Fortress Engineer Company; unknown 21st Well Drilling Team; unknown Iwo Freight Depot Team; unknown Engineer unit, mixed 1st brigade; unknown The exact strength of Navy personnel is subject to question. With an estimate of approximately 21,000 troops it was reported that the IJA had 17,500 troops and the IJN had 5,500 troops and another report 13,586 IJA and 7,347 IJN troops. Knowledgeable Predictions During a dinner with Major Yoshitaka Horie (in charge of 109th Divisions Detached Headquarters on Chichi Jima) Kuribayashi asked Horie his opinion for defending Iwo Jima, to which Horie replied it was vulnerable as "a pile of eggs" and better to sink it to the bottom of the ocean with enough explosives. Kuribayashi—who had spent much time in Canada as deputy military attache and traveled often in America—was in agreement, however they knew that at 628 miles from Tokyo Iwo Jima would be "a dagger aimed straight at the heart of the homeland". Before leaving Japan to take up his post, Kuribayashi had informed his wife not to expect him home. See also List of Japanese Infantry Divisions Independent Mixed Brigades (Imperial Japanese Army) References Japanese World War II divisions Infantry divisions of Japan Military units and formations established in 1937 Military units and formations disestablished in 1939 Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1937 establishments in Japan 1939 disestablishments in Japan 1944 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan