About long and consisting of sheer sides that rose to a sharp crest no more than wide, the spur was heavily vegetated and provided many advantages to defending force. Offering good concealment, this made accurate target identification difficult and reduced the effectiveness of the Marines' air support as well as the indirect fires offered by their artillery and naval gunfire support.. The Japanese defenders were well dug-in on the position, occupying the reverse slope, and having established a series of mutually-supporting positions that were protected with overhead cover and were supported by snipers who were tied-in to the tree tops. Conversely, despite having captured a Japanese map which detailed their positions, lack of familiarity with the terrain and the confined nature of the approaches to it, adversely affected the tactical thinking of the US company commanders, who were unable to concentrate their forces beyond platoon strength in the thick jungle and which consequently took away from them one of their main advantages, firepower..
