Battle of the Visayas The Battle of the Visayas was fought by U . S . forces and Filipino guerrillas against the Japanese from 18 March – 30 July 1945 , in a series of actions officially designated as Operations Victor I and II , and part of the campaign for the liberation of the Philippines during World War II . The battle was waged to complete the recapture of the central portions south of the archipelago and secure them from remaining Japanese forces . Background . Within two weeks of ordering the seizure of Palawan and the Zamboanga peninsula , General Douglas MacArthur directed the capture of the isolated Visayan islands of Panay , Negros , Cebu and Bohol in the central Philippines . With Filipino guerrillas controlling most of the countryside in these islands , some thirty thousand Japanese troops held the vital coastal towns including Cebu City on Cebu island and Iloilo City on Panay , among the largest cities in the Philippines . Aside from fulfilling his desire and promise to clear the Japanese from the islands , Gen . MacArthur wanted these two port cities as vital staging points for the expected large numbers of troops scheduled for the invasion of the Japanese mainland . Earlier , the United States Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff had told him to be prepared to stage twenty - two divisions for the mainland operation at bases across the Philippines by November 1945 , with another eleven to follow by February 1946 . Battle . Operation VICTOR I . Two areas of operations were suggested to divide the entire region , given the mountainous terrain of Negros , a dominant terrain feature that ran north to south of the island , and the planners chose to seize the western portion , including Northwestern Negros and Panay island , which was named VICTOR I . Lt . Gen . Robert L . Eichelberger , the Eighth Army commander , appointed the 40th Infantry Division , a California National Guard formation and veterans of the recent fighting in Luzon under Maj . Gen . Rapp Brush , with the 503rd Airborne Regimental Combat Team in reserve . Panay Island was the first objective . On 18 March 1945 , within two weeks of aerial bombardment on Japanese positions , the 40th Infantry Division , spearheaded by the 185th Infantry Regiment landed unopposed at Tigbauan district , several miles south of Iloilo City , where a 23 , 000 strong guerrilla force had secured most of Panay , under Col . Macario Peralta . Recalled Gen . Eichelberger : " Filipino guerrillas stood stiff , resplendent in starched khaki uniforms and ornaments and decked in battle gear " . The regiment proceeded to seize the airfield at Barrio Tiring , Cabatuan , Iloilo . This airfield was called the Tiring Landing Field by the Free Panay Civil Government of Governor Thomas Confesor and the Panay guerillas of Col . Peralta , the Cabatuan Airfield by the Japanese Forces , and the Tiring Airfield by the American Forces . By mistake , the Americans also called it the Santa Barbara Airfield even though it is not located in Santa Barbara . The Americans were apparently cognizant of the error that they usually write " ( Tiring ) " next to the name . It is worth noting that there is no Barrio Tiring in the neighboring town of Santa Barbara , only in Cabatuan . Other writers who do not know the geography of the place may have added to the error by simply assuming that an airfield mistakenly called Santa Barbara is located in a place called Santa Barbara , even though it is actually located in Cabatuan , Iloilo . The Iloilo International Airport is currently located on the same area in Cabatuan , Iloilo . The regiment also proceeded to seize the airfield at Mandurriao district . The Japanese were holed up in Iloilo City , and the 40th Division easily swept these Japanese outposts in two days . Mopping up operations by the guerrillas and 2nd Battalion of the 160th Infantry Regiment continued , and at war ' s end , some 1 , 500 Japanese troops surrendered . Guimaras and Inampulagan islands , between Panay and Negros , were seized on the same day Iloilo fell , 20 March and the next day , respectively with no opposition . Seizure of Negros . On 29 March , a reinforced platoon from Company F , 185th Infantry under 1st Lt . Aaron H . Hanson slipped ashore ahead of the main landings to be staged near Bacolod City , seized the 650 - foot steel truss Bago River bridge , which separated Pandan Point from the city itself , a vital link in supporting movement of heavy weapons and equipment . The Japanese guards were surprised , and the bridge was secured for several hours before reinforcements arrived . The sudden seizure of the Bago river bridge easily allowed the 185th Infantry Regiment to land at Pulupandan unopposed , then they advanced rapidly , seizing seven more bridges in turn , and finally captured Bacolod City the next day 30 March , mostly because the Japanese did not contest the beach landings ; with the use of artillery , they could have inflicted numerous casualties . The 40th Division pushed farther inland and toward Talisay , where Japanese forces tried to disrupt its advance with delaying actions , but the Americans simply overwhelmed these , and on 2 April , the coastal plain of Negros was in Allied hands . On 9 April , all three regiments of the 40th Division pushed east into the rugged , mountainous interior of the island . The Japanese resisted stubbornly , aided by booby - trapped terrain , defended their fortified positions by day , and conducted harassing attacks at night . Soon , the 40th Division started using small infiltrating units to creep past tank traps and minefields , then scrambled uphill across open fields of fire to attack Japanese positions . On 23 May , at Hacienda San Jose , San