companies there had little hope against them and withdrew northeast towards Didmop along the Pulie river.  At 8:00am more troops aboard General Heavy's  LCVP's and LCM's came over with the first echelon of supplies. This time however, Japanese aircraft had spotted the convoys coming to Arawe at around 4am. Admiral Kusaka dispatched a strike force of 8 Vals and 56 Zeros to try and break the landings. 16 P-38's intercepted the strike force, but many got through. Barbey's flagship Conyngham and the supplies ships managed to evade the bombs. By the end of the day, 1904 troops had been landed and a new base was being constructed. Over the next following days, naval convoys would bring over reinforcements to the Arawe area. The Japanese launched multiple attacks upon them resulting in the sinking of APc-21, and APc-12, Subchaser SC-743, minesweeper YMS-50 and 4 LVT's being damaged. Despite that minor damage, 6287 tons of supplies and 451 guns and vehicles were landed at Arawe within 3 weeks. A defensive perimeter was established behind the main line of resistance as General Cunninghumas men began sending patrols towards the Pulie and Itni Rivers to establish outposts. General Matsuda now realized he was facing a full blown invasion. He dispatched Major Tobuse Asayaki's 1st battalion, 141st regiment while awaiting further reinforcements from the Komori detachment. There were no trails connecting the Itni and Arawe regions, thus the men were forced to travel by landing craft from Cape Bushing over to Omoi point a few miles west of the Arawe landings. From there they would travel overland to join up with Major Komori. Yet that is it for the Arawe operation as we now need to travel over to Bougainville.  The last time we were speaking about Bougainville the raid against Koiari had been quite a blunder. Meanwhile the amtracs were busy cutting trails through the jungles and swamps to help the general advance. A small unit from the 21st marines occupied Hill 600 back on November 27th. Then on December 3rd an intense artillery duel began as the Japanese unleashed 150mm guns upon the forward slopes of Hill 600, forcing the Americans to pull back. On December 5th the general advance kicked off. Colonel Robert Williams paratroopers occupied a line stretching from the crest of Hill 1000 going across a series of ridges and ravines towards the junction of the East-West trail and the Torokina river. Now this line would begin to expand 3000 yards over a ridge named Hellzapoppin Ridge. The marines named it after the musical, because of its extremely difficult terrain. The 3rd marines captured Hill 500 with zero opposition. The American supplies lines had been extended as well, now there was a growing supply dump called Evansville established in the rear of Hill 600 to provide supply to the final defensive line. December the 6th saw a severe earthquake hindering any advance. Commander of the 9th marines, Frazer West recalled “Being raised in Nevada I'd been through a lot of earthquakes so they were nothing new to me. We had one really severe earthquake on Bougainville. The big trees were just swaying around and we had built this fortification on this ridge, pillboxes, and such out of coconut logs and the roofs fell in on the pillboxes and some of the trenches caved in. The men got down and hugged to ground. It was impossible to stand up while it was going on. They were scared to death when these huge trees were breaking down around them. This went on it seemed for several minutes. The ground really rumbled and shook. It was the worst earthquake I'd ever been in.” On December 7th Williams led a patrol east towards a 300 yard long spur being defended by the 23rd regiment in well dug positions. William twice attempted seizing the spur and was wounded alongside 7 of his men who had to retire back to the marine lines. On the 9th, three other patrols hit the spur again, but were likewise driven off. During the late afternoon of the 9th the Japanese launched a counterattack against the marine position on Hill 1000. The paratroopers with the support of some 105mm and 75mm howitzers managed to repel the attack which cost them 12 deaths and 26 wounded. The next day, General Geiger decided to relieve Williams with the 1st battalion, 21st marines and the 1st battalion, 9th marines. At first the Marines tried to neutralize the Japanese with artillery fire, but the reverse slopes on places like Hill 1000 made it difficult for the guns to hit their positions. On the 13th Geiger requested aerial bombardments and received 3 dive bombers and 3 torpedo bombers who hit the targets causing, but also on a marine position killing 2 men and wounded 5. The next day 17 torpedo bombers hit the ridge and the following day another 18 torpedo bombers landed some direct hits on the Japanese positions.  On the 18th, 11 torpedo bombers loaded with 100 lb bombs with delay fuses managed to pin the enemy down while 155mm howitzers cleared much of the dense vegetation covering the crest of their ridge. Immediately after the air strike, the Marines stormed the ridge from Hill 1000 in a double envelopment, finding little resistance by the dazed survivors. The artillery and aerial bombing had been so heavy, most of the Japanese company were forced to retreat, leaving 50 corpses over Hellzapoppin ridge. Hellzapoppin ridge cost the marines 12 dead and 23 wounded. Meanwhile on the 21st a patrol of the 21st marines encountered a few Japanese upon Hill 600A. One platoon ran into some heavy fire from the Japanese requiring Company I to perform a double envelopment, but they were likewise pinned down. On the 23rd, Company K, reinforced with a heavy machine gun platoon attempted a direct assault against Hill600A, but they were driven back. The marines poured more artillery fire upon Hill600A and tossed more attacks, but still they were driven off and with heavy casualties. Then on the morning of the 24th, scouts discovered the Japanese were inexplicably abandoning the position and had begun slipping away during the night. Hill600A was to be the last offensive by the Marines on Bougainville, the army boys were soon to take over. Geiger relinquished command to General Griswolds 14th corps on the 15 and now the Americal Division would be advancing up to relieve the 3rd marine division. The Army boys would be taking control of an inland perimeter extending 23,000 yards. Over 50,000 troops would be working to expand that perimeter. Yet that is all for Bougainville as we will now be covering some events in India and Burma. As a result of the August Quebec Conference codenamed Quadrant, the allies created the combined South East Asian Command. This new command would have Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten as Supreme allied commander and General Joseph Stilwell as deputy supreme commander. They would hold overall strategic command of all air, sea and land operations for all the national contingents in the theater. Our old onion eating maniac friend Wingate had also returned from the Quebec Conference with the mission of expanding the strength of the Chindits. However Wingate refused to use Indian Army formations in his force, because he maintained that their training in long-range penetration would take longer and their maintenance by air would be difficult due to the varied dietary requirements of different Gurkha and Indian castes and religions. He couldn't get his way and was forced to accept the 111th brigade and two Gurkha battalions in the 77th brigade. Again this seems to be another point of evidence Wingate really did not like the Gurkha units.  