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A Series of Brave Stands: The Retreat to Bataan December 25 1941 - January 8, 1942
A Series of Brave Stands: The Retreat to Bataan
Eisenhower orders General Ord and his II Corps, now reinforced with the 1st PA Infantry Division, to hold the Japanese up as long as possible in the Lake Taal area. General King is ordered to send the 51st Infantry Division to move north and then east into the Zambalas Mountains to take up position for a potential counterattack later. General King is ordered to send his corps artillery, as well as the corps artillery from I Corps which is already being evacuated and concentrate at San Fernando.
Wainwright meanwhile moves the 11th PA Division and 6th Cavalry brigade up to cover the withdrawal of the 12th and 23rd Divisions as well as corps artillery and all of the tanks of the 192nd and 194th battalions. The units pulled out are to pull back to San Fernando and take all the stores and supplies with them that they can carry with them. Everything that can be moved by railroad, at night, is to be moved right away.
The American pull back is aided a 24 hour pause by the Japanese, as they have to resupply and reorganize as well. However the Japanese land the 65th Infantry Brigade (which is nearly a division in size) as well as the remainder of the 4th Division is landed at Vigan. This Japanese pause however will have consequences, as the American troops, except for half of the 101st MP brigade which is under heavy pressure by the Japanese 4th Division, are able to break contact cleanly, and it allows plenty of time for the evacuation of the wounded, supplies, stores, support units and then combat units with little hindrance.
Further south the 21st Infantry Division has more difficulty. General Taniguchi pushes his division hard, according to Japanese doctrine of speed and still more speed to push forward and keep the enemy off balance. His supply situation however is not as stressed as the main force that has just fought a major battle further north. To break away, General Vincente Lim is forced to leave the 1/23rd behind at San Pablo to hold to the last bullet to buy more time.
The rivers and jungle that made the American counterattack a series of piecemeal actions however also works against the Japanese now, who slowed considerably as they expand their beachhead, and that expansion is aided by American motorized and horse cavalry troopers of the Texas / Montana 112th Cavalry and Philippine Scouts 26th Cavalry regiments. The Americans give the Japanese a very bloody nose on December 26 when they catch two depleted battalions of the 2nd Formosa Regiment crossing the Bued River and in a sharp counterattack by the 1st Squadron / 26th Cavalry on horse back and A Troop/1st Squadron / 112th Cavalry in trucks, scout cars aided by some half tracks with 75 mm guns overrun the two battalions and kill 300 Japanese soldiers at the cost of only 100 casualties. Both battalions are wrecked and have to be pulled out of the line, effectively reducing the 48th Division by an entire regiment as the remaining battalion of the 2nd Formosa was severely reduced already. Among the casualties is the commander of the 2nd Formosa who is relieved for cause and soon after takes his own life. 1st Lieutenant Edwin Ramsey, 26th Cavalry, who led the horse cavalry charge, is awarded the Silver Star for this action and within weeks is assigned to General Eisenhower as his aide-de-camp.
Boxing Day would remain an honored holiday in the Cavalry Branch of the US Army for generations to come.
On December 27 the Japanese land a brigade of Special Naval Landing Force troops at Palawig and shortly thereafter size Iba Field which they promptly begin to repair. They meet no resistance upon landing. However further north on this day the 101st MP Brigade, now redesignated the 101st Infantry Brigade (although it receives no replacements, reinforcements or extra supplies to make this more than a empty honor) fights a determined battle outside of Baguio with the 102nd Regiment and further east at Bessang Pass the 101st Regiment/101st Infantry Brigade inflicts a shattering ambush on the Japanese 37th Infantry Brigade / 4th Infantry Division, inflicting over 1,000 casualties and leaving it disorganized and combat ineffective for 3 days. Further south around Lake Taal the Japanese 16th Division finds a solid line, and with only two regiments available, General Homma orders it to hold off attacking until the rest of the 14th Army is closer to Manila but to detach troops to secure Balayan Bay and its useful port.
Homma is still waiting for replacements as his losses have been far heavier than expected and now two of his four major combat formations are at reduced combat effectiveness. Ammunition expenditures have been far heavier than planned as well. However his engineers have rebuilt the piers at Damortis and Lingayen allowing ships to actual unload directly ashore instead of having to rely on his overworked landing craft.
Meanwhile in Tokyo the General Staff is shocked that the Americans have managed to inflict over 13,000 combat casualties on the 14th Army in the first two weeks of the campaign, a number far higher than expected or planned for. Over 60 tanks have been lost as well as dozens of other motor vehicles and officer casualties have been particularly heavy. The 38th Infantry Division, which has recently captured Hong Kong, is alerted for likely deployment to Luzon as soon as shipping is available.
