Battle of the Philippines
Territory of the Philippines
| date | December 8, 1941 to May 9, 1942 |
|---|---|
| place | Philippines |
| output | Japanese occupation of the Philippines |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
|
|
| Troop strength | |
14th Army
|
approx. 160,000 Filipinos approx. 19,000 Americans |
| losses | |
|
unknown |
approx. 100,000 |
| unknown number of civilians | |
1941
Thailand - Malay Peninsula - Pearl Harbor - Hong Kong - Philippines - Guam - Wake - Force Z - Borneo
1942
Burma - Rabaul - Singapore - Sumatra - Timor - Australia - Java - Salamaua - Lae - Indian Ocean - Port Moresby - Coral Sea - Midway - North America - Buna-Gona - Kokoda-Track
The Battle of the Philippines began on December 8, 1941 and ended on May 9, 1942 with the occupation of the Philippines by the Japanese. It was the result of the Japanese expansion movement in Southeast Asia as part of the Pacific War . In the Philippines , in particular, American military airfields were to be shut down, from which attacks on the main Japanese islands and on Japanese-occupied China could be carried out.
overview
Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , the Imperial Japanese Army began invading the Philippines on December 8, 1941. After initial bombing of the American airfields, they landed on Luzon in the north and on Mindanao in the south. The American-Filipino Army immediately began to withdraw as they were inferior to the Japanese invaders. Manila fell on January 2, 1942, the Bataan peninsula , the penultimate area held by the Allies, on April 9, 1942. The Allied soldiers were taken to prison camps in the hinterland by the Japanese. The Bataan death march took place . Units were only able to hold out on the island of Corregidor off Bataan until May 6, when the Japanese took them too.
Only after the successful sea and air battle in the Gulf of Leyte at the end of October 1944 and the subsequent American landing was it possible to liberate the Philippines from the Japanese occupation.
prehistory
The first Philippine Republic was proclaimed by General Emilio Aguinaldo on June 12, 1898 after independence from Spain . After the Spanish-American War , the US decided to claim the Philippines for itself. Thus began the Philippine-American War on February 4, 1899 . In 1901 the Americans installed an occupation government.
Armament of the Philippines
In 1935, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was founded under US domination . First President-elect Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina convinced General Douglas MacArthur to build an independent Philippine Defense Army. MacArthur became a military advisor in the Philippines, where he undertook the task with the assistance of Major James Basevi Ord and Major Dwight D. Eisenhower .
The troop core was formed by local Philippine scouts who had already served in the Philippine Department of the USA. As the Japanese threat increased, the United States decided in early 1941 to arm the Philippines. For this purpose, the United States Army Forces, Far East (USAFFE) was founded on July 26, 1941 . On the same day, President Roosevelt froze all Japanese funds in the US. The main objective now was to defend the Philippines. The USAFFE, under the command of MacArthur, began recruiting and training new units on September 1. The endeavor should be completed in April of the following year.
On July 31, 1941, the American-Philippine Army consisted of 22,532 US soldiers , including 1,434 US officers . Of the remaining 21,098, 11,937 were Philippine Scouts. So about half of the soldiers were Americans. In addition there were the Asian fleet stationed in Cavite and the coast guard boats in the Bay of Manila . By December 1941, the troop strength of the Filipinos had increased by around 100,000 men. In December 1941, only 91 P-40 Warhawk fighters and 34 B-17 bombers were available on modern combat aircraft . In addition there were 48 P-35 fighters, but they were inferior to the Japanese fighters.
In August 1941, it became clear that the army could not withstand a possible Japanese invasion because of the lack of weapons such as anti-aircraft guns , tanks and modern combat aircraft . The USA promised to provide adequate armament by early 1942. However , MacArthur declined an offer to transfer a unit of the National Guard .
The American troop strength was supplemented by 1,312 officers, 25 nurses and 18,047 additional soldiers by the end of November.
US-Philippine Army troop shortages
The biggest problems in the American-Philippine Army were the language differences of the Filippinos from the different parts of the island republic. These were not just different dialects of a language, but also generally different languages such as Tagalog , Bikolano , Hiligaynon , Waray-Waray or Cebuano . There were also language difficulties between soldiers and instructors, as the 6,000 American instructors did not speak any of the twenty-six Filipino languages and most Filipinos did not speak English at the time. Many soldiers could neither write nor read. Then there was the inadequate training, since it was impossible to train such a large number of new recruits in such a short time. At the beginning of the Japanese invasion, for example, the majority of the soldiers went into battle without ever having fired a rifle.
Except for the Philippine Scouts, the soldiers were insufficiently trained. The existing equipment also left a lot to be desired. Only outdated weapons and poor clothing were available. Some of the soldiers were armed with Lee Enfield rifles from the First World War. The divisions were also equipped with only 20% of the designated artillery . In addition, the supply situation for the troops was not the best, as an appropriate infrastructure had to be built first.
The US Asia fleet
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The task of the United States Asiatic Fleet (Task Force 5) was to protect and defend the waters and in particular the ports of the Philippines. For this purpose, their ships were distributed over the entire island archipelago. The northernmost units were in northern Luzon and the southernmost in Borneo. Thus the fleet was spread over a length of 1,500 km. The flagship, the heavy cruiser USS Houston , was just off Panay Island when the war began . The Asian Fleet also included the two light cruisers USS Marblehead and USS Boise . The main component of the Asian fleet were 13 destroyers , two of which were in dock for repair purposes . There were also 27 submarines , five gunboats , six torpedo boats and five minesweepers and other smaller units. The schooner USS Lanikai was one of the smaller ships . The seaplane carrier USS Langley was moored in the port of Manila in December . Only the USS Houston and the 27 submarines were more modern units, while the rest were older units.
Since the fleet commander Rear Admiral William A. Glassford made the decision to run with the entire fleet to Borneo, to gather and refuel there, all ships left their positions in the late afternoon of December 8th in the dark. December not a single operational ship of the Asian fleet was in Philippine waters.
The only remaining ships were the coast guard ships and the ships that were in port for repairs. Then there were the submarines and a not inconsiderable number of cargo ships. 40 large freighters were just off Manila.
The Japanese plan of attack
Manila, the capital of the Philippines, is only 2,900 km from Tokyo. Formosa and Hong Kong are less than 1,100 km away. American bases were thus within direct reach of the Japanese sphere of influence, which, according to the motto Asia , was to be cleared of any western infiltration from the Asians . This had to be done as quickly as possible before the US could launch the attack on Formosa, China or even Japan itself. Therefore, the invasion of the Philippines shortly after the start of the war with the attack on Pearl Harbor was an inevitable consequence. To break communication with the US, Wake and Guam should be taken. At the same time, attacks were to take place on the Allied forces in Southeast Asia, which consisted of Dutch , British and Australians .
For this purpose, the Japanese Southern Army was set up on November 6, 1941 , which consisted of three regional armies and some armies with appropriate air support. General Hisaichi Terauchi was in command . For the invasion of the Philippines, the 14th Army under Lieutenant General Homma Masaharu was designated, which consisted of the 16th and 48th Divisions and the 65th Independent Mixed Brigade .
The plan of attack, called Operation M , provided for air strikes to be launched on American air bases on the first day of the war in order to obtain complete control of the air if possible. At the same time, landings on the Batan Islands , Aparri , Vigan and Legaspi on Luzon and in Davao on Mindanao were to be made by combined land and sea forces . The primary goal should be to capture military airfields.
The main landing of the 14th Army would then take place in the Gulf of Lingayen and in the Bay of Lamon . The goal was the capture of Manila and the subsequent occupation of all of Luzon. Masaharu Homma should do this in just under 50 days. Half of the 14th Army was then earmarked for further operations in the south, while the remaining half was to conquer the rest of the Philippines as far as Mindanao.
The Americans' defense strategy
For a number of years there had been plans for the defense of the Philippine Islands, the last revision of which was Plan Orange-3 in April 1941 . However, this plan was based only on the participation of the Japanese and Americans in a war and was actually out of date. From a tactical point of view, however, he was well oriented towards local conditions. The plan continued to assume a Japanese attack without prior declaration of war . The advance warning time was assumed to be less than 48 hours, so that support from the USA could not be expected. Furthermore, with the capture of Manila in the troop strength of about 100,000 soldiers, who would be supported by the 30,000 Japanese living in the Philippines. The landing could take place in several places and would be supported by appropriate bombardments.
