Evening star., 1944-12-21
LeYfe Island Conques
Drawing 10 an End,
Macarthur Declares
BY the Associated Press.

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GEN. MacARTHUR'S HEAD
QUARTERS, Philippines, Dec. 81.
American conquest Of Leyte
Island-the outcome will decide
the fate of the Greater East
war;" Japan's Premier Koiso said
December 12-neared accom-
plishment today.
"The battle is rapidly drawing to
an end" Gen. MacArth thur announced
two months and a day after he re-
turned to the Philippines with am
phibian forces, landing on Leyte's
east coast.
On Mindoro Island-Tokyo radio
said the Yanks sought to cover up
"reverses" on Leyte by vaulting to
the China Sea side of the Philip
pines seven days ago-"There was
no enemy ground activity and his
air action was light" today's COM
munique said. Nine raiding planes
were downed.
Japs Face Disaster.
Irrevocable disaster was depicted
for the Japs on mountainous north
west Leyte. That decisive battle
field Is crossed north and south py
a single corridor road from Pinamo-
poan to Ormoc and linked by sup
Elementary road to the west coast
at Palompon.
Two American divisions slaShing
south from Pinamopoan and third
pushing north from Ormoc have
fought to within mile of a juncture
along the corridor road, thus COM
pleting destruction of the Yamashita
line"
1t. Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita,
who boasted his success at Singa-
pore would be repeated on Leyte
against Gen. Macarthur, had formed
that line at heavy cost with rein
forcements landed from bomb
blasted conveys prior to the loss OF
Ormoc.
Gen. Yamashita's cohesion now
is completely broken and he is no
longer capable of an integrated
defense" today's communique said.
THE small remnants of his forces,
divided into isolated groups, are able
to resist temporarily only at inde-
pendent points.
Enemy Fleeing.
Scattered elements are fleeing
toward Palompon in an endeavor to
reach the northwest coast of Leyte. /"
Libongao, where the Palompon
road feeds into the corridor, was
seized by the United States 77th In
fantry Division, captors of Ormoc.
A mile to the north, dismounted lst
Cavalry Division troops captured
Kanango in 3-mile push south
from Lonoy. Some of the enemy's
Isolated groups are squeezed between
the LIST Cavalry and the 32d In
tantry Division farther north.
The demoralized Japs abandoned
sufficient artillery. small arms am
munition, machine guns, grenades,
land mines and food stores to have
served them for six months.
The japanese, who try to conceal
the extent of their losses by carrying
away their dead, abandoned l,54l
during the day." the communique
said.
Clearing the path for more B-29
raids on Japan-those attacks, Gen.
Macarthur has said, are diyerting
enemy airpower from the Philippines
Admiral Chester w. Nimitz an
nounced at Pearl Harbor q lO0-ton
bombing of Two Jima.
That enemy base in the Volcano
Islands, midway between Tokyo and
the B-29 hopon fields on Saipan
was pounded Monday, United States
time, by escorter Liberators. Light
nings shot down one enemy plane.
1t was the 18th straight day Two
Jima has been hit and the 18th
time this month. Also on Monday
Liberators raided Marcus Island. a
base from which the B-29s can be
spotted while flying to Tokyo.
An unconfirmed Tokyo broadcast
today claimed Japanese planes dam
aged an enemy warship, presum-
ably cruiser" in Philippine waters
west Of Leyte. The English-lan
guage broadcast was recorded by the
Federal Communications Commits
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