_The 155mm guns of the Marine 3d Defense Battalion provided firepower
in support of Marine riflemen holding the Torokina perimeter._]
[Illustration: _Just getting to your assigned position meant slow,
tiring slogging through endless mud._
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 68247
]
To strike the Numa-Numa position, the 3d Marines sent in its 3d
Battalion (Lieutenant Colonel Ralph M. King), to lead the attack. It
hit the Japanese flanks, routed them, and set up its own road block on
19 November.
The 2d Battalion of the 3d Marines immediately went after the Japanese
block on the East-West Trail between the two forks of the Piva River.
After seizing that position, the next objective was a 400-foot ridge
that commanded the whole area--and, in fact, provided a view all the
way to Empress Augusta Bay. (As the first high ground the Marines
had found, it would clearly produce a valuable observation post for
directing the artillery fire of the 12th Marines.)
[Illustration: PIVA ACTION