Seventeenth Army
The commander of the Seventeenth Army, Lt. Gen. Haruyoshi Hyakutake, was ordered to attack New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, and Port Moresby in order "to cut off communications between America and Australia." Aoba Detachment was to land at Port Moresby, New Guinea, as soon as the Midway - Aleutians victory was won.