The 188th Infantry Task Force met stiff resistance from Fuji Force's 86th Airfield Battalion on March 26. To the north, the 1st Cavalry Division attacked the remaining Japanese defenses in the towns of Santo Tomas and Tanauan and succeeded in linking up with the advancing 187th and 188th task forces from the south. Lipa was captured by the 1st Cavalry Division on March 29. The final defeat of the Fuji Force came at Mt. Malepunyo at the hands of the 511th on May 2.