 By 1944, Peleliu Island was occupied by about 11,000 Japanese of the 14th Infantry Division with Korean and Okinawan labourers.Colonel Kunio Nakagawa, commander of the division's 2nd Regiment, led the preparations for the island's defense.After their losses in the Solomons, Gilberts, Marshalls, and Marianas, the Imperial Army assembled a research team to develop new island-defense tactics.