Carlos , Medal of Honor awardee , Staff Sgt . John C . Sjogren of Company I , 160th Infantry , led one such attack on a ridgetop entrenchment , and despite being wounded by gunfire , had accounted for some forty - three Japanese casualties , destroyed nine pillboxes , as he cleared the way for his comrades to follow . Sjorgen ' s unit , Company I , subsequently received a Presidential Unit Citation for its heroic action . By 4 June , the Japanese began a general withdrawal , retreating further into the unexplored mountains of Negros . Eight weeks later , the 40th Division overcame these final defenses and scattered the rest of the Japanese into the jungle . Operation VICTOR II . About a week into the Panay and northwestern Negros operations , Operation VICTOR II , the seizure of Cebu , Bohol , and southeastern Negros , was underway . The Americal Division under Maj . Gen . William Howard Arnold was tasked by Gen . Eichelberger for the operation . Some 14 , 500 Japanese troops held Cebu , but 2 , 000 Japanese soldiers under Maj . Gen . Takeo Manjome were contained in northern Cebu by about 8 , 500 guerrillas under Lt . Col . James M . Cushing . One - third of the Japanese forces in Cebu were combat - ready , with an extensive network of formidable defensive positions around the city . On 26 March 1945 , at 08 : 28 on Talisay Beach , four miles ( 6 . 5 km ) west of Cebu City , the 182nd Infantry and 132nd Infantry landed on the west and east , respectively , after an hour - long naval bombardment . Japanese resistance was light , but Japanese mines destroyed ten of the first fifteen landing tracked vehicles that moved ashore , effectively stopping the advance . Subsequent landing waves stacked up behind the first that created a large traffic jam , but the Japanese did not exploit this easy target . Some two hours later , the traffic lessened as troops cautiously picked their way through the dense minefield , and pontoons were later used to circumvent the mine barriers . The next day , 27 March , the Americal Division moved into already devastated Cebu City , as the Americans began a rapid advance . On 28 March , Lahug airfield , two miles northeast of Cebu was seized , as Arnold ' s troops began to confront two heavily defended Japanese positions in the outpost line , capturing one on the same day . The 182nd Infantry continued its attack the following day , then the Japanese detonated an ammunition dump on the second hill , with one 182nd company sustaining fifty killed or wounded in the explosion . In the succeeding days , savage resistance continued in the Japanese lines around the city , and as the Americal Division grimly assaulted individual positions with tank - infantry teams and with crucial fire support from offshore Seventh Fleet destroyers , the Japanese slowly gave ground . On 13 April , previously with a plan to envelop the Japanese right flank , Gen . Arnold secretly sent his returning regiment , the 164th Infantry , into night marches twenty - five miles ( 40 km ) to the west , well behind the Japanese lines , and with all three regiments , the 182nd and 132nd in front and the 164th from the rear attacking simultaneously , the Japanese were forced to withdraw . With the continued presence of air and artillery fire , Gen . Manjome realized that his entire force would surely be annihilated , and he ordered a retreat into the mountainous northern reaches of Cebu on 16 April . Pursuit operations began on 20 April , and together with Cushing ' s guerrillas , killed any Japanese who turned to fight . Some 8 , 500 Japanese troops remained holed up in northern Cebu until the end of the war . Capture of Bohol and Southeastern Negros . On 11 April 1945 , well before the fighting in Cebu subsided , the Americal Division went to action elsewhere , as Bohol island and southeastern Negros became the next targets , when a battalion of the 164th Infantry landed on Tagbilaran City on Bohol ' s western coast . With the assistance of local guerrilla forces , the battalion pushed inland , located the defenders and cleared the island of Japanese resistance by the end of the month , at a cost of seven men killed . On 26 April , remnants of the 164th went ashore at Sibulan , some five miles ( 8 km ) north of Dumaguete , rendezvoused with a Reconnaissance Troop of the 40th Division , and in two days , attacked the 1 , 300 strong Japanese force entrenched in forbidding hill positions surrounding Dumaguete . Major combat operations continued until 28 May 1945 , when the Japanese positions fell and Filipino guerrillas assumed responsibility for mopping up operations . The 164th Infantry suffered thirty five men killed and 180 wounded in southeastern Negros , while the Japanese lost 350 men and fifteen were captured . Aftermath . Overall , the Visayas operations of the U . S . Eighth Army suffered relatively light casualties in comparison to Japanese figures . The 40th Division in Panay and northeastern Negros suffered 390 killed and 1 , 025 wounded with the Japanese sustaining 4 , 080 killed with another 3 , 300 succumbed to disease and starvation . The Americal Division at Cebu and Bohol suffered 417 killed and 1 , 700 wounded , with Japan sustaining 5 , 750 killed and 500 wounded . Though some Japanese units had survived deep in the mountains , Gen . Eichelberger ' s units had clearly liberated the entire Visayas . Gen . MacArthur was particularly pleased with his subordinate ' s fast - moving and decisive operations against the slow , methodical fighting of the Sixth Army in Luzon . On 21 April 1945 , he termed Eichelberger ' s Visayas operations on the congratulatory cable were a " " model of what a light but aggressive campaign can accomplish in rapid exploitation . " "