So Wingate now had the 77th Indian brigade, led by Brigadier Mike Calvert and the 111th Indian brigade led by Brigadier Joe Lentaigne. To increase the number of Chindits the 14th, 16th and 23rd British brigades were added, breaking up the experienced 70th british division much to the misery of General Slim. The 3rd west africa brigade was also snatched up from the 81st west africa division. Through the Quebec conference, Wingate also managed to obtain a “private” air force for the Chindits, designated 1st air commando group, consisting mostly of American aircraft. The new Chindit force became officially known as the 3rd Indian division, though it would be referred to as a special force or Chindit or Long Range Penetration group. The new recruits were tossed into the rigorous training of crossing rivers, demolitions and some bivouacking at Gwalior. Calvert and Fergusson had both been promoted to brigadier and took command of two brigades. Both men were responsible for a lot of the training program and the development of tactical planning while Wingate was promoted to Major-General.  Inspired by Wingates onion force, the allied leaders during the Quebec conference decided to create an American deep penetration unit that would also harass the Japanese in Burma. On September 18th of 1943 a new American long range penetration force was announced to be created and it would be an all-volunteer unit. It received 960 jungle trained officers and men from the Caribbean defense command, 970 from the Army Ground Forces and 674 “battle tested” jungle troops from the South Pacific Command, those boys being veterans of Guadalcanal and the Solomons. General MacArthur handed over 274 Army combat experience volunteers from the Southwest Pacific command, veterans of New Guinea and Bougainville. These 3000 men were now the 5307th Composite Unit formed under the code named Galahad Project. The unit arrived to Bombay on October 31st where they were equipped and began training under the direction of Wingate at Deolali. Colonels Francis Brink and Charles Hunter trained the men from November to January of 1944. Then the 5307th moved to Deogarh where they received additional training in scouting, patrolling, stream crossing, weaponry, navigation, demolition, camouflaged, guerilla style warfare and the novel technique of airdrop supplying.  In the meantime, Stillwell was in China, so the command of the operation fell to Brigadier General Haydon Boatner who was the commanding General of the Ledo Sector and the Chief of staff for the Chinese Army in India. Stilwell had been planning an offensive codenamed Albacore while the Ledo Road was being constructed. To exercise his command, Stilwell had his small staff of American officer advisers each grab a Chinese division. They kept in touch via radio teams who spoke both American and Mandarin. However these American officers did not have real authority of command, they were merely acting through the use of persuasion. Operation Albacore was an offensive aimed at protecting the Ledo Base and securing the Shingbwiyang area. General Sun Li-Jen's 38th division was given the task of capturing the line of Tarung Hka, then later to join with Lt General Liao Yaoxiangs 22nd division to hit the Jambu Bum ridge line. Afterwards they would proceed towards Myitkyina in December. Stilwell assumed the Japanese were not particularly strong north of Kamaing and would not be able to reinforce the Myitkyina-Paoshan area, but in fact the Japanese Burma Area Army had received a large amount of reinforcement in the area. Anxious to prevent any interference with their ongoing offensive, the Japanese Burma HQ had dispatched reinforcements all around the Burma permeer. In OCtober of 1943, the 56th division had eliminated a Chinese bridgehead over the Salween north of Teng-chung; in late September the 18th division set up positions in the Hukawng Valley; and some elements of the 56th division had taken up a position at Maingkwan. On October 24th, General Sun Li-Jen had the 112th regiment advance forward to shield the Ledo road builders, while the 2nd battalion advanced to Sharaw Ga and Ningbyen. Defending Sharaw Ga was the 5th company, 56th regiment with one platoon securing Ningbyen. The 1st battalion attacked Shingbwiyang before advancing upon Yupbang Ga. The 2nd battalion, 56th regiment stationed at Maingkwan upon receiving word of the allied offensive began moving towards Yupbang Ga. The 3rd battalion advanced from Hkalak Ha towards Ngajatzup in the northern edge of the Taro Plain. Due to supply difficulties, the 3rd battalion were making little progress. These Chinese forces were marching over portions of the trail that the defeated army and refugees had used in 1942 to flee Burma from the Japanese. The paths were a horrifying sight. Skeletons were found around every water hole. Groups of bones were found en masse. Dr. Gordon Seagrave, a Surgeon moving with troops, recalled seeing  “hundreds and hundreds of skeletons”. The Chinese would encounter unexpected well-led and well entrenched resistance at all of their objectives. Defending Sharaw Ga was the 5th company, 56th regiment with one platoon securing Ningbyen. Two miles north of Sharaw Ga the Chinese ran into an outpost which they quickly dislodged. However when they attacked the village which lay between two hills, the Japanese fired down upon them from said hill causing 116 casualties. From november 1-3rd the Japanese inflicted 50 deaths upon the Chinese attackers receiving no casualties upon themselves. The 1st battalion had a similar experience at Yupang Ga. There they ran into a well entrenched and well led force who created roadblocks between Sharaw Ga and Ningbyen isolating them. Major Chen's 3rd battalion while trying to clear the Taro Plain was so hampered by logistics, by November 1st he had only arrived toNgajatzup on the extreme north edge of the plain. When notified Stilwell commented “Sorry performance. Arrived about November 1. Sent one company forward. Pulled it back again. Thereafter did nothing. Maj. Ch'en cowered in dug-out. Terrific waste of ammunition. Told Sun to have him move or I would shoot or court-martial Maj. Ch'en. Sun sent [name illegible] to investigate. Ch'en killed by British grenade in his dug-out on December 27. (Report was during Japanese attack. There was none).”  The Japanese resistance ground the offensive to a halt as the Chinese forces were forced to dig in. At Yupbang Ga in particular the Japanese had cut off the Chinese from the river crossing and began encirclement maneuvers. The CHinese relying on air supply were powerless to cut their way out. In response to the Chinese offensive, Lieutenant-General Tanaka Shinichi shifted the main strength of his 18th division to the Shingbwiyang area hoping to assemble there by the 15th of December. As the Japanese presence grew in the areas so did the casualties upon the Chinese forces. The 112th regiment had one of its companies annihilated on the 2nd of november. Their regimental command post was overrun on the 3rd as their guards were digging in for the night. The regimental commander, Colonel Chen, and junior US liaison officer Major General Laughlin managed to escape, but chief liaison officer Lt Colonel Douglas Gilbert was captured by the enemy. A company of the 114th rushed to aid the situation, but were halted by the Japanese just before reaching Yupbang Ga. In late November the situation for the 112th began to improve when the 114th regiment reinforced them. However when they began attacking Yupbang Ga their artillery batteries were driven away by four Japanese machine gun positions. More attempts were made in december, but the Japanese were simply outperforming them. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The landings at Arawe was yet again another successful allied amphibious operation, but most assuredly it would soon be met with the typical Japanese counter attack. The Bougainville operation was now under new management, and the situation in Burma was starting to heat up again.  

