Toehold in the Admiralties - The Matrix Games version of Rising Sun

Momote Field, Los Negros Island, Admiralties. 400km NNE of Medang, Papua New Guinea: [Best played as Allied] By the beginning of 1944, allied plans for seizing the airfields on the Admiralty Islands as part of the overall effort to isolate the Japanese bastion on Rabaul had been underway for several months. Unable to confirm the exact disposition and strength of the enemy garrison on the islands, General MacArthur instructed the US 1st Cavalry Division (codenamed Task Force Brewer) to conduct a reconnaissance in force with a landing on Los Negros Island to secure the Momote Airfield. If successful the cavalrymen would repair the airstrip and wait for reinforcements to continue the campaign. The Japanese had not sat idly by while the allies hopped through the South Pacific and they could read a map. Realizing the importance of the Admiralties, the garrison under Colonel Ezaki had been reinforced by elements of the 229th/38 Infantry Regiment and the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade. On D-Day, February 29th, MacAuthur watched from aboard ship as the Brewer Recon Force entered Hyane Harbor. Within minutes the landing craft carrying the 2nd/5th Cavalry Squadron came under fire from Japanese guns positioned around the small bay and attached to the 1st/229 Battalion. It was the beginning of a long day for the American soldiers. Some would stay forever!