American forces led by General Douglas MacArthur with the Filipino soldiers started the invasion of Mindoro on December 15, 1944, in San Jose (the Battle of Mindoro). After the New Year's Day of 1945, guerillas from San Teodoro and Calapan met in Naujan. The combined forces headed by Guerilla Ex-Governor Juan Navarro, together with Alfonso Umali Sr., Major Ruffi and Captain William Dodson, attacked the Japanese garrison (now Gov. Alfonso Umali Memorial High School) liberating Calapan. Captain Dodson with Lt. Maximo Feraren and his platoon, guerillas and some American soldiers, engaged the enemy in the "Battle of Longos" which drove the Japanese to the forest of Baco.