The Mangroves — John L. Campbell

Based upon actual events. In February, 1945, under heavy British fire, the Japanese garrison on Ramree Island began a retreat to nearby Burma. Poorly equipped and on foot, one thousand men of the 121st Imperial Infantry Regiment marched into a massive mangrove swamp, and into the jaws of a nightmare. Days later, only twenty soldiers emerged alive. Lt. Shoji Kichida, a young man weary of battle and longing for home, is about to learn there are horrors worse than war, as he leads his men into what has become known as the greatest crocodile massacre in recorded history.