The 2/40th's line of retreat towards Champlong had been cut off by the dropping of about 500 Japanese paratroopers, who established a strong position near Usua. Sparrow Force HQ moved further eastward and Leggatt's men launched a sustained and devastating assault on the paratroopers. By the morning of 23 February, the Allies had killed all but 78 of the Japanese forces in front of them, but had been engaged from the rear by the main Japanese force once again. With his soldiers running low on ammunition, exhausted and carrying 132 men with serious wounds, and without communications to Sparrow Force HQ Leggatt eventually acceded to a Japanese invitation to surrender. The 2/40th had suffered 84 killed in action. More than twice that number would die as prisoners of war during the next two-and-a-half years.