On the Crocker Range front, the 14th Area Army of the Island Nation's Army and the 7th Area Army had already halted their attacks on the German defensive line. However, the previous continuous offensives had inflicted grievous losses on both area armies. The 35th Army and 41st Army under the 14th Area Army had been nearly wiped out, while the several armies under the 7th Area Army had likewise suffered heavy losses.
Yet the German defensive line remained solid. Although the Island Nation's Army's fierce assaults had inflicted some casualties on the German military, those losses remained within acceptable limits. Only the defensive fortifications had suffered severe damage.
When facing the German military's solid defensive line and powerful firepower, the 14th Area Army and the 7th Area Army of the Island Nation's Army had often chosen night raids. During the day, they launched only minor attacks, preventing the German military from resting and reorganizing. At night, under cover of darkness, they launched large-scale raids. Under these tactics of the Island Nation's Army, the German defensive line came under immense pressure, and casualties began to rise. But compared with the losses they inflicted on the Island Nation's Army, those casualties were scarcely worth mentioning.
Just as Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma and Lieutenant General Seiichi Tanaka were preparing to expand the scale of their offensive and tear open the German defensive line in one stroke, disastrous news arrived. The main force of the German 23rd Army Group had launched an attack and wiped out the 18th Area Army of the Island Nation's Army in one blow.
The destruction of the 18th Area Army immediately frightened both Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma and Lieutenant General Seiichi Tanaka. Although the 14th Area Army and the 7th Area Army were both stronger than the 18th Area