Following actions around Bobdubi, further fighting in the Salamaua area followed. As the Japanese divisional commander, Nakano, ordered the withdrawal of his forces from around Komiatum and Bobdubi to a final defensive line to the rear, the Australian advance towards the coast, in conjunction with the drive north along the coast by the US 162nd Infantry Regiment, pushed the Japanese further to the north-east. In mid-August, the 29th Brigade, which had landed at Tambu Bay, relieved the 17th, as the 5th Division headquarters took over from the 3rd Division. Advancing towards Salamaua in an effort to draw reinforcements away from Lae, where a seaborne landing was planned for mid-September in conjunction with an airborne landing at Nadzab to capture the town in a pincer movement, the Australian and US forces continued to clash with the Japanese for the next fortnight. The Japanese resisted heavily, but nevertheless, the Francisco River was crossed on 21 August, and in the first week of September, the 42nd Infantry Battalion captured "Charlie Hill". Bad weather held up the Allied advance, and finally, Nakano received orders from the 18th Army commander, Hatazō Adachi, to withdraw back from the Salamaua region to reinforce Lae, transferring between 5,000 and 6,000 troops by barge. The town of Salamaua and its airfield was eventually taken by the Allies on 11 September.