Subsequently, the plan was to hold Manila Bay with the Bataan Peninsula as the key defense point. The sovereignty of the air also had to be maintained as much as possible. The besieged troops would then hold out until the US Navy had defeated the Japanese Navy at sea and could bring in replacements. What should be done in a case of Bataan, however, was not in the Orange-3 plan.
General MacArthur went significantly further with his views. He was an optimist and, given the growing shipments of aircraft and other supporting materials, assumed he could develop the Philippines into a self-defending fortress . Defense against a Japanese attack should then not be a problem. On the contrary, he believed that American planes could control the entire China Sea .
In October, MacArthur received the new Rainbow 5 Defense Plan from Washington . This assumed an allied war situation against the Japanese and calculated the loss of Wake, Guam and the Philippines. MacArthur resisted this plan in a telegram, as it provided neither an Asian high command nor the activation of the Philippine armed forces. Another revision of the plan was made in November and MacArthur was able to begin building his plans to build the armed forces to defend the island realm.
The islands were divided into three zones and the force distributed accordingly. Since an attack on Luzon was to be assumed, most of the troops were stationed there. The reserve was ready at Manila.
The troops in northern Luzon were commanded by General Jonathan Wainwright and had the task of preventing a Japanese landing. The main premise was holding the beaches to the last man.
The South Luzon forces came under the command of Brigadier General George M. Parker . His duties were the same as General Wainwright's.
General William F. Sharp was given command to defend the Visayan - Mindanao area.
The reserve units at Manila were under the direct command of General MacArthur.
At the end of November 1941, announcements came from the USA that the Japanese troop movements allowed the conclusion that they could strike in all directions. War warnings have even been issued for Hawaii and the Philippines. Invasions were also expected in Thailand and Malaysia .
Outbreak of war
With the first strike against Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941, 6:00 a.m. ( Honolulu time), the Japanese opened the Pacific War. So they switched off the US naval units of the Pacific Fleet first. Nobody anticipated the possibility that Japan would immediately attack large parts of Southeast Asia. Forty minutes after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Kota Bharu was attacked in British Malaysia , and three hours later the Japanese invaded Thailand. Other simultaneous destinations were Singapore , Guam , Hong Kong and Wake in quick succession .
With these first strikes, the US defense plans became obsolete. In an emergency, the Rainbow Plan provided for aggressive intervention by the American Pacific Fleet by taking the Caroline Islands and the Marshall Islands . For this purpose, an extended basis should be built on Truk . After that, the Philippines would have been the next target to support the fighting units in defense and to push back the Japanese. But now the Philippine islands were isolated.
The first attacks
In the Philippines, it was 2:30 a.m. (Manila time) on December 8th when the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor was released. With the opening words “Air raid on Pearl Harbor! This is not an exercise! ” Announced the US Navy what it considered impossible. About three hours later, all units across the country were informed that the war had begun and that an attack on the islands could take place at any time.
At the same time, the Japanese fighter planes on Formosa were ready to attack Luzon. The Japanese still hoped that the surprise effect would also take effect in this attack. But rising clouds made an early start impossible, so that could no longer be expected. On the contrary, the probability of an American bombing raid on Formosa increased. In fact, the American general in charge tried to get MacArthur permission for an early attack. After an overseas discussion with the competent authority, it was recommended not to be surprised and to send the machines on patrol flights without bombs so that they would not be devastated. A short time later, General MacArthur decided to proceed as follows: If the Clark Field Air Force Base near Fort Stotsenberg were not attacked within the next few hours, two squadrons of bombers should bomb Formosa in the late afternoon. At around 11:30 a.m., the bombers were back on the base and were loaded with the bombs for Formosa.
From Formosa, 25 Japanese bombers had now taken off through the clearing fog and flew over the Gulf of Lingayen towards Manila at 9:00 a.m. When they were sighted, two combat squadrons rose from Clark Field. One to intercept the machines, the other to protect Clark Field. But suddenly the Japanese bombers turned to the east and split into two groups. One attacked the city of Tuguegarao , the other military facilities near Baguio . The Japanese then returned to their base without seeing a single American machine.
At 10:30 a.m. the fog on Formosa had cleared so far that the main wave of attack, consisting of 108 bombers accompanied by 48 Zeros , started. Just as the enemy machines appeared north of Luzon, the defense radar reported an empty airspace over Luzon and all American planes were preparing to land on Clark Field. Shortly before 11:30 a.m., when all the machines had landed again, the sighting report of the high-flying Japanese bombers came with a course for Manila. However, due to adverse circumstances, Clark Field could not be alerted.
The first Japanese bombers reached Clark Field at 12:15 p.m. To the surprise of the Japanese, all American machines were on the airfield. There was no resistance whatsoever. All 27 bombers dropped their deadly load over Clark Field, where the American machines were destroyed in rows. It was only when the second wave of bombers hit the tarmac shortly afterwards that the American anti-aircraft guns began to fire. But their defense was too low and the shells mostly exploded behind the Japanese bombers. A squadron of Zeros followed as the third wave, which nosedive attacked the other machines on the ground. The whole attack lasted about an hour. There was also no air support from the surrounding bases. A second bomb attack was carried out simultaneously on the base at Iba . With this, the Japanese eliminated half of the Americans' Asian air force on the first day. 80 American / Filipino soldiers were killed and around 150 injured, some seriously. The material and moral loss was roughly equivalent to the loss caused by the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Air and sea domination by the Japanese
After the initial successes, the Japanese actually wanted to start further strikes immediately, but the rising fog prevented them from doing this. Only seven bombers took off from Formosa on the morning of December 9th. They attacked other targets in northern Luzon, including a military airfield near Manila, where more machines were destroyed.
The Americans gathered their troops to defend the island. The landing of the Japanese was expected at any time. The attack on Formosa planned for December 9th never took place. The remaining flying fortresses stayed in the air so as not to be destroyed on the ground.
At 11:45 a.m. on the morning of December 10th, Japanese squadrons of bombers reached Manila Bay. Although fighter planes rose, the Americans could do nothing against the now approaching superior force. The bombers split up and bombed the airfields north of Manila. These included Del Carmen Field, Nichols Field, Nielson Field, and again Clark Field. The second group attacked the naval facilities in the bay. The entire attack lasted two hours. There was hardly any resistance.
As a result, all remaining ships were asked to seek protection in the southern ports or on Borneo. Over 500 Allied soldiers were killed in the attack. The material losses were heavy. The loss of more than 200 torpedoes was particularly serious. Manila's harbor and the northern airfields were on fire.
On December 12th and 13th, the Japanese flew further missions from Formosa to destroy the rest of the facilities on Luzon. Iba , Cabanatuan and Batangas were selected as outstanding targets , where further bombers could be destroyed. Reconnaissance flights were also undertaken to find the bombers stationed on Mindanao.
The Americans ruled on December 15 that it was impossible to effectively operate the remaining bombers from the Philippines. Relocation to Darwin , Australia was the best solution to bring the machines to safety. So the B-17 bombers were made ready for the long flight and took off two days later for the south. Their base in Mindanao was discovered and bombed by the Japanese on December 19th.
Only a few fighters and the submarines lying in the Bay of Manila were now available to defend the Philippines . So the land troops were more or less on their own.
The landings
Regardless of the air war, the Japanese launched the first ships of the invasion fleet on December 7, before the first attacks on Luzon in the direction of the Philippine Islands. Under cover of darkness they approached the coast. A day later, a landing force set out from Palau to land on the southern tip of Luzon. Other troops were targeting Davao on Mindanao.
There were a total of six selected landing points. They were chosen to shut down the coastal defenses in preparation for the main invasion. The southern landing points were also intended to serve as bases for further conquests in the Dutch colonies.
The selected Japanese landing troops were no larger than a regiment in strength , and the smallest was only company size . General Homma had to make this decision because only with so many landing points was it possible to pull the local defenders apart. But it was clear to him that his later main landing plans would be jeopardized at any time by a determined defense of the opposing side.
Batan Islands and Luzon
On the morning of December 8th, the Japanese took the Batan Islands in the Luzon Strait . They built a small military airfield there, from which the first operations could be started the next day.