For the full episode support us on patreon at http://patreon.com/theantifadaJ. Sakai's Settlers Chapter 9 - Neocolonial Pacification in the US discusses how the Settler Nation integrated Native American and Black leaders into its ranks. Topics include: Native American self-governance, the rise of Marcus Garvey's UNIA, international solidarity with Ethiopia after Italy's 1935 invasion, the STFU (Southern Tenant Farmers Union), A. Phillip Randolph, the March on Washington, Black Power, and Settlers-pilled Scorsese. For the full episode support us on patreon at http://patreon.com/theantifadaSettlers Ch. 9: https://readsettlers.org/ch9.htmlPaul Prescod on A. Phillip Randolph: https://jacobin.com/2020/05/a-philip-randolph-socialist-civil-rights-march-bscpMarcus Garvey and Ethiopia: https://republic.com.ng/august-september-2023/marcus-garvey-ethiopia-and-the-oau/Song: Hepcat - Marcus Garvey

Chef Sonoko Sakai's new children's book is inspired by her relationship with her grandmother and the journey to find a melon she lost in Japan. Despite rising U.S.-China geopolitical tension, California and China are cooperating in some areas on global warming. What can each side learn from the other? California and dozens of other states are suing Meta, alleging it intentionally built Facebook and Instagram with addictive features that harm young users. The series Little Bird is about the Canadian government systematically removing Indigenous children from their families so white people can adopt them.

We continue reading J. Sakai's Settlers - The Myth of the White Proletariat, chapters 7 and 8. We begin the episode with a discussion of the war in Israel and Palestine with Sakai's national-liberation framework in mind.For the full episode support the show at patreon.com/theantifadaLeftcom statements mentioned: https://en.internationalism.org/content/17406/neither-israel-nor-palestine-workers-have-no-fatherland http://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2023-10-11/the-latest-butchery-in-the-middle-east-is-part-of-the-march-to-generalised-warRead along: https://readsettlers.org/ch7.html https://readsettlers.org/ch8.htmlTampa Red - New Deal Blues

Welcome to "Give a Heck" with your host Dwight Heck! In this engaging episode, we delve into Lisa Sakai's fascinating journey. Originally immersed in the world of Hollywood, Lisa discovered her true calling lay elsewhere. She transitioned from the entertainment industry to teaching, where she learned the profound importance of connecting with students and positively shaping their lives. However, she faced challenges within the education system and eventually embarked on a new path. Now, as a financial consultant, Lisa helps clients fulfill their bucket list dreams and find genuine fulfillment in their lives. Join us for an inspiring exploration of her transformation and her dedication to making a meaningful impact! In this episode, you'll learn about… Lisa's Journey from Financial Unfamiliarity to Financial Advisor The Importance of Caring for Clients in Financial Planning Pushing Clients to Understand Their Finances and Provide Reassurance The Emotional Aspect of Money and Living Authentically  And so much more! About Lisa Sakai: Lisa Sakai is a dedicated financial advisor and the founder of One Vision Retirement. She is driven by her passion for helping female executives achieve their desired lifestyles while securing their future financial well-being. Her professional journey began in Hollywood, where she worked with a film producer but soon realized her desire to make a meaningful impact. After exploring careers in education and insurance, she found her true calling in providing financial advice and planning for female professionals and their growing families. Lisa's strength lies in simplifying complex financial concepts and tailoring solutions to align with clients' goals. Connect with Lisa Sakai on… Website: https://www.onevisionretire.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onevisionretirement LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisasakai/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG0ymYn1LZxIgcFmPiZfOLA Connect with Dwight Heck! Website: https://giveaheck.com (Free Book Offer) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/give.a.heck Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dwight.heck Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Giveaheck YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF0i LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwight-raymond-heck-65a90150/

Last time we spoke about the conclusion to the Lae-Salamaua campaign. Operation postern was unleashed with a bang. The Japanese were taken by complete surprise when the allies landed in the Lae Area. General Nakano frantically withdrew the forces from Salamaua over to Lae having been duped by the allied deception. Despite their fighting withdrawal, the Japanese not only lost Lae to the surprise attack, but ironically lost Salamaua at the same time. It was a race for the allied divisions to see who would seize both objectives. As the allies marched into Salamaua they realized it was so desolated, it probably would not be of use as a forward base, but Lae would prove extremely beneficial. Ultimately Nakano managed to get 8000 or more men out of the mayhem, now marching north for salvation, but the allies were not done yet. This episode is Huon Peninsula Offensive Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.    Before we venture back to the boys on Green Hell, there had been some developments in the Solomons. On September 18th, Admiral Wilkinson brought over the first units of General Barrowcloughs 3rd division, the 35th and 37th battalions of the 14th brigade. They were brought over to Les Gill's plantation located at Joroveto north of Barakoma and they landed without any conflicts. Unbeknownst to them however, Admiral Sakamaki had launched an airstrike of 12 vals and 48 zeros. Luckily the allies tossed an interception in the form of 17 F4U Corsairs, 6 Hellcats and 4 P-40's which ran into them just over Baga island as Admiral Wilkinsons escorts force of 7 destroyers were making their escape. The air battle spread towards the east where the landing area was, but no shipping was damaged as the allies claimed to have knocked out 15 enemy aircraft at the cost of 3 Corsairs. Once he got ashore, Barrowclough assumed command of the Northern Landing force and set up his HQ on the eastern coast of Vella Lavella. In response, Wilkinson spread his fighter cover more thinly and