following this, the remaining japanese in the area withdrew into the prince alexander mountains to the south of wewak. to counter this, the 16th brigade was dispatched to follow them up, and push them towards the 17th brigade which advanced towards the east towards maprik. meanwhile, the 19th brigade came up against strongly defended positions around several high features known as mount kawakubo, mount tazaki and mount shiburangu. this fighting took place throughout june and july. these operations continued until 11 august, by which time the 16th brigade had reached numoikum, about from wewak, while the 17th brigade had captured kairivu, from wewak. at this stage, word was received that the japanese government had begun discussing terms for a possible surrender and so offensive operations were brought to a halt.