The Batan landing forces immediately moved south, where they set up another air force base on the island of Camiguin, 55 kilometers from Aparri on Luzon.
The Americans did not seem to have noticed these landings. On December 9th, MacArthur announced that the enemy had not yet landed. Meanwhile, the first enemy troops landed in northern Luzon.
Aparri and Vigan
General Homma had put together two landing troops of around 2,000 men each to go ashore at Aparri and Vigan. They started from Formosa at the same time as the Batan Islands were conquered. These landings had to be completed successfully, as the other main landings were based on their success. The landing fleet, which consisted of two heavy and one light cruisers, two destroyers and an aircraft tender, approached Luzon with great caution. Homma feared that if the fleet were discovered too soon, it could be completely destroyed by the defenders. For example, on the morning of December 10, fighter planes appeared over the landing craft to make out approaching American planes. None were sighted.
The landing took place with the help of aircraft flying from the new Batan base. Due to stormy seas, the landing point had to be relocated to a sheltered bay, but at 1 p.m. the message was issued that the air force base at Aparri was in Japanese hands. There was almost no resistance. The next morning the Japanese marched 80 kilometers south to Tuguegarao . On December 12th, around 5:30 a.m., they took the landing field at Tuguegarao.
When the Americans were informed of the landing at Aparri , they did not believe that the main landing would take place in that area. General Wainwright was of the opinion that this was planned in the Gulf of Lingayen , where his main units were also located, and that his troops should only be lured north with this diversion . So he sent reconnaissance vehicles north with orders to destroy bridges on the way south, but nothing more was done. The troops stationed at Aparri withdrew without resistance.
General Homma's fears came true on the second landing, which was supposed to run parallel to Vigan . The Americans spotted the ships early on December 10, although the weather was bad, and they sent fighter planes to defend themselves. Five B-17s, accompanied by P-35 and P-40 fighters, rose at around 6:00 a.m. to engage the landing fleet. The American attack was carried out with such force that the Japanese did not succeed in removing more than a small group of soldiers and making a temporary retreat. Two transport ships were badly damaged and ran onto the bank. There were several casualties on other ships, but only minor material damage. But this was the last success of the air defense, as the machines were later ordered to the south. The Japanese fleet went back to the rough seas and waited the night.
During the following hours of the night, scouts made out the shadows of ships on the Gulf of Lingayen. The artillery lying there immediately began to fire. As far as the eyes could see, the bolts of the cannons blazed. Towards morning, when the smoke had cleared, there was nothing to be seen of a landing armada and the commander in charge reported his success to the headquarters. But only a Japanese reconnaissance boat had entered the Gulf to sift through the situation. At that time, the Japanese had no plans to land there.
However, the landing fleet at Vigan put the troops on land 80 kilometers south of the intended place in the morning, where the military airfield near Laoag was immediately taken. Shortly thereafter, they turned north and attacked the original target, Vigan. There the Japanese forces united and marched south to San Fernando , which fell into their hands on December 22nd. On the way they encountered little resistance. The Americans attempted a flank attack only once, but it was repulsed. The Japanese forces were standing on the Gulf of Lingayen and could wait for the main landing.
Legaspi
To land in South Luzon, General Homma had raised a force of 2,500 men. You should board the DropShips from the Japanese base on Palau . To support the landing, Homma sent Rear Admiral Takeo Takagi with a fleet consisting of the aircraft carrier Ryūjō , four destroyers, a light cruiser and mine layers , in the Palau area. Two days after their arrival, the landing craft took off and drove escorted by Takagi's fleet towards South Luzon.
At sunrise on December 8, the fleet was about 190 kilometers east of Davao on Mindanao. Fighter planes started from the carrier Ryūjō to attack the port of Davao . This not least led to the decision of Fleet Commander Rear Admiral William A. Glassford to allow the ships to sail south later that day.
On December 11th, the miners began their mission to mine the San Bernardino Strait and the Strait of Surigao . Two Japanese destroyers tracked down the American submarine S-39 , which was patrolling there, and began to chase it. But it escaped without harm.
About 160 kilometers before reaching the intended landing point, the fleet remained behind and the landing craft, accompanied by the Ryūjō's fighter planes, drove to the coast near Legaspi, where the troops disembarked in the early morning of December 12th. By 9:00 a.m. they captured the air base and were controlling the road to Manila. The area was largely secured by the next day, and the Japanese fleet drove back to Palau to pick up other strong formations for the next landing.
When the American headquarters learned of the landing at Legaspi, the leadership decided to send a large force south. But the Japanese gain control of the air thwarted this plan. Orders were issued to destroy only the road and rail bridges and to slowly retreat north. The first direct reaction to the landing came on December 12th with a small air raid by two fighters on the captured base in Legaspi. On December 14th, three B-17s took off from base in Mindanao and began an attack on the landing fleet. They were of course an easy target for the Japanese hunters, since they flew without escort. Only one of the bombers reached its home base, the other two had to crash land shortly before.
The Japanese turned north after Legaspi was completely in their hands. On the way to the city of Naga they met Filipino units who were preparing a bridge to be blown up. The demolition could still be carried out and the Japanese had to withdraw at short notice. However, the next day they took Naga.
On December 19th, the Japanese reached Sipocot . On their march, they repaired the blown bridges in order to prepare the way for the invasion units that would later advance. On the way further towards Manila near the town of Daet , Filipino soldiers waited at an isthmus only 11 kilometers wide. This outstanding position enabled them to inflict heavy losses on the Japanese and to push them back around 10 kilometers. The Filipino units had to withdraw on December 23, as another Japanese landing behind them at Atimonan threatened to separate them from the northern units. However, they had succeeded, as instructed, in preventing the Japanese landing forces from merging on Luzon.
Landings in Mindanao
The Japanese landings in the south were planned by General Homma independently of the conquest of Luzon and primarily served the purpose of transferring strong armed forces to Borneo . At the same time, however, they prevented supplies for the Americans from the south.
14 transporters left Palau on December 17th and were escorted to Mindanao by Admiral Takagi's fleet . The aircraft carriers Ryujo and Chitose took off 320 kilometers east of Davao and attacked the radio station at the southern end of the Gulf of Davao and the city of Davao itself.
Major General Sakaguchi Shizuo commanded the 5,000 soldiers (infantry brigade of the 56th Division ) called the Sakaguchi Detachment , which landed at Davao on December 20th. The only resistance came from a machine gun nest of the Filipino forces, which claimed some casualties among the Japanese before being eliminated by a direct shell hit. The local troops withdrew into the interior of Mindanao and by 3:00 p.m. the city and the air base were taken by the Japanese. The Japanese built a new base for seaplanes south of Davao .
Sakaguchi wasted no time and went with two battalions to the landing craft. Their destination was Jolo in the Sulu Archipelago . On the way there, they were attacked completely unexpectedly by nine B-17 bombers launched from Darvin in Australia on December 22nd. However, since visibility was poor, the attack left little damage. On December 24th at 8:00 p.m., the Japanese landed at Jolo. The 300 Filipinos stationed there could hardly offer any resistance, so that Jolo was in Japanese hands the next morning.
The main landings
The Japanese plan provided for two main landing points north and south of Manila - the Gulf of Lingayen and Lemon Bay. The selected troops began to rally at the end of November. The 16th Division left Osaka on November 25th and reached Amami-Ōshima in the Ryūkyū Islands on December 3rd. Three days later, the 48th Division was on Mako in the Pescadoren (Penghu Islands) and in Takao and Kirun on Formosa. At the end of November, the loading work on the landing ships began with the greatest care and under the strictest confidentiality guidelines. After December 8th at the latest, there was great fear of an American bomb attack on the ports of Formosa. On December 17th the fleet was ready to sail. The secrecy was so great that many soldiers were not informed about the location, but they could well imagine where the target was. Only a few officers were privy to the plan.
Gulf of Lingayen
On the morning of December 21, Filipinos spotted a Japanese trawler slowly sailing along the coast of the Gulf of Lingayen. He turned shortly afterwards and drove on unmolested to the north. Late that night, 76 heavily loaded army transports accompanied by naval units reached the Gulf of Lingayen and dropped anchor. There were 43,110 Japanese soldiers on board, General Homma's main force. This also included field artillery units and 80 to 100 light and heavy tanks .
