With the Allied counteroffensive in the Pacific both larger and earlier than expected, the Japanese found that their forces there were insufficient to contain its momentum. The lack of a real strategic reserve in the Home Islands forced the IJA to divert troops from the Asian mainland to bolster the Empire's crumbling frontiers. After the 20th, 41st, 52nd, 51st, 32nd, 35th, and 43rd divisions were withdrawn from China and Korea, Japan could count only on the Kwantung Army, the last major grouping not actively involved in combat operations, as a pool of ready manpower. Although minor redeployments from Manchuria had started as early as 1943, the first wholesale movement of divisions began in February 1944 with the transfer of the 14th and 29th Divisions to Guam and Palau, where they would later be annihilated in battle.