 The scouts reported the south coast was "lousy with Japs".The Japanese defence of the Admiralties fell under the Eighth Area Army, based at Rabaul and commanded by General Hitoshi Imamura.In September 1943, as a result of the failure to stop Allied advances in New Guinea and the Solomons, the Imperial General Headquarters (IGHQ) had decided to constrict Japan's defensive perimeter in the south and central Pacific to a new line stretching from the Banda Sea to the Caroline Islands.