Nineteen years after leaving his home country (2)

　
(2) Comrades disappeared in muddy streams --- drawing back, being surrounded, horrible battles

Three month after we began to proceed, we finally occupied the last mountain through dozens of fierce battles. Moresby city was hazily seen far away beyond the vast plain we were looking down at the top of the mountain. Even the sound of airplane engines of the enemy taking off the airport was heard.

The corps, however, could not afford to take a step forward. Attrition of troop strength, no provisions, no supply of munitions forced us to charge by hand-in-hand combat. The enemy was waiting to exterminate us by assembling large infantry units.

Under such circumstances, retreat order was given to the corps at last, and we continued retreat, crossing mountains again and leaving many dead bodies of comrades. Eating less than a cup of rice a day, and digging potatoes and roots of trees to eat, we retreated while battling against the enemy advancing to us.

In the middle of October 1942, we went down the last mountain and were surrounded by the enemy. We were ordered to "find a way out through the enemy line" but the enemy occupying the other side of the river was stronger than expected, and moreover, the river had risen to require ships for crossing. We had no choice but to cross a tributary and started to retreat along the river. We went downward by clearing jungles and when no way to pass was found, we made rafts by cutting down large trees and went down by riding the stream, struggling with a herds of crocodiles. During the retreat, many comrades were pulled into rapids or became food of crocodiles. General and staff officers moving along with us were also pulled into the rapids and missed. The raft I rode clashed against another raft but I had a narrow escape from death by jumping onto another raft. Two of my comrades missed it and vanished in the rapid.

Landing on the other side, we made a fire and ate leaves of trees to endure coldness and starvation, and at last reached a beach five days later. Contact with our Command was made. We returned to Giruwa where we landed four months ago, and were ordered to fight for our life at the point about four kilometers away from the beach.

Our corps made a camp in the jungle and began fights. Offense and defense between the two parties became harder day after day. Big trees were broken by shells and bombs. The jungle was changed into wasteland. The island many thousand miles apart from home country had no supply with goods. Even the supply of rice was limited to one cup for two days and to one cup for three days and finally no grain was supplied. We dug up roots of trees and picked up grasses near the camp at intervals of severe fights to eat everything edible, and continued fights dragging completely declined bodies.

The rainy season had set at the front and water swept our camp. The battlefields became a wide expanse of sea. Comrades died one by one of the enemy's bullets, starving, and sickness. All of the members including engineers, soldiers in the field hospital, and commander staffs joined the fights to protect their own places. Our company of nearly two hundred persons became a company of only about thirty persons as comrades disappeared gradually. We fought while awaiting the last day which might be today or tomorrow and I did not expect to stand on my homeland alive.

Our corps fighting hard in this way was eventually surrounded by the enemy and nothing could be done. Wounded comrades were sent to the field hospital in name only. There were no medical supplies but beds of logs. The hospital was open-air in the jungle where hundreds of wounded soldiers were taken. Some were dead, some were suffering from the agonies of death, and the smell of dead bodies covered the camps far away. It appeared to be a hell on earth. Imaging my shape to become soon, I thought I could not die even if I really died.

(To be continued)