scattered his LSTs away from Barakoma's anti-aircraft guns. On September 25th a large convoy carrying the 30th battalion, 14th brigade and some marines and Seabee units arrived at Ruravai. They began establishing an advance Marine base for an upcoming operation against Bougainville. This prompted Sakamaki to launch another air strike, this time of 8 vals and 40 zeros. Brigadier General James Moore had roughly 20 fighters to cover the convoy, but some of the vals managed to slip past them. At 11:13, 12 Hellcats intercepted the enemy, leading to dogfights with the Zeros, but two minutes later the Vals had come out from hiding in front of the sun. The vals were targeting the IMAC landing site at Ruravai where the 77th seabees had been clearing a beach area. The marines had some 40mm guns already set up when the Vals struck. Two bombs hit LST-167 forcing it vessel to beach itself while the rest of the bombs scattered across the beach killing 32 men and wounding 58. Sakamaki followed this up with another air strike on October 1st consisting of 8 vals and a dozen zeros again against Ruravai. The 1st marine parachute battalion was landing at the time, as Sakamaki's bombers successfully evaded allied rader and fighter patrols to hit the LSTs. LST-334 took a hit and near miss causing damage but no casualties. LST-448 was hit twice leaving her bursting into flames, killing 52 men with many more wounded. LAST-448 was hit again leading to her sinking while under tow. It was some pretty devastating air strikes, but it was also to be the last as the Japanese were in the midst of evacuating their troops from New Georgia and the 26th air flotilla was withdrawing from Buin. To the northwest, Fijina commandos ha discovered the Horaniu defense force were now scattered in an area between Tambala Bay and Marquana Bay. Barrowclough decided to order Bridagider Leslie Potter's 14th brigade to take out the enemy there. Potter planned to take the 35th battalion and his HQ up the western coast to Matu Soroto Bay while the 37th battalion would land at Doveli cover on the northern coast, hoping to trap the Japanese between both forces. On September 21st, Captain Tsuruya Yoshio had just arrived from Buin to take command of the rather disorganized Vella Lavella forces and began concentrating at Marquana Bay establishing a defensive perimeter. Potter's forces successfully landed at the designated points by september 24th and prepared their advance for the next day. Meanwhile Admiral Samejima and Kusaka were planning the evacuation of Kolombangara. To help them General Imamura was tossing over Major General Yoshimura Masayoshi's 2nd shipping detachment alongside 30 barges. Plans were quickly formed back in early september for Yoshimura to carrying out the evacuation in two stages beginning on September 28th and October 20th via the Choiseul route. Admiral Ijuin proposed using the 8th fleet destroyers for both transport and cover. Kusaka approved the plans and granted an additional 6 destroyers for Ijuins task, taken from the combined fleet, while also arranging some air cover from Sakamaki over Choiseul. The operation designated Se-gō, was mostly complete. Yoshimure assumed command over the Barges designated the 17th army sea battle unit, while under command of Samejima. He would have ultimately at his disposal 70 barges. Yoshimura had armed the barges usually with heavy machine guns and trained the crews to expect attacks from American destroyers and PT boats. He also outfitted them with repair tools. One of the largest problems he faced was how to move 70 barges and 9 small naval vedettes to the forward bases while keeping them hidden from enemy aircraft. The NGAF would confirm this problem on September 20th, when 8 Corsairs were patrolling and came across some barges. They managed to destroy 5 out of the 8 they found. Yoshimura recalled “it was an inauspicious start to the operation”. But he carried on none the less. Leaving buin on september 23rd, they arrived at Sumbe Head by the 25th where the 8th fleet sent a detachment of the Kure 7th to establish a base of operations. Kusaka flew into Vila to meet with General Sasaki and Admiral ota, landing in the midst of exploding shells. To prepare for the withdrawal Sakai had established 3 boarding points along Kolombangara; Jack harbor, Tuki point and Hambare harbor. At the same time he tried to conceal his intentions by increasing patrols and firing off the Yokosuka 7th guns against the enemy. Alongside this he had demolition teams blowing up all the airfield installations, which was mingling with General Barker's artillery. Construction units were beginning to cut trails to the boarding points. Against them was Admiral Halsey who held intelligence indicated the Japanese were planning to either reinforce or evacuate Kolombangara. Halsey send Admiral Merrills task force 39 to move up the Slot while Admiral Wilkinsons destroyers would swing south up Vella Gulf with the objective of catching the enemy between them. Halsey called it a “mouse trap”. On september 25th however, both the USS Columbia and Clevland reported sighting torpedo wakes, indicating a possible submarine force prompting Halsey to pull back the cruisers before the mousetrap was sprung, leaving only Wilkinsons destroyers to pounce on the evacuating Japanese. But thats all for the solomon's for now as we are jumping back to Green Hell. Salamaua and Lae had fallen. General Adachi was now determined to hold the Finisterre range, the Ramu Valley and the Huon Peninsula. He ordered Nakai detachment consisting of the 78th regiment less one company and a battalion of the 26th field artillery regiment led by Major General Nakai Masutaro to take up a position at Kaiapit. Masutaro's boys were to try and help halt the enemy pursuing General Nakano's fleeing 51st division. To make matters worse, although the original orders were for the fleeing men to carry their weapons, the Japanese progressively began to abandon their equipment as they fled. Rifle ammunition was the first to go, followed by helmets, then rifles. Kitamoto Masamichi ordered his engineers to gather as many of the abandoned rifles as they could and use their files to erase the chrysanthemum insignia off them. For those of you who don't know, the chrysanthemum is the symbol of the emperor, so they were going to literally waste time and resources to mitigate what they thought was a disgrace. Men also dropped rice, personal belongings, clothes, whatever they had to in order to survive. The logical thing to do is survive, not take