On October 17 and 18, 1944, the U.S. Rangers seized three islands at the entrance of Leyte Gulf.Admiral Kinkaid's 7th Fleet carried General Krueger's 200,000 strong 6th Army to Leyte after a heavy naval barrage.They landed four infantry divisions on the east coast on October 20.General Yamashita was the overall commander of Japanese troops in the Philippines and, although he wanted to fight the U.S. on Luzon, Imperial GHQ order him to fight at Leyte.He sent over 45,000 troops as well as supplies to Leyte.Four days after the landings, the Americans took two airfields Dulag and Tacloban on the east coast.As they push inward, resistance became more intense, but by November 2, the Marines controlled Leyte Valley from Carigara on the north coast to Abuyog on the east coast.The main problem for the Americans is that heavy rainfall turned the valley into a swamp, with washed away most of the roads and airfields.
By November 12, the Americans had captured Breakneck Ridge and took Kilay Ridge, which allowed to approach the Japanese base at Ormoc from the northern approaches.The Japanese landed more reinforcements at Ormoc on November 9.They tried to sneak attack the Americans from the rear, by going through the Central Mountains, but they were held up by dense forests.General Krueger then split the Japanese defenses by landing the 77th Infantry Division at Ipil, three miles south of Ormoc.By December 10, Ormoc fell and the Americans controlled the entire Ormoc Valley by December 22.Japanese resistance finally collapsed and the last Japanese port, Pinamopan, fell on Christmas Day.Only a few hundred Japanese escaped Leyte, which meant that they lost six divisions, or about 67,000 men.The Americans lost 3504 men and 11,991 men were wounded.The Leyte operation took much longer than anticipated delayed the Luzon landings by several months, much to the annoyance to Douglas MacArthur, who wanted the Philippines liberated quickly.