The ships were divided into three separate convoys . These were accompanied by two light cruisers, 16 destroyers and a large number of torpedo boats and minesweepers, all of which were commanded by Vice Admiral Ibo Takahashi . Outside the Gulf was also the fleet of Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo , consisting of two battleships , four heavy cruisers, a light cruiser, several destroyers, and two seaplane carriers. The convoys were also accompanied on the last stretch of their journey by twenty fighter jets that had ascended from the Laoag base.
At the same time, six Japanese planes bombed Fort Wint at the entrance to Subic Bay. That should convince the Americans that they have found a main landing site here.
The Japanese plan provided for three main landing points. The southernmost was near Agoo, a small town eight kilometers north of Demortis. The first troops should go ashore there at 5:40 a.m. The landing craft had to drive back to the larger units immediately to pick up more soldiers. A total of ten trips were planned until all troops were brought ashore.
The second landing point was 11 kilometers north of Agoo near Caba where the first wave was supposed to land at 7:30 a.m. The northernmost should be around 11 kilometers north of Caba near Bauang.
The landing
When the convoy ships dropped anchor, the weather was cool, the night overcast and it began to rain again and again. But now some things went wrong.
The lead ship could not make out the mouth of the river at San Fernando, which had been designated as an anchor mark, in the darkness and shot over the target. It dropped anchor near Santo Thomas, about six kilometers south of Agoo. The other transporters followed, spread over a distance of 25 kilometers. As a result, the DropShips now had to travel a longer distance to the destination than originally planned.
Under the protection of the cannon fire of the cruisers and destroyers, the soldiers boarded the boats. Around 4:30 a.m. the first boats left and at 5:17 a.m. the first went to the beach south of Agoo. At 5:30 a.m. the main force went ashore with their tanks at Aringay, three kilometers south of Agoo. Two hours later another group landed at Bauang and the rest of the troops at Santiago.
As the sea refreshed significantly and threw high waves, the men in the boats were tossed back and forth. The equipment soaked up the salt water and the transmitters that were carried on were often unusable. There was hardly any contact with the first waves of landing and communication between the ships was difficult. It seemed almost impossible to get heavy equipment ashore. The high seas literally threw some landing craft onto the beach, so that they overturned and some could not be brought back into the water. The second wave couldn't land as planned and the whole schedule got mixed up. At the northernmost landing point the sea was not so rough. So things went much better there.
The Japanese ships had reached shallower water before the American submarines could attack them. But once lined up in the Gulf for a length of 25 kilometers, they offered a perfect target for submarines that could operate in shallow water. The USS S-38 sank the Hayo Maru transporter while it followed the miners.
In the further course four B-17 bombers, which the Japanese had bombed in Davao, flew to the Gulf of Lingayen. They were able to penetrate the defense screen and caused damage to the cruisers and destroyers. The escort fleet lying on the open sea also came under fire. Several PBYs and army planes put the Ashigara , the flagship of the fleet, under fire.
Meanwhile, the high seas had caused several invasion ships to lift anchor and run further into the bay. There they came within range of the cannons of the 86th Field Artillery Battalion, which had two cannons set up at San Fabian and two at Dagupan. So it was possible to take the southernmost ships under fire.
The Allies were not particularly well prepared for the Japanese landing. Although an approaching fleet had already been reported to headquarters on December 18 and the Gulf of Lingayen was the designated landing target, the only artillery cannons were in the south, where the landing was expected. The east coast was guarded by a barely trained unit. The troops were in reserve inland between Rosario and Pozorrubio.
Only at Bauang were Filipinos directly on the beach. They attacked the landing Japanese with machine guns and killed many. The outdated machine guns soon failed, so that the positions had to be vacated. In the hinterland, the 71st Infantry Regiment tried to set up a trap by pulling a battalion east to attack the Japanese from the flank. But before everyone was in their positions, the Japanese arrived. The landing units that had advanced from Vigan to San Fernando were able to unite with the units from Bauang. Bauang was captured at around 5:00 p.m. and the Japanese started moving towards Baguio. The allies had to withdraw as far as behind Baguio.
The Japanese landing forces at Aringay marched towards Damortis and Rosario. At around 4 p.m. they encountered the tanks that had been landed north of Damortis. The troops from the landing area near Agoo also prevailed against a Filipino battalion that had advanced and now had to retreat quickly to Damortis.
General Homma continued to expect a major counterattack from the Americans. His main troops of the 14th Army had not yet gone ashore. The sea was still rough and made the Japanese project difficult. Homma therefore lifted the anchor and let the transporters run further south into the shallow bay. But as he expected the artillery fire from San Fabian, he instructed the land troops to take the city as quickly as possible.
Damortis and Rosario
Meanwhile the 26th Cavalry from Pozurrubio advanced on Rosario. When their main troops reached Rosario, their scout cars were already driving to Damortis. Since the city was not yet occupied by the Japanese, they continued to move north on the coastal road. A few kilometers further, however, the first opponents appeared, so that they had to retreat into the city. The rest of the 26th Cavalry also arrived at Damortis at 1:00 p.m. The Japanese attacked them immediately and received additional support from the air.
The tanks marched to relieve the fighting 26th Cavalry were intercepted by Japanese light tanks at Agoo. The American lead tank immediately went up in flames from a direct hit, while the others decided to drive back to Rosario. They were bombed later that day.
The cavalrymen at Damortis could not hold out against the advancing Japanese superiority and at 7 p.m. the city was completely in Japanese hands. The 26th Cavalry withdrew as far as Rosario.
On their retreat, they were quickly caught up by the Japanese, who attacked them with their tanks around 8:00 p.m. A confusing turmoil began. Only a bridge over a small river, blocked by a burning tank, stopped the rapidly advancing Japanese troops. In Rosario itself, the scouts were able to defend the entrance streets until the entire troop had crossed the city. Then they left their positions and followed their comrades.
By the end of the day, the Japanese had essentially achieved all of their goals. With only a few casualties they had landed, could spread out in all directions, unite with the landing forces from the north and occupy the most important cities and road junctions. Only artillery and supplies could not yet be brought ashore. The way to the central level in the direction of Manila was now the next goal.
The breakthrough to the Agno River
On the morning of December 23, the Allied units were on their way south of Sison to Pozorrubio to regroup. The 91st Division from the reserve at Cabanatuan had meanwhile been assigned to the units of northern Luzon and their combat group was on the way to reinforce Pozorrubio to seal off the road north of the place.
The fight broke out on the second day of the landing when the Japanese with their 47th Infantry from Rosario encountered the Allied defense line south of Sison. The American artillery was able to hold up the advance until noon, but in the early afternoon the rest of the Japanese units and their tanks joined their comrades in combat. With air support, they immediately launched a concentrated attack.
The Filipinos broke their lineage and ran for their lives. The artillery was now unprotected. The combat group of the 91st Division had not yet reached their position because Japanese bombers had destroyed a bridge over the Agno and the group had to turn around. After a quickly arranged meeting of the commanders, the order came to withdraw to the north of Pozorrubio. The 91st Division should also have arrived there by the time it is consolidated. Only the 26th Cavalry was supposed to drop back as far as Binalonan.
At around 7:00 p.m. the Japanese reached season and the 26th Cavalry set off in the direction of Binalonan. The 91st Division finally reached Pozorrubio. During the night, however, the Japanese managed to drive the 91st Division out of Pozorrubio in a fierce battle.
On the morning of December 24th at 5:00 am, the battle of the 26th Cavalry for Binalonan began. Above all, the Japanese tanks came up the road to the city. Even without armor-piercing ammunition, the cavalrymen managed to stop the tanks. They turned and tried to bypass the Allies. The Japanese infantry continued the fight, but were heavily attacked until 7:00 am and suffered very heavy losses. The cavalry even began to advance and the Japanese brought in more tanks to support them. But even with their help, they failed to make any progress. However, when more landed troops joined the hard-fighting Japanese during the day, the soldiers of the 26th Cavalry found themselves in a precarious position. Their positions were so contested that they were unable to break off the action and retreat. It was only when General Wainwright himself arrived in Binalonan that the latter gave the order to pick up all the wounded and to leave as quickly as possible across the River Agno to Tayug.
Despite the fighting action of the 26th Cavalry, the Japanese had now established a bridgehead in Luzon, which paved the way for them to Manila.
