After the defeat of the Japanese in the Battle of Shaggy Ridge in late January 1944, the remnants of the Japanese 78th Infantry Regiment, assigned to Lieutenant General Shigeru Katagiri's 20th Division, part of Lieutenant General Hatazō Adachi's 18th Army, began a withdrawal from the Finisterre Range and was tasked with reorganising itself around Madang and carrying out delaying actions. Around the same time, Hidemitsu Nakano's 51st Division, began withdrawing west along the coast from the Finschaffen area, undertaking a difficult march to bypass Saidor following the landing there by US troops. These moves were part of a general withdrawal that would see the Japanese move beyond the Sepik River towards Aitape and Wewak, with one division ultimately being sent to Hollandia.