time to file off the symbol of your emperor off the rifles. Major Shintani's 1st battalion of the 80th regiment apparently carried all their weapons across the Saruwaged, including 4 heavy machine guns. Shintani had told his men “the soldier who abandons his arms will be shot to death”. Shintani actually died during the crossing of the Saruwaged, but his men carried on his orders. Some of you might know already, but I am a Dad Carlin fanboy and he said it quite right in his piece on the pacific war about the Japanese. They did everything to the extreme. You just don't see the same radical behavior from the other belligerents of WW2. I find we often mock the Japanese naivety about believing their spirit would overcome the material difference, but by hell come high water they tried. They marched north via the Markham valley while General Katagiri's 20th division was sent to help defend Finschhafen. The Japanese had to shuffle their strategic plans at this point. Thus far they had not regarded the losses of Guadalcanal and Buna-Gona as irretrievable, always believing a decisive victory could be obtained allowing for their recapture. Now after losing Lae-Salamaua, the central solomons and the Aluetians, a brutal realization had dawned on them. With a new thrust into the central pacific, they now saw their perimeter was overextended and they needed to withdraw it. This created what became known as the absolute zone of national defense also called the absolute defense line. Tokyo drew the new perimeter line from western New Guinea through the Carolines to the Marianas, leaving most of the southeast area on the outpost line. The main goal was to build strong fortifications along the perimeter while General Imamura and Admiral Kusaka held the enemy at bay as long as possible.  General Imamura kept his 38th division to defend Rabaul and dispatched the 65th independent mixed brigade to Tuluvu. The 65th were ordered to develop a shipping point there and to maintain its airfield. Back on September 5th, Imamura sent Major General Matsuda Iwao to assume command of all the forces at Tuluvu which at that time consisted of the 65th brigade and the 4th shipping detachment, thus together they would be designated the Matsuda detachment. They were going to defend the coasts of western New Britain. Lt general Sakai Yasuchi's 17th division were dispatched from Shanghai to Rabaul to reinforce New Britain while Lt General Kanda Masatane's 6th division were sent to Bougainville to defend it at all dost. The 2nd battalion, 238th regiment would defend gasmata and the 51st transport regiment were deployed at Lorengau in the Admiralties. Now back over with the allies, when Lae was captured with such ease, this caused General Douglas MacArthur's HQ to revise the Cartwheel schedule. Originally it was planned to hit Finschhafen, the primary Japanese base for barge traffic. This was supposed to occur around 6 weeks after the fall of Lae. But like I said, because of Lae's quick capture, combined with some intelligence indicating the Japanese were heavily reinforcing Finschhafen and the Ramu Valley, MacArthur decided to order and immediate operation to secure the villages of Kaiaput and Dumpu in the Markham and Ramu valleys and to construct airfields for Kenney. Allied intelligence indicated the number of Japanese defending the immediate area of Finschhafen was roughly 350 men, providing MacArthur and his staff some optimism. It would be later discovered General Adachi had 5000 available men there. On September 17th MacArthur ordered Admiral Brabey to begin amphibious attack plans for Finschhafen to commence as soon as possible. The Markham and Ramu valleys were like a giant corridor some 115 miles long running from southeast and northwest, separating the Huon Peninsula from the rest of New Guinea. From end to end of the river corridor were large mountains rising on the north and south. The valley itself was flat kunai grass land, very suitable for airfields.  General Vasey's 7th division were earmarked to advance along the Markham and Ramu valleys as far as Dumpu. Dumpu would provide General Kenney with airfields required to isolate the Huon Peninsula. From there Kenney could hit Japanese supply convoys moving between Madang, Wewak and Hansa Bay. Meanwhile General Wootten's 9th division were given the task of amphibiously assaulting Finschhafen before exploiting along the coast to Sio and Saidor. Yet before any major operations could be unleashed there was still work to be done at Lae. General Milford's 5th division was given the task of cleaning up Lae so it could become a major forward base of operations. On September 22nd Milford moved his HQ to Lae. The western boundary between the new Lae Fortress and 7th division would be a line running north and south through Nadzab. The southern boundary would go as far as Nassau bay. Milford had the 15th, 29th and 4th brigade at his disposal. Milfords men immediately set to work clearing the interior approaches to the town of Lae against any possible Japanese counterattack while simultaneously aiding in the pursuit of the fleeing Japanese. The successful evacuation by the Japanese of Salamaua and then Lae had shocked the Australian commanders despite the fact they had been informed as early as May of intense Japanese patrol activities along the interior trails. A young Australian officer had earlier reported that the Japanese were surveying interior trails for a possible retreat across the mountains. On September 8th they acquired a order of evacuation document leaving no doubt how the Japanese were going to withdraw north. Mildfords HQ deduced the line of retreat was going to be from the Melambi river, Boana, Melasapipi, Iloka and Ulap. However this would prove to be deception on the part of General Nakano who changed the direction of the march to a steep trail along the east side of the Atzera range towards Sio.  Going back to the Quadrant Conference held in Quebec city between August 17th and August 24th, the allies had decided to make some major changes to Operation cartwheel. The main focus was now shifting to the Central Pacific and the Joint chiefs of staff planned to employ the 1st and 2nd marine divisions. For the southwest and south pacific areas this meant the central thrust was going to take a bunch of warships, transport ships and cargo ships. MacArthur was livid at the idea two marine divisions would basically prevent him from his objective of Rabaul. Thus in Quebec, it was decided to neutralize Rabaul rather than capture it. MacArthur also brought up the question of invading the southern philippines, but received no answer. He feared that even if the idea was approved, it might be handed over to Admiral Nimitz. Thus to bypass Rabaul, MacArthur's forces would seize Kavieng and the Admiralties. MacArthur would also have to neutralize Wewak and liberate the valuable Vogelkop Peninsula along New Guinea's northern coast.  