Lamon Bay
At the same time as the Formosa Landing Fleet, Lieutenant General Susumu Morioka left the Ryukyu Islands with a force on December 17, only to go ashore in Lamon Bay in east Luzon six days later .
The landing force consisted of the 16th Division, whose 7,000 soldiers were of secondary importance in General Homma's plan. This resulted not least from their bad reputation, which they had earned in the fight in China.
The plan finally worked out by Morioka provided for three landing points: Mauban , Atimonan and Siain. Morioka expected to surprise the Americans, but was also prepared for an act of violence. His men had orders to wipe out all the Americans on the beaches and to get as fast as possible to the Tayabas Mountains. There they should gather and prepare for a counterattack. Finally, the advance to Manila was planned.
The fleet was escorted by six destroyers, a light cruiser, six minesweepers and a mine-layer.
On December 24th, after the troops had been fighting in the Gulf of Lingayen for two days, the ships anchored in Lamon Bay. An hour later the troops were ready to go ashore.
From the Allied point of view, the landing came at an extremely precarious moment. The South Luzon units were widely dispersed. The troops of the 51st Division fighting the Japanese in Legaspi were in retreat; many of them were separated from the main force and could no longer return to their lines. In addition, MacArthur had assigned the 1st Infantry to the North Luzon units. The entire artillery was on the west coast and Major General George M. Parker was in the process of repositioning the rest of his soldiers when the Japanese landed.
The landing was reported on December 23 at 10:00 p.m. when the transport ships were sighted off Atimonan. Four hours later the first Japanese soldiers went into the landing craft there and in Siain. At 4:00 a.m., the landing also began in Mauban. All of the Allied reports overestimated the troop strength of the Japanese.
With the air support from the seaplanes of the aircraft carrier Mizuho , the Japanese went ashore at Mauban. There the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Infantry was lying on the beach and took the attackers under heavy crossfire. In addition, American planes arrived that attacked the Japanese and also caused considerable damage to the ships. Around 8:00 a.m. the Japanese fought their way to Mauban with heavy losses and captured the city half an hour later. The Filipino units withdrew around eight kilometers behind the city. Fighting doggedly, they were able to prevent the enemy from advancing further at 2:30 p.m.
The landing at Siain was much easier. Around 7:00 a.m., a company immediately set off along the railway line southwest in the direction of Tayabas Bay and reached a position eight kilometers from Padre Burgos around noon . The other part of the landing forces marched northwest to unite with the other landed units. They were only occasionally attacked by Filipino soldiers.
At the site of the main landing, one and a half to four kilometers southeast of Atimonan, General Morioka's main power went ashore in several waves. With little resistance on the beach, they bypassed Atimonan and fought their way into the nearby mountains. The city itself was captured at 11:00 a.m. despite the self-sacrificing defense of the Filipinos. At Malicbuy the infantry tried to stop the advancing enemy, but the Allied troops failed to build up an adequate defense due to several air strikes. After a short battle, the Japanese reached Malicbuy and occupied the city. The Americans withdrew to their nearest line of defense on a river near Binahaan. In the late afternoon the Japanese who had remained in Atimonan advanced to Malicbuy. With combined forces, they pushed through the Allied lines at Binahaan, who, under cover of darkness, withdrew towards Pagbilao .
With this, General Morioka had achieved his main objectives on the afternoon of December 24th. With the loss of 84 own men and 184 wounded, a beachhead was established in southern Luzon. The roads through the mountains were secured and most of the supply units had been brought ashore. The news was received with surprise at General Homma's headquarters, as such a success was not expected.
Consequences of the landings
In the north of Manila, the units landed in the Lingayen Gulf stood on the Agno River. The bridgehead on the beaches was well organized and the supplies of heavy weapons could be brought ashore. San Fabian in the south of the landing area was in Japanese hands and the American artillery was eliminated. The northern and eastern flanks were secured and the troops were ready to advance towards the capital Manila, 180 kilometers away. On December 24th, General Homma went ashore with his staff and the headquarters of the 14th Army were established in Bauang.
On December 24th, the order came from General MacArthur's headquarters to evacuate Fort Stotsenburg. The order included instructions to destroy over 300,000 gallons of fuel. There were also huge quantities of fresh meat, 100,000 canned goods, clothing, ammunition and other equipment in the warehouses. Only a small part of them could be saved before the evacuation and taken to Bataan. This was mainly due to the few vehicles that were available to the Allies.
The withdrawal
Due to the rapid landing progress of the Japanese, it was no longer possible for the American government to build up an adequate supply structure. As early as the end of November 1941, a convoy had started from the American west coast, which was led by the heavy cruiser USS Pensacola and was therefore named Pensacola convoy . On board the ships were weapons, planes and 4,600 soldiers who had been dispatched to Manila. Due to the rapid Japanese expansion, the convoy had to be diverted to Brisbane in Australia , where it anchored on December 22nd. Attempts were still made to bring the supplies to Manila by air, but this was no longer possible. So General MacArthur was left on his own.
At the same time, the landings of the Japanese in the Gulf of Lingayen and Lamon Bay put an end to all allied hopes for a victory against the invaders, which had previously been thought possible. As early as December 23, General MacArthur decided that the best solution would be to retreat slowly to the Bataan Peninsula to await relief . As a precaution, President Quezon of the Philippines was informed that he and his government should be ready to be evacuated to Corregidor within four hours . Manila should then be declared an open city to protect its civilian population. The main reasons for this decision were the rapid breakthrough of the Japanese in the north to Rosario and General Wainwright's decision to withdraw the Allied troops behind the River Agno. This demonstrated to MacArthur the inability of his own soldiers to stop the enemy.
The next morning, a USAFFE conference decided to move the headquarters to Corregidor that same afternoon. In addition, the landings of the Japanese at Atimonan and Bautan were announced. Towards evening the members of the Philippine government went with their families on board the steamer Mayan . The Don Esteban brought the USAFFE commandos to Corregidor Island shortly afterwards.
In order for the Allied units to retreat to Bataan to begin the long-lasting defensive battle there, many preparations had to be made. General Charles C. Drake was instructed to move his base to Bataan and see to it that some 10,000 men could be provided with food and supplies for about six months. Within the next 24 hours, the goods were on their way to Bataan, by lorry , by rail and by ship. The vehicles that could not be used for transport were immediately destroyed.
A corresponding withdrawal plan was quickly drawn up. The Northern Luzon units were to hold the enemy at San Fernando, where the road to Bataan began, until January 8, 1942. After that, the withdrawal to the peninsula was planned. This was to give the South Luzon troops the opportunity to withdraw to Bataan via Manila. In addition, the soldiers who remained in Bataan had to build a line of defense. In addition, General George M. Parker was assigned command of the troops there.
The lines of defense
The withdrawal plan required the most precise coordination between the individual units. The calumpit bridges that spanned the Pampanga were a critical point in the plan. They had to be held until all units had crossed them. Should this not succeed or the Japanese take the roads to Bataan early, the entire plan was in jeopardy.
For the retreat, five lines of defense were planned in the north, based on landmarks such as rivers, swamps and plateaus . In detail these were:
- D1: East of Aguilar, south of the Gulf of Lingayen, via San Carlos to Urdaneta. The poorly organized units should gather on this line and reposition themselves.
- D2: Oriented mainly towards the course of the Agno and should be held for around a day.
- D3: From Santa Ignacia in the west via Gerona and Guimba to San Jose in the east.
- D4: This 40-kilometer line of defense from Tarlac in the west to Cabanatuan on the Pampanga River was often interrupted by smaller rivers and streams.
- D5: Bamban on Mount Arayat and Sibul Springs were their boundary locations. In between lies the Candaba Swamp , which divides the plain into two narrow corridors towards Manila. Only this line was intended for a longer lasting defense. It had to hold until the troops from southern Luzon had withdrawn behind the northern troops to San Fernando .
The retreat was to be supported by the armored units under General Weaver. In addition, the success also depended on the technical units that were supposed to make the roads impassable behind the troops and blow up the bridges. This was essential to stop the Japanese advance and to prepare the defense on the next lines and especially in Bataan. The greatest danger lay in the Japanese air sovereignty, so that the retreat should mainly be carried out under cover of darkness.
