The Japanese had been defeated in the Battles of Kohima and Imphal and the offensive to destroy Japanese forces north of the Irrawaddy River was planned with a surprise crossing of the river. The 7th Indian Infantry Division and other formations were to seize a bridgehead on Irrawaddy at Pakokku by 15 February 1945 and move southeast with mechanised forces. The operations of the 7th Division were initiated by 114 Indian Infantry Brigade, which was led by the 4th Battalion, 5 Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force) (4/5 GR). The battalion left Merema on 4 December 1944, and reached the area on 3 February 1945; it closed on the given objective at Pakokku on 5 February 1945, after C Company, under Major Beytagh, cleared the road. The Japanese shelled the troops from their positions in Kahnla, a village on the southern bank of the Irrawaddy.