 As a part of this strategy, it was determined that there was a need to capture Lae, Salamaua, Tulagi and Port Moresby to establish bases, and to prepare for further operations in the South Pacific in order to push a defensive perimeter further south.For the invasion of Salamaua and Lae, the Japanese 4th Fleet, under the command of Shigeyoshi Inoue, and Tomitarō Horii's South Seas Detachment established a landing force built around the 2nd Battalion, 144th Infantry Regiment, under the command of Major Horie Masao, and a battalion of the Kure Special Naval Landing Force.To support the operation, the Imperial Japanese Navy formed an escort group under the command of Rear Admiral Kajioka Sadamichi.