The retreat in Northern Luzon
On December 24th at 7:00 p.m. the withdrawal of the troops to the Agno began. All night long, the infantry and artillery marched south. The bridges behind them were blown up and the roads made impassable. At dawn, the majority sat in the usual in the Philippines outrigger boats from bamboo , called Bancas , across the river. They immediately took up the new positions on the east-west road to San Carlos.
The last technical units did not reach the D1 line until late noon. They had been stopped because they had to blow up many smaller bridges and many vehicles were damaged by an early demolition. However, they had no contact with the enemy.
At 2:00 a.m. on December 25th, the Japanese attacked Urdaneta . The city could only be held by the Filipinos until noon, then they began to retreat to agno.
In Carmen at that time the soldiers took up positions on the D2 line to defend the great Agno Bridge there. The tanks of the 192nd Panzer Battalion now stood between Carmen and Tayug.
The Japanese united the troops of the 48th Reconnaissance Regiment at Binalonan around noon on December 25th. Shortly before reaching Agno near Tayug, they encountered patrols of the 26th Cavalry. In the evening the Japanese had driven the Filipino scouts back to the opposite side of the river. From there, the Filipinos resisted until 2:00 a.m. on December 26th, but then they could no longer withstand the Japanese superiority and had to withdraw. Just two hours later, Tayuj was in Japanese hands. On their retreat, the cavalrymen blew eight bridges between Tayug and San Quentin before reaching the current line of defense at Umingan. Later that day the cavalry soldiers, who had been resisting the enemy since the Japanese landing, were ordered back to the defense reserve in Bataan.
In the middle of the front, the Japanese reached the town of Villasis a good kilometer north of Carmen on the afternoon of December 25th. An air raid prepared the attack on Carmen the evening of the next day. The Japanese crossed the Agno with the support of their artillery, which the defenders had nothing to oppose. General Wainwright ordered Carmen to retreat towards the D3 line. But the Japanese were far too fast and smashed the units. The Allies suffered 200 victims. In addition, the Japanese captured the commander. Carmen fell around 7:30 p.m. that evening and the Japanese stormed on to Rosales, which fell just two hours later.
The only possibility of retreat for the remaining soldiers was the railway line to Manila, which ran to the west. They were able to escape by means of a put together train that consisted of a few freight cars and was sent from Tarlac during the night. The tank units had it a little more difficult. They were on their own and drove south to San Manuel, where they built a road blockade with three tanks. This was supposed to hold up the Japanese until the train with the troops had passed the street near Moncada. When the Japanese came up the street at around 2:45 a.m. on the morning of December 27th, they were completely surprised and withdrew after 15 minutes. The Allies now feared a concentrated counter-attack and in turn withdrew to the railway crossing in Moncada. They got there about ten minutes before the platoon arrived. After this situation was happily resolved, the tanks drove on as quickly as possible until they reached the D3 line near Gerona at 8:30 a.m. But some of the tanks that had taken a different route had to be left in front of a destroyed bridge. Their crews fought their way to the D3 line on foot.
There were no Japanese attacks on the D3 line during the whole of December 27, so the units prepared to retreat to the D4 line. The 91st Division began the march south at 5:30 p.m. and reached the pampanga at Cabanatuan at 4:30 a.m. The 21st Division moved west to Tarlac, where the roads to Manila met. On December 28, the D4 defense line was in place and awaiting the Japanese advance.
Meanwhile, the Japanese stopped at the Agno to wait for more supplies from their ships. Throughout December 27th, more artillery and troop units were driven to the front line, and scout troops pushed forward to the unguarded Umingan. Units involved in combat were called back by General Homma and could wait for new orders in Villasis. He ordered fresh troops to Urdaneta.
The plan for the D4 line was to hold it until the Japanese were forced to hold it, and then launch a coordinated attack. A more determined stop should be made at the D5 line. But on December 27th, General Wainwright decided to change that plan. Fearing that a too quick retreat from the D4 line would not leave enough time to prepare the defense of the important bridges at Calumpit, over which the southern troops had to retreat, he ordered the area between Tarlac and Cabanatuan to be longer hold.
The 91st Division was assigned the area between the Pampanga and the eastern mountains. The critical point was Cabanatuan, where the roads from the north converged and continued south to Manila. If the order to withdraw came, they would have to move to Plaridel, some 70 kilometers away, and then west to Calumpit, where the road crosses the Pampanga.
On the side to Carmen (not to be confused with Carmen am Agno) was the 11th Division and to the west the 21st Division as far as Tarlac. From here the route of retreat went directly to Bataan via Angeles. To provide further support at the Calumpit bridges, the remaining tanks of the 194th battalion drove into position in Apalit.
At this point the Japanese landings were complete. General Homma prepared the breakthrough between Cabanatuan and Tarlac to Manila, the main target of his units. He expected the Allies to retreat to Bataan and Corregidor and wait there until further support might land. So Homma ordered an additional artillery unit to be sent to Tarlac in order to be able to better target the road to Bataan. It should be supported by combat aircraft from the air and on land by the infantry. The advance south was planned for December 28th.
When General Homma moved his command post forward to Binalonan on the morning of December 28, his soldiers began their march south. A tank unit drove ahead. They had the artillery in their wake and advanced through San Quintin to San Jose. Then they crossed the Pampanga and reached Bongabon on December 29th, from where they threatened the right flank of the D4 line. The remaining units followed in two columns from Rosales and advanced to Baloc, north of Cabanatuan. Behind the tanks followed the infantry, additional artillery and the technical troops.
Despite the river bridges blown up by the Allies, the tanks reached the city first through the shallow water of the Pampanga. They took the positions of the Americans and Filipinos under violent fire. The Japanese infantry crossed the river under the protection of the fire of their artillery. The overwhelming power of the attacking Japanese was so great that the Allies had no choice but to move further south. The Japanese occupied Cabanatuan that night.
The Japanese 48th Infantry Division together with the 48th Mountain Artillery and a battalion with 150-mm howitzers struck the Allies back to Gapan up to 23 kilometers behind Cabanatuan, where they blew up the steel bridge over the river behind them. The defenders formed a defensive line, but the Japanese broke through it very quickly on the afternoon of December 30th. When they took the city towards evening, the Allies retreated as far as Baliuag to regroup. This rapid advance of the enemy made the original plan of the Americans obsolete and also resulted in a shortened D5 defense line, which severely endangered the withdrawal of the southern troops.
In contrast to the eastern flank, significantly more resistance could be put up in the center of the D4 line. The Japanese approaching there on bicycles were forced to withdraw again by a surprise attack with Allied tanks. It was not until the morning that the Japanese were supplied with additional troops and armor-piercing ammunition and, in turn, went on the attack. The Allies then took up a new position a little further south and were able to launch a new counterattack from there, from which the Japanese were so surprised that they withdrew again. Only when the order came from Allied headquarters to withdraw to the D5 line, the Japanese were able to advance further. But they only came to a destroyed bridge on the small Dalagot river. The Japanese had been successfully held up for 24 hours.
At the western end of the D4 line stood the city of Tarlac, destroyed by heavy Japanese bombing from the air. It was guarded by Allied artillery and infantry units waiting for the enemy advance. But the Japanese troops that were supposed to advance to Tarlac proceeded only hesitantly, as they had to accept when they landed in the Gulf of Lingayen. In addition, the area around the city offered hardly any cover, only wide rice fields, bamboo trees and swamps. On December 29th, the first Japanese patrols reached a position north of Tarlac. Shortly afterwards, Allied scouts announced that they had fired on Japanese patrols, but their fire had not been returned. At around 3:00 p.m., the Japanese main unit arrived in front of Tarlac. The defending allies inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese and even killed the commander.
Around the same time, allied soldiers south of Tarlac met a squad of Japanese who had bypassed the city. With the help of five American tanks, they pushed the Japanese back across the river. But when the tanks tried to cross the river, they got stuck and had to be abandoned by the crews.
Towards evening, the defenders received the order to withdraw to the D5 line, so they began to withdraw from their positions. They came into heavy enemy fire and suffered numerous losses, although they were covered by their own artillery fire. The artillery fired until the entire infantry unit had passed their position, then retreated to the D5 line, which they reached at dawn.
