The new temporary division commander, Sandy Jarman, also saw the futility of a frontal assault up Death Valley, but knew that he hadn’t been appointed just to confirm Ralph Smith’s opinion. He decided to put the weight of the assault on one wing, pressed up close to the ridgeline bordering the valley. This would at least give a little shelter from the storm of automatic weapons fire. Or so he hoped.

The advance came to a halt under heavy Japanese fire, and the Americans brought up their heavy machine gun platoons to lay down intense covering fire. That allowed the infantry to resume their advance, only to be cut down by still more enemy machine guns. Ogawa’s regiment had taken heavy losses, but he’d been sent the remnants of the 118th Infantry Regiment, whose transport had been torpedoed on its way to Saipan. Ogawa used these men to refill his own ranks, and assure that his heavy weapons remained in action.