Back over in New Guinea, General Nakano's men were continuing their withdrawal with the Australians in hot pursuit. On September 17th, th 2/14th battalion crossed the Atzera Range to capture Boana. The Japanese 30th independent engineer regiment and 51st engineer regiment were constructing a small bridge across the busu river using jungle wood. General Nakano had rejoined his HQ with the second echelon of men and he had such a rough time marched he had to be carried by four soldiers. On September 18th the 2/24th battalion reached Musom and Gawam. The Japanese defending Markham point had been completely cut off as of september 14th, receiving no supplies from Lae nor any information about the fact Lae and Salamaua had fallen into enemy hands. On the night of september 16th, 100 men of the 2nd battalion 328th regiment evacuated from Markham point, retreating towards to coast trying to get to Salamaua or Finschhafen. On the 18th, Captain Proctors company of the 15ht battalion were at Labu when they saw a group of 30 armed Japanese trying to escape in folding boats across the Labu lagoon. His company fired upon them forcing the Japanese to quickly row away and flee into the jungle. At 5:10am the next day the Japanese returned to attack Proctors company, trying to break out of what had become an encirclement. Three consecutive attacks were made, with the third reaching the edge of Proctors defensive perimeter when the fighting fell into hand to hand combat. The Japanese were driven off after they had 13 deaths, including their commanding officer. The rest of the Japanese would disperse into the jungle or die to future mop up operations. The next day Boana was taken and now the 2/14th were being held up by a Japanese rearguard on the upper reaches of the Busu. On September 20th, Nakano's first echelon finally crossed the Busu river and by the 22nd the other 3 echelons did likewise. In pursuit, a platoon of the 2/24th began to hit the Japanese at Kwapsanek, but Wootten's forces ultimately failed to catch the Japanese rearguard. In the end the Australians prepared to launch a new offensive against the Ramu valley and Finschhafen, the pursuit units were gradually called back allowing Naknao's men to reach the north coast almost unmolested. General Blamey predicted the remnants of the enemy would need “to escape the hardship of the mountain tracks”. I believe he was quite right on that one. The men of Colonel Watanabe's 14th field artillery regiment continued their march going up the range carrying their single mountain gun towards Lumbaip and then Kemen. Kane Yoshihara noted the officers and men “clung on to the rocks with truly formidable spirit”. General Nakano recalled “I was deeply stirred by their sense of responsibility but could not overlook their suffering”. Nakano ordered the last of the regiments guns to be abandoned. He recalled “the gunners with tears in their eyes, bade a formal farewell as they did so”. Colonel Watanabe would survive the trek alongside 280 of his men. There was a saying amongst the Japanese armed forces that “Java is heaven, Burma is Hell, but you never come back alive from New Guinea”. An American soldier once referred to New Guinea as ‘a green hell on earth”. The conditions were so horrible a veteran of the 32nd division went on the record to say “If I owned New Guinea and I owned hell, I would live in hell and rent out New Guinea”. Vasey and Blamey decided the next objective would be Kaiapit as they believed Naknao was retreating through the Markham and Ramy valleys. They earmarked Captain Gordon King's 2/6th independent company to quickly capture the village before the Japanese could get there. On september 17th, King's company flew over from Port Moresby landed at Sangan on the western bank of the Leron River. Two platoons from Captain John Chalf's Papuan infantry battalion company also reached the western bank of the leron that day coming overland from Chivasing. They would act as a screen ahead of King's men. Kings men began their march for Kaiapit and against them would be Major General Nakai Masutaro who had departed from Bogadjim with the 78th regiment on september 7th. He dispatched the 3rd battalion and Morisada company towards Kaiapit while the bulk of his forces advanced towards Nadzab where they planned to hit its airfield. The Takano Platoon, a reconnaissance unit were the only ones able to reach Kaiapit by September 19th just as the Australians were approaching. King have strict orders to the men that no movement was to be on the track to the village itself as it was believed the enemy would be covering such an approach. Instead the men came through kunai patches, bringing their 2 inch mortars close in to hit the enemy. The mortars began to smash the enemy forward positions sending Japanese fleeing or dying at their posts. The Australians then began to pin down the defenders using grenades and rushed their positions. Japanese treetop snipers unleashed hell, but soon the Australians began firing upon the treelines and village huts where they were hiding. The storming of the village was intense and fast seeing 30 dead Japanese and the rest fleeing. King lost 3 men dead with 7 wounded for the assault. The Australians quickly went to work creating a defensive perimeter placing booby traps everywhere they could. Vasey's decision to swiftly hit the village had paid off big time. The following morning, 300 men led by Major Yonekura Tsuneo arrived to Kaiapit, under the belief it was still in Japanese hands. Just before dawn of September 20th, the Australian commando's saw the incoming Japanese column and immediately opened fire upon them. The Japanese erupted into pure chaos as men of all ranks bunched up and milled about in confusion. Some of the men could be heard screaming in Japanese “we are Japanese let us through!”