The 65th Infantry Brigade runs into the 11th PA Division and attached 43rd Infantry Regiment, and is forced to deploy in preparation for a set piece attack, which takes two days to set up in the dense jungle at which point the American troops withdraw leaving the attack to fall upon empty jungle. However General Homma is able to claim a victory on December 31 as the 4th Infantry Division enters Baguio, the summer capital of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and the Filipinos retreat from Bessang Pass. The 16th Division meanwhile probes the positions held by the 1st and 21st Division north of Lake Taal, but meanwhile has sent half of its force south to take Balayan which will outflank the American position. General Ord is aware of the Japanese progress but the small skirmishes gives him a chance to blood the 1st Infantry Division which had not yet been in contact with the enemy. The survivors of the 102nd Regiment/101st Infantry Brigade, all 400 of them, disband and go into the mountains to form the basis of what will eventually be a significant partisan movement in the Carabal Mountains by 1944.
On January 2, satisfied that the overwhelming majority of supplies and equipment have been evacuated, and with the bulk of his force now within reasonable distance of Bataan, he orders III Corps (12th and 23rd Divisions) which have mostly completed refitting, to be reissued their trucks so that they can begin pulling back from San Fernando to Bataan.
Meanwhile, the nearly 24,000 engineers of the Filipino 1st, 3rd and 4th Engineer brigades have been working for weeks to prepare Bataan for defense. One of the most important measures have been widespread efforts for mosquito control, as Bataan has a frighteningly high rate of the disease in peacetime. Most of the 20,000 civilians have been evacuated from the area or in the case of nearly 10,000 of them, put to work raising poultry, pigs and fish, or assisting the hospitals. The military engineering efforts have prepared two defense lines, and nearly every strand of barbed wire in Luzon is now in place, as well as hundreds of 3 inch mortar rounds converted into anti-personnel mines.
Food for nearly 100,000 people is now in place to last at least 9 months. Although Eisenhower knows he will run out of ammunition and men long before then when the Japanese attack for long enough, at least his men will fight in reasonable health.
Meanwhile on that same date, the 51st Infantry Division (PA) attacks a battalion of the 1st SNLF defending the Iba Field area, catching it by surprise. The Japanese are thrown back 4 kilometers but regroup and counter attack but merely stabilize the line. The 51st then retreats east back into the Zambales Mountains having suffered 400 casualties but earning valuable experience while forcing the Japanese to remain cautious. The Japanese 65th prepares another deliberate attack, this time against two battalions of the 43rd Philippine Scouts Regiment which are holding the line as the 11th Division has been pulled out by rail, and awaiting relief by the 26th Cavalry. The Japanese gain some ground as the Filipinos fall back in the jungle and otherwise achieve very little. However Balayan finally falls this date and Ord gives the command for his corps to prepare to retreat.
Manila is being stripped of everything of potential military value which continues to flow across Manila Bay by boat and barge every night, or by rail and road. The Commonwealth Government has already been reduced to a skeleton staff in the city, with the President, Vice President and several legislators and judges flown out via Cebu to Java and then Australia. With them are sent over 1,000 people, including staff and family members with only High Commissioner Sayre, Secretary of Justice Santos and Secretary of Defense Valdes remaining behind in Manila of the war cabinet, the rest having been evacuated. The city meanwhile is subject to daily bombing but as the Japanese Army has only 20-25 Lily bombers available at any one time for the mission, damage remains acceptable and so are casualties except of course for those actually personally affected. The city remains defended by the only a few batteries of 3 inch guns of the 3rd and 4th Philippine Coast Artillery, enough to keep the enemy bombers high but not enough to really defend the city. However while civilian casualties since the war began total nearly 8,000, the city continues to function.
Meanwhile Eisenhower moves his headquarters and the majority of his staff to Corregidor on January 2, although he and his forward staff remain at San Fernando overseeing the final phases of the withdrawal. He also orders that the engineers be used as a source of replacements for the Philippine Army and Philippine Scouts infantry battalions which sorely need men to replace their losses to date. This provides his infantry with nearly 6,000 well trained (at least in terms of discipline) men and with combat experienced NCOs and officers in the regiments will be able to rapidly make int useful infantrymen.
Among the final steps to prepare for siege is the disposition of the wounded. To date the US Army Far East (ground forces) have suffered just over 10,000 combat casualties. Of these 2,000 are POWs in Japanese hands, mostly from the battered 21st Infantry Division which lost a regiment at Lamon Bay. Another 3,000 are killed or missing. Of the 5,000 wounded, half are expected to be out of action for over 30 days. Of these 2,500 men, all but 400 are Filipinos. These wounded are shifted to civilian hospitals or to their homes if possible. The American severely wounded, as well as the Filipinos who have wounds they are likely to recover from soon are shifted to hospitals in Bataan. A small flow of those American seriously wounded are evacuated by air (about 20 a day) by air transport to Cebu and Del Monte, where previously an evacuation hospital had been established. A trickle of medical supplies continues to come in by that same air route, although those supplies have to compete for space with other vital parts and supplies.
Eisenhower orders the Chennault and most of the remainder of the US