Evening star., 1944-11-20
Americans Halt
Vicious Slabs
By Leyte Japs
Enemy Casualties
Exceed $4,000;
Asia Isles Invaded
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
GEN. MacARTHUR'S HEAD
QUARTERS, Philippines, Nov. 20.
Storm drenched American
troops threw back vicious Japa-
nese counterattacks in the slow
and bitter Leyte campaign of the
Central Philippines as these
Irapid-fire developments were an
nounced on Pacific fronts today:
l. More than $4,000 Japanese
have been killed or wounded on
.Leyte since the october 20 invasion
"a ratio of nearly eight to one
against American casualties of 5.691
2 American troops invaded an
other small island group, the Asia
Islands of New Guinea, and COM
pleted the occupation of the three
Mapia Islands l80 miles to the east.
g. Heavy American bombers scored
direct hits on a battleship and a
heavy cruiser at Borneo, leaving
both exploding and aflame.
4. American warships. striking
within $50 miles of Tokyo, have
again bombarded Two Island.
5. A concerted three-day clean
up of Saipan netted 248 japanese
killed and Al captured.
Casualties Listed.
Gen. Macarthur gave breakdown
nf noc ctloJtioc in tho fret
month Of the Central Philippines
campaign showing l,133 killed, 126
missing and 4,432 wounded.
His figure of more than $4,000
Japanese killed or wounded did not
include 5000 believed aboard four
transports and six destroyers sunk
off Ormoc Bay on November 10 as
American carrier planes broke up a
large scale enemy reinforcement at
tempt.
Nor did they include japanese ma
val personnel lost during the crush
ing defeat of the Imperial feet in
Philippine waters october Is.
Gen. Macarthur credited the de-
struction wrought by his long range
artillery and the strategic envelop-
ing moves by his infantrymen with
knocking out the enemy in such an
overwhelming ratio.
Gen Tokoyuki Yamashita threw
tanks and artillery into his latest
effort to break the American block
thrown across the Ormoc road south
of Limon by the American 32d and
oath Divisions, but was repulsed
with heavy losses.
Other enemy counterattackS were
thrown back west of the Ormoc road
and on the islands eastern edge
near central Leyte Valley.
9 Barges Sunk.
Nine bargeS, two coastal vessels
and two torpedo boats were sunk by
American PIT boats and aircraft,
and six Japanese aircraft of a force
lightly raiding American ground po-
sitions were downed by ack-ack.
Torrential rains still slowed all
Leyte operations. Landings in the
Asia Islands, 100 miles north of So
rong. New Guinea, presumably will
knock out japanese lookout stations
used to spot American bombing
| flights for northWard targets. The
Mapia Islands evidently were taken
for this reason.
Headquarters disclosed that a
British warship was the flagship for
the first time in an amphibious
operation in the Southwest Pacific.
1t led the force making the first
Mapia invasion November Is, and
participated in the naval lombard
ment which preceded the landing,
Jap Battleship Attacked.
An attack by escorted heavy
bombers on a Japanese battleShip
and heavy cruiser in Brunei Bay on
the northwest coast of Borneo was
reported in an earlier Macarthur
communique.
They scored five direct hits on
the battleship and four on the
cruiser Both exploded and burst into
flames. The bombers then sprayed
112 tons of bombs on other ship
ping in the harbor.
Admiral Chester w. Nimitz an
nounced at Pearl Harbor that Amer
lean warships caused several explo-
(See PHILIPPINES, Page A-14.)