The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-10-19
Troops May Have
 Landed On Sultan
tcontlnued from Page D

the Island of Samar in the north, | by Leyte itself on the west and by Dinaget ia the south, Sultan, at the eastern entrance, lies 49S miles southeast of Manila, 2l miles et the southeastern tip Of Samar and 70 miles north of Mindanae
 American invasion troops under General Douglas MaeArthur, who has promised to lead liherating army back to the Philippines, hold the closest Ameriean base to the Leyte Qulf at Merotai, in the Hal- mahera group 60 miles south of Su- luan, while Admiral Chester w., NimitiZs' South Pacific forces oe- eupy the southern Palaus 6So miles southeast of Sultan,
 Seizure Of Islands
 Seizure of one or more islands in the Central Philippines would bring the entire Archipelago within range of American land.based bombers, enabling them to complete the naval air and submarine blockade already being enforced,
 Main objective of the assault re- ported by Tokyo appeared to ee either Samar or Leyte, both siEe- able islands, Behind Leyte lie Cehu and Negros, two of the most inI' poFtant islands in the whole Philip pines group,
 The ground campaign in the Philippines well may turn out to Dc the bloodiest Of all the bloody Pa- ellie battles, with invasion foree' opposing fanNtieal Japanese troops under the most difficult conditions of terrain and weather. The Jap- anese garrison In the Philippines is believed to total lb0,000
 The cost will be high to men WHO land on the beaches and live in the foXholes, but ultimate success Is as- sured so long as the United States maintains control of the sea and air,
 Halsey's 3rd fleet sent Its ur- paralleled sea-air offensive into il1 iith day today with Q new round of attacks on the Philippines, but there was no immediate indication Of whether this fleet was the onc which Tokyo said was covering the invasion.
 It was possible that the Srd flet! now was conducting diversionafy and supporting operations while an- other force perhaps Admiral Ray mond A. Spruances 5th fleet-car- ried out the reported invasion.
 Halsey's Fleet
 Halsey's fleet has been described as the largest single armada ever to roam the seas, but U. s. Secre- tary of Navy James V. Forrestal at Washington yesterday said either the 3rd or the 5th fleet was large enough to take on the whole Jap. anese Navy.
 The Srd fleet, along with China based BPS superfortresses, struck the biggest single blow paving the way for the invasion of the Philip pines when 1t knocked out Formosa in a three-day assault last We'd nesday, Thursday and Friday.
 The Japanese high command, in @ surprisingly frank communique af- ter its previous claims of a great victory at Formosa, acknowledged in a communique today that 3l2 Japanese planes and 30 to 40 small craft had been destroyed.
 Actually, Nimitz, reported in a communique yesterday, the 3rd fleet sank 32 ships and S4 small craft in the three-day assault, prob- ably sank 27 more ships, damaged Al ships and 34 small craft and sank or damaged" another 37 small craft-an overall total of 205 ves- sells wrecked.
 Jap COmmunique
 The Japanese communique went on to claim that more than half the enemy forces" attacking Formosa were destroyed. Eleven American aircraft carriers, two battleships, three cruisers and another cruiser or possibly a destroyer were sunk, eight carriers, two battleships, four cruisers and 14 other warships were damaged and l2 American planes were shot down, the communique boasted.
 Actually, the only American losses were q planes, 3l pilots and 2l air crewmen. Two medium ships"- presumably cruisers or destroyers- were hit by Japanese aerial torpe- does and retired from battle. but only "superficial damage has been reported Co other ships. No Amer lcan ship was sunk during the Formosa attack. Nimits reported earlier this week.
 NlInliz reported yesterday that the