. Others soon realized Kaiapit was in Australian hands. Thousand of rounds were fired back at the Australians, but their positions were well concealed. King watched as the confused enemy did exactly what he taught his men not to do, shooting at shadows, wasting ammunition and firing high “In all that enormous activity of firing, nobody got hit nobody got hurt at all”. The situation came as a shock to King as well, because the sheer volume of return fire indicated it was a considerably large force. Some of  King's men wanted to advance, but he advised caution. Platoon leader Watson waited for King's signal for when he could advance and King recalled “each second seeming like a minute as the Japanese gathered in the half light. Watson was standing up there, looking back to me waiting”. When King dropped his arm, Watson blew his whistle and his men charged. Lt Bob Scott of section 7 recalled “we killed over a hundred Japanese in the first 100 yards”. Scotts group had cut down Yonekura and his command group in the first wave of Australian fire. Lt Bob Balderstone of section 9 sent his men into the right flank as Lt Jack Elsworthy's section 9 took up the left flank. The Australians had seized the moment and inflicted hellish pain on the Japanese. Watson's platoon lost 8 men killed, 14 wounded. King tossed another platoon through the right flank to grab Mission Hill which dominated the battlefield. As the men advanced, they drove off Japanese in their path and would seize the deserted hill. Once it was captured the Australians had a bird's eye view that allowed them to better direct their forces. Seeing the hill secured, Watson judged the time was ripe to continue the advance so he ordered Balderstone and Elsworthy's sections forward. Balderstone was hiding behind a coconut palm when a bullet nicked his right arm prompting him to scream out “who did that!”. It was not a serious wound, but he was fired up and he yelled to his men to surge forward. Balderstone personally tackled a Japanese machinegunner afterwards. After clearing some machinegun positions below mission hill, the enemy was becoming surrounded. The casualties had become so severe the Japanese began to rout in disorder towards Antiragen and Narawapum. It was an incredible victory for King, they buried 214 Japanese and believed many more were dying or wounded. General Vasey arrived around midday and walked over the corpse strewn battlefield to Mission hill stating ‘My God, my God, my God,'. The scale of the carnage and size of the force against a single Australian company was incredible. Gordon King was resting a wounded leg on a shady spot atop the hill when Vasey approached him. King struggled to get to his feet and Vasey said ‘No, no, sit down,' But King stood up to talk nonetheless. Vasey told him to get the first available aircraft out before adding, ‘Gordon, I promise that you'll never be left out on a limb like this again.' Vasey then returned to his plane, which headed back down the Markham Valley. Some months later, Vasey told King, ‘We were lucky, we were very lucky.' King replied, ‘Well, if you're inferring that what we did was luck, I don't agree with you, Sir. Because I think we weren't lucky, we were just bloody good.' For this victory King had lost 14 men dead, 23 wounded, it was something out of a Rambo film. Brigadier Dougherty's 21st brigade were beginning to land at Kaiapit on september 21st. Kings victory allowed Vasey to bring a fresh bridge into position to keep the advance going against Markham and Ramu valleys. The Yonekura battalion had nearly been wiped out to a man, thus General Nakai ordered the 1st battalion to rescue the battered force. Most of the Morisada company were unscathed as they did not engage in the battle at Kaiapit, alongside them were some stragglers left behind and around 40 men who managed to escape the carnage. Aided by the rescue battalion they managed to withdrew back towards Marawasa by September 24th. A volunteer unit was formed under Captain Morisada named the Saito unit, which consisted of around 80 men from the 10th company 78th regiment. They would work as a special infiltration unit who would begin raiding operations. Back over at Lae, Generals, Blamey, Herring and Wootten began to plan their offensive against Finschhafen. Towards midnight on the 17th, Herring arrived to Lae by PT boat for a meeting with Wootten. Wootten had warned Blamey and Herring that he might be required to carry out an attack on Finschhafen at short notice, leading Wooten to order Brigadier Windeyer to look at Finschhafen on the map because it might be of interest to him soon. Before Herrings arrival, plans were already being formed. At 9am of the 18th, Windeyer and his staff attended a 9th division conference at the HQ on the Bunga river. There Herring outlined a plan for the capture of the Finschhafen-Langemak Bay-dreger Harbor area with a quick swoop which would gain control over the eastern coast of the Huon peninsula and thereby Vitiaz strait. Windeyers 20th brigade would be join General Heavy's 532nd engineer boat and shore regiment and Admiral Brbey's landing craft armada to perform an amphibious assault against Scarlet Beach. Scarlet beach was on the southern part of the Song River just due north of Finschhafen where it was believed the Japanese would not be expecting a landing. From there it was possible they would be able to cut off the Japanese supply lines. Wootten and Blamey tossed up an additional brigade, but the available crafts: 4 destroyer transports, 15 LCI's and 3 LSTs were only capable of lifting a single brigade. In the end the decision was made that after the landings, the 22nd battalion would advance round the south coast of the Huon Peninsula to try and deceive the Japanese as to where the real direction of the threat was coming from. Windeyer planned to hit the beachhead with two battalions, the 2/17ths on the right and the 2/13th on the left. Once the beachhead was secured, the 2/15th would advance south along the main road towards Finschhafen. Additionally an expedition would be launched from G Beach on the night of September 21sst to also land at Scarlet Beach the following morning. To support the landings a large air armada of both American and Australian planes would protect the convoy during the daylight. General Kenney would be tossing air strikes against Cape Gloucester with Liberators, while the RAAF hit Gasmata with Kittyhawks and Bostons and Mitchells against Finschhafen. All of the key airfields and supply points between Wewak and Finschhafen would get smashed. Barbeys destroyers likewise would bombardment Finschhafen as well. To meet the boys coming to the beaches was Major General Yamada Eizo commanding the 1st shipping detachment, a naval force based around the 85th naval garrison. Around 1200 men were stationed at Finschhafen, many of them however were barge operators