Now all Allied units were in their defensive positions on the planned D5 line. The main Japanese attack was expected on the right flank, where General Homma had also concentrated his main units to prevent the Allied forces from southern Luzon from breaking through to Bataan.
The retreat in South Luzon
At the same time as the northern troops left the D1 line, the withdrawal in southern Luzon began. General George M. Parker had given command to Brigadier General Albert M. Jones to go to Bataan. Jones was ordered to block the enemy's advance and slowly withdraw the troops behind Manila, as well as to join General Wainwright's units north of the city.
The South Luzon troops consisted of untrained and poorly equipped soldiers, mainly infantry and a small artillery battalion and a few tanks. The ammunition supply could only be guaranteed via a small connection unit.
On the Japanese side, the Japanese landing forces were outnumbered. In addition, the terrain in the south was much more impassable than in the north. The road to Manila was blocked by mountains and great lakes. Shortly after landing in Lamon Bay, the main troops advanced inland over the low Tayabas Mountains. Now they were standing in front of the 2,177 m high Banahaw , whose southern flank had to be bypassed in order to then reach the large inland lake Laguna de Bay . From there a narrow corridor led between the lake and the Manila lagoon to the city itself. The smaller landing unit at Mauban had to choose the northern route. They would not meet the main force again until halfway and were on their own until then.
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Due to a misunderstanding at the management level, the Allied defense units, which were 11 kilometers west of Mauban, withdrew to Lucban in the early morning of December 25th . General Jones only found out about the mistake around noon and ordered the troops to stop. At that time the Japanese had already moved within six kilometers of the city. Jones went to the units himself and came under Japanese fire.
The next morning, some tanks arrived at the infantry, but encountered a heavily fortified road blockade, which also had anti-tank weapons. The lead tank and a tank on the flank were hit and put out of action. The others immediately withdrew. Without tank support, the infantrymen had to move further inland. Shortly before sunset, however, they received support from around 300 experienced Filipino scouts. When the Japanese arrived at their positions that morning, they met with considerable resistance. The fight lasted a few hours before the Japanese were able to push the defenders back into Luisiana . However, they did not follow them, but instead expected some troops from the Atimonan landing unit in Lucban, who arrived the next morning. This concentrated force was able to push the Allies back to Calauan on December 28th . Shortly before they reached their destination, the order came to march to Los Banos and build a new defensive position there. On December 29th they were in their positions.
Atimonan's retreat also began on Christmas Day. The allied troops there consisted of three infantry battalions, which were on the way to Pagbilao. The first contact with the enemy took place on the Palsabangon River just outside the city. One battalion covered the road and the others took up positions on the bridge over the river, preparing it for demolition. The advancing Japanese could be held up on the road until all Allied soldiers had retreated behind the bridge. The bridge was then blown up right before the eyes of the Japanese. But they could only be stopped for a short time, because by afternoon they had reached the other bank. The Allied troops continued to retreat behind Pagbilao, where they split up. One battalion moved on towards Tayabas , the others to Lucena .
The Japanese passed through Pagbilao in the late afternoon. The Allies could not afford to delay, the Japanese were too close behind them. So it was decided to fall further back to Sariaya, which could be reached on December 26th around 3:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the Japanese occupied Lucena and Tayabas with a slight delay due to blown bridges and other obstacles. In the evening, Japanese patrols were sent out to contact the units at Lucban. On the evening of December 25th, the Japanese were in possession of the entire part of the country east of Sariaya .
On the evening of December 26th, General Jones established his outpost in Candelaria , about seven miles west of Sariaya. The bridges that crossed the rivers here were prepared for demolition and the west side was occupied with troops. At the same time, General Jones put up a second line of defense ten kilometers beyond Candelaria. The units still fighting at Sariaya were instructed to break off their operations. They were taken to Tiaong by buses on the early night of December 27th .
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Meanwhile, the Japanese troops gathered in Lucena. The further way turned out to be arduous, as the blown bridges forced the Japanese to leave their vehicles behind. They reached Candelaria on foot on the afternoon of December 27 and broke through the outpost. They quickly crossed the city and reached the main line of defense at dusk. But before they could open fire on the Filipinos posted there, they left their positions and withdrew.
The Japanese did not stay long in Candelaria. They reached Lusacan early in the morning. The allied units there could be quickly overturned on the flanks, so that they retreated to Tiaong.
At Tiaong the defenders actually had a very good cover position - General Jones was already placing his artillery on the mountain flanks and ordered the infantry units to various positions on the inland lake - when General MacArthur gave him the quick order to retreat to Bataan. The allied northern troops were at the time on the D4 line and MacArthur recognized the weak point on its right flank. The entire southern troops should have withdrawn behind General Wainwright's troops over the bridges at Calumpit by 6:00 a.m. on New Year's Day at the latest. This meant giving up positions at Tiaong. At midnight, December 28-29, Jones gave the order to march into Santiago.
The first Allied units reached Santiago four hours later and were instructed to get into prepared vehicles at Alabang to drive to Bataan. The smaller troop unit guarding the road to Manila was soon taken by bus to Bataan. The rest of the South Luzon defense rallied into positions near Santiago. Meanwhile, the Japanese reached Tiaong.
Only 36 hours later, however, Jones received the new order to stop the rapid retreat from the USAFFE headquarters in Manila and to retreat in the direction of Bataan only under direct enemy influence. This should save time to evacuate Manila as far as possible and to move additional equipment and devices to Bataan and Corregidor. Jones immediately went to the troops in Santiago without objection and prepared an ambush for the advancing Japanese. But this time too, he didn't get around to putting his plan into practice. The right flank of the North Luzon units was in a precarious position. General Homma's troops threatened to break through, driving a wedge between the North and South forces. MacArthur therefore immediately ordered to return to the original plan and to set the units on the march towards Bataan as quickly as possible.
In the absence of General Jones, who was still on the front line, the orders were carried out. The troops started moving north and on December 31st at 4:00 a.m. the new command post was opened in Plaridel. Most of the southern troops crossed the bridges at Calumpit before dawn. The other units of the infantry were posted on the access roads to the north and the 194th Panzer Battalion secured the roads south of Plaridel against the advancing Japanese. Manila itself would have to do without any Allied protection towards evening.
On the last day of 1941, South Luzon was effectively in Japanese hands. Most of the Allied troops were able to withdraw to Bataan without significant losses. It was telegraphed to Washington that the southern troops had made contact with the northern troops at San Fernando. But because the Japanese were pushing the American and Filipino soldiers lying on the D5 line ever further south, it was only in the next few days that they could provide information about the fate of thousands of men and tons of material on the way to Bataan.
Battle for line of defense D5
On December 30, 1941, despite the Japanese invasion, the inauguration of the elected Philippine President Manuel Quezon took place on Corregidor . But even his inauguration speech could not change the dark future of the Philippines. The Japanese were about to break through the D5 defense line and the Allied Americans and Filipinos withdrew north of Manila with all units in the direction of Bataan .
The D5 line stretching from Bamban in the west to Mount Arayat had to be held, as the only - albeit unpaved - road to Bataan branched off about 16 kilometers south of Bamban near Angeles, via which the northern troops had to reach Bataan. Further south at San Fernando was the junction of a larger paved road. To the east of Mount Arayat, the vast swamps of Candaba kept the Japanese from breaking through. The most contested city would undoubtedly be Plaridel, where General Homma Masaharu's troops tried to cut off the retreating Allies from the north. This was only a side effect, however, as the general line of march of the Japanese was heading towards Manila. General MacArthur therefore paid special attention to Plaridel and ordered units of the northern and southern units to this focal point. The bridges had to be held to allow the troops lying east of the Pampanga a safe route to San Fernando.
The defense lawyers had taken up their positions on the morning of December 31st. Shortly before 10:00 a.m., General Wainwright's headquarters warned the soldiers that they would have crossed the bridges over the Pampanga at Calumpit by 4:00 a.m. the next morning. The demolition was scheduled for 6:00 a.m.
