Horii had become dissatisfied with the rate of advance made with the 41st Regiment in the vanguard and replaced it with 144th Regiment from 5 September. Colonel Kusonose Masao employed his 2nd and 3rd Battalions in the attack. As the Japanese moved into position through the night of 6 September, Australians observed lights which Anderson describes as a "lantern parade". An airstrike was called for the following morning with eight B–26 Marauders and four P–40s as escorts, bombing and strafing. Anderson reports that it had a greater effect on the morale; positive and negative of the Australians and Japanese respectively, than it did in causing casualties.