and mechanics. But there were some combat units; Major Shigeru Tashiros 2 battalion, 238th regiment had companies 7 and 8 at Finschhafen with company 5 at Tami islands. Additionally there was the bulk of the 80th regiment coming over from Madang via the coastal road that would arrive just in time to meet the Australian offensive. In the end Yamada's combat strength would be roughly 4000 men strong. On September 10th, after the allies landings at Lae and Nadzab, General Katagiri marched the rest of his forces from Madang to Finschhafen in a grueling advance along the coast. The first elements of his 79th regiment assembled at Gali by September 21st. Because of all of this, Madang was left pretty much undefended. The 239th regiment was chosen to reinforce the base, departing Wewak on October 3rd. Over in Finschhafen, Yamada began deploying the bulk of his forces at Logaweng; with 4 companies holding the Mongi river's mouth and two mixed companies of about 50 engineers and 300 naval personnel holding the Bumi river. To the north, Yamada could only deploy company 9th company of the 80th regiment towards the Song River to secure Sattelberg. Looking at it all on paper it seemed the Australians were set to face little resistance. On the afternoon of September 21st, Barbey's force of 8 LCM's and 15 LCV's departed Lae for Scarlet Beach.  Windeyer's landing plan called for two companies of th 2/17th battalion were going to land on the right beach while two companies from the 2/13th would land on the left. While the rest of the brigade landed, the right companies would hit North Hill and the left companies would hit Arndt Point. Barbey's convoy arrived off Scarlett Beach at 4:45am and the barges began to lower. After an 11 minute bombardment by destroyers Perkins, Drayton, Smith, Lamson and Flusser the barges began to speed over to the shore. However due to the darkness of the night, the whole wave landed a bit further south than intended and as a result the 4 assaulting companies were landed not only on the wrong beaches but also got mixed with other groups. This caused a fit of confusion as a platoon of the 2/13th drew fire from some machine gun nests near the mouth of the Song River. They quickly engaged the enemy with grenades and small arms, gradually silencing the two enemy posts. When the 2/17th battalion began to become organized in the area the platoon moved further south to rejoin its company. This all resulted in a failure to secure Scarlet Beach, forcing the second wave to veer further left and beach near Siki Cove under heavy enemy fire. But the LCI's of the 2nd and 3rd waves responded to the heavy fire with their 20 mm guns sending the Japanese fleeing. After that Scarlet beach was secured. Funny enough, if it was not for the misstep landing further south, the operation would have seen more casualties amongst the Australians, as the Japanese machine guns proved to be sited in a deadly position to hit Scarlet Beach. As the remaining waves disembarked, Lt Gibb's platoon of the 2/17th advanced inland and were soon met by some machine gun nests. Within half an hour of combat, the platoon killed 7 Japanese and sent the rest fleeing. Other platoons of the 2/17th began to advance up the Song River fighting only limited skirmishes. The 2/13th meanwhile were sending two companies towards Siki Cove where they had to clear a few pillboxes taking some Japanese prisoners. Windeyers forces then launched an attack against Katika. Makes me think of the show Vikings haha (do a Floki thing). A company led by Lt Pike passed through Katika at 6:45am, heading for some high ground beyond. There Pike's men ran into some strong resistance. Another platoon led by Lt Birmingham ran into a Japanese position who tossed a ton of well directed grenades their way killing 3 men and wounding 7. Pike's platoon stormed some huts seeing the Japanese begin a encirclement maneuver against him. Luckily the encirclement was thwarted with the help of another platoon led by Lt Cribb. Companies of the 2/17th and 2/13th were led by Pike and Cribb respectively and both found themselves close against one another. Cribb informed Pike he would launch a bombardment upon the enemy holding some high grounds allowing Pikes men to make a hook maneuver to hit the enemy. Under the cover of 15 3 inch mortars they hit the Japanese, ultimately taking the village at the cost of many men.  While Scarlet Beaches defensive perimeter was being consolidated, the 2/13th advanced south towards Heldsbac and Tareko as Barbey's destroyers were attacked by an air strike. 20 bombers, 10 torpedo bombs and 40 fighters had come over from Rabaul to hit the landing beach. Three American fighter squadrons were waiting to intercept them, successfully shooting down 10 bombers and 29 fighters, while losing 3 lightnings. Likewise the destroyers anti aircraft fire managed to take down 9 torpedo bombers, without receiving any significant hits back. Scarlet Beach was now in allied hands. 5300 troops, 180 vehicles, 32 guns and 180 tons of supplies had been landed successfully. The cost amounted to 20 dead australians, 65 wounded and 9 men missing. For the Americans 8 engineers were killed with 42 wounded. Yet again the rapid pace of the allies had caught the Japanese off guard upsetting their plans to reinforce Finschhafen. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The landing at Scarlet beach was a large success. The Japanese had planned to reinforce Finschhafen with 5000 troops, but now they had been caught completely off guard and would only have a fraction of the troops they wanted to support the area. In New Guinea, when it rains it pours.   

This week on This Amerikkkan Life: Chapters 2-3, Bacon's Rebellion, why slaves sided with the British in the US Revolution, the true reason some founding fathers and Northern states were against slavery, why the Confederate class analysis was right (from the Settler perspective), and why Sakai spells Amerika and Afrika with a KThe full episode is on Patreon.com/TheAntifadaChapter 1: https://www.patreon.com/posts/reading-settlers-86265803In two weeks: Chapter 4 and 5

First episode of Andy and Sean reading the classic and mysterious reinterpretation of American history and class structure: J. Sakai's Settlers! For the full episode support the show at http://patreon.com/theantifadaWe read the intro and Chapter 1 about the settling of the Amerika pre-1776 Read along! Next reading Chapters 2 and 3.. maybe in two weeks. We also discuss this interview: https://kersplebedeb.com/posts/raceburn/