As early as December 30th, the Japanese sent two tank battalions to block the road from Manila to San Fernando. They were accompanied by a repair company, which had the task of repairing blown bridges and roads. On the morning of December 31, a vanguard reached the edge of Baliuag. However, when the rebuilding of the destroyed bridge began, it received Allied artillery and tank fire, which forced it to abandon the operation. The Japanese then prepared a river crossing further east and waited for their own artillery to advance. At this point, the Allied artillery began to withdraw towards Bataan on orders. But shortly afterwards the order was revoked and the strict defense of the place was ordered. The enemy tanks met each other in the village, so that a wild battle broke out. The small houses and huts in the village were literally reduced to rubble and ashes by the tanks. The artillery on both sides did not dare to fire a shot because the danger of hitting their own people was high. When the Americans ended the attack, they had knocked out eight Japanese tanks and suffered only minor damage. They withdrew from Baliuag and the artillery started bombarding the place. At 10:00 p.m. Allied units began to retreat across the Calumpit bridges, which the last tank crossed at 5:00 a.m.
The bridges were actually an excellent target for an air strike for the Japanese; they were already equipped with dynamite for a quick demolition and were only protected by two artillery batteries. But under the Japanese leadership a violent dispute broke out over the use of the air force. While one side was vehemently in favor of bombing the bridges, the Japanese 14th Army finally prevailed to only attack the bridges west of Lubao and otherwise to limit the efforts to the retreating allies.
Shortly after all of the Allied troops had crossed the Calumpit Bridges, General Wainwright asked his commanding officers that all units had made it safely to the other side. It turned out that a small group of a demolition squad was still missing. Nevertheless, the bridge was set to be blown at 6:00 a.m. as planned. However, an option to postpone was considered.
In the darkness of the night, the responsible Philippine demolition squad was amazed that neither Japanese planes nor their artillery attacked the bridges. Gunfire was suddenly heard from afar around 5:45 a.m., but there was still no trace of the missing commando. General Wainwright then extended the demolition time to 6:15 a.m. As the enemy fire became louder and louder, the Allies expected a Japanese advance to cross the river, and Wainwright decided to blow up the bridges as soon as possible. The missing should find another way to Bataan. At 6:15 a.m., the charges detonated on the bridges and tore them into the pampanga. An infantry battalion and field artillery unit took up their positions on the riverbank shortly afterwards. Their task was to prevent the Japanese from crossing the river until at least 8 p.m. A group of tanks was set up just east of San Fernando.
On New Year's morning 1942 the Allied troops were now with their main force on the other side of the Pampanga. The small town of San Fernando, at an important intersection of roads and railways, was now the units' next destination. From here the road runs to Bataan, only the division, which came from the north from Angeles, was able to take the path to Bataan via a poorly paved road without having to go through San Fernando. The fourteen-kilometer road between Calumpit and San Fernando, and that leading south from there, were crammed with a mixed stream of civil and military vehicles of all kinds; Cars, trucks, buses, artillery and tanks drove in the middle of the road, while a never-ending train of foot soldiers moved on both sides, mostly civilians, who were fleeing the advancing Japanese.
Although Japanese planes flew low over the defenseless people several times, to their surprise there were no shots or bombs. According to Japanese reports found later, however, the pilots of the 32 aircraft reported to their headquarters that they had flown missions against American vehicles and other motorized units.
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From the direction of Tarlac, General Homma's reinforced units with infantry and strong artillery approached inexorably. Their task was clearly defined: pursue the Allies as far as Bataan. Two Filipino divisions stood by the Bamban River for defense. They were distributed on the mountainside of the Zambales Mountains and on the lowlands. The bridge over the river had already been destroyed, but the river, which was almost dry at this time of year, was no real obstacle when the Japanese crossed the river at around 1:30 a.m. on New Year's morning and a unit on bicycles headed south right between them the waiting Fillipinos in motion. They waited a moment until the Japanese could be seen on the street in almost full strength and then opened their fire. The Japanese were surprised by this unexpected attack for a few minutes and then fled back north. Around 35 lost their lives and a Japanese man was taken prisoner in the Philippines. Since the mutual understanding did not work, he was useless for the defenders and died soon after of his wounds.
The survivors of the ambush reached their own positions around 9:00 a.m. and the infantry immediately began a new advance with artillery support to cross the river bed. A fierce battle broke out when the Philippine artillery intervened and in turn fired at the enemy. But even a requested air support did not bring the Fillipinos out of their positions, which they persistently defended late in the day. More support troops arrived on the Japanese side at 4:00 p.m., so another advance was made. This also failed.
At nightfall the Fillipinos began to retreat south on the mountain slopes in the west. The entire division moved to Angeles and then the smaller road southwest to Bataan. The Japanese followed closely and entered Angeles around 11:30 a.m. on January 2, where they captured the Clark Air Force Base.
The Eastern Philippine Division had a harder time retreating. The narrow paths, which were hardly paved, left little space for the soldiers, so that they temporarily withdrew through the rice and sugar cane fields. On their retreat to San Fernando, which was now their destination, they were attacked at 4:30 p.m. by an advancing Japanese reconnaissance team, which was successfully kept at a distance. The division arrived at the agreed point east of San Fernando on the night of January 2. With that, all Allied units had returned from the D5 line to San Fernando.
In the late morning of January 1st, the Japanese reached the Pampanga near Calumpit. Several attempts to cross the river were repulsed by the Fillipinos stationed on the opposite bank, who did not retreat to San Fernando until late in the evening and were immediately sent on towards Bataan.
The last unit to march through San Fernando was the tank group to the east. After crossing the small bridge over the San Fernando River, it was blown up. Now all allied units were on their way to Bataan.
The Japanese did not cross the Pampanga until January 2nd at 4:00 p.m. At about 6:30 p.m. they reached San Fernando, where they met with the Northern units arriving from Angeles.
The retreat to Bataan
In the first days of January, most of the Allied troops in Luzon had withdrawn to the Bataan Peninsula and the offshore island of Corregidor according to Brigadier General Wainwright and MacArthur's withdrawal plan . In order to protect the capital Manila from destruction, it was declared an open city. On January 2, 1942, the Japanese army occupied Manila. During the occupation there were mass shootings, torture and rape by Japanese troops against the civilian population. People were burned alive or beheaded with the samurai sword.
From January 9, the Japanese armed forces under Lieutenant General Susumu Morioka attacked the eastern flank of the defense line between Abucay and Mauban . The fighting resulted in the defenders retreating to the Orion-Bagac defense line, which could be held for a long time.
After heavy fighting, the Japanese commander Homma Masaharu ordered the suspension of offensive operations on February 8 in order to reorganize his forces. The US Department of War withdrew MacArthur from the Philippines in March to appoint him Commander in Chief of Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area . He was replaced by Jonathan Wainwright on a direct order from Roosevelt. MacArthur was awarded the Medal of Honor after his safe arrival in Australia , but not without first giving his promise: "I'll be back".
Major General Edward P. King was now in command of the "USAFFE (United States Army Forces in the Far East)" with around 70,000 men on the Bataan Peninsula . Despite the almost complete lack of supplies, he succeeded in bloody fighting to stop the further advance of the Japanese for more than a month.
surrender
On April 9, 1942, Major General King had to surrender to the Japanese conquerors under Homma Masaharu on Bataan , as there was hardly any drinking water or food available. Thus the Japanese fell into the hands of an unexpectedly high number of starving, sick and emaciated prisoners, which far exceeded the number of their own troops. The American soldiers destroyed their ships and weapons as much as possible and fell into the hands of the Japanese. The fortress island of Corregidor was now the last American bastion in the Philippines, held by 15,000 GIs and Philippine troops. The Japanese artillery bombardment was able to gradually shut down the fortress batteries on Corregidor. An attack by 2,000 Japanese, begun on May 5th with air support, resulted in the surrender of the defenders of Corregidor under General Wainwright the following day.
On the subsequent death march from Bataan , up to 10,000 soldiers died before their arrival in a military camp 100 kilometers away.
Individual evidence
- ^ William H. Bartsch: December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor. College Station, Texas, USA: Texas A&M University Press, 2003. (English)
- ^ Clayton Chun: The Fall of the Philippines 1941–42. (English)
- ^ David M. Kennedy : Freedom from Fear - The American People in Depression and War. Oxford, 1999, p. 530. (English)
- ↑ Ikehata Setsuho: Introduction: The Japanese Occupation Period in Philippine History. In: The Philippines under Japan. Manila 1999, pp. 1-20. (English)
- ↑ US prisoners of war had to build kamikaze planes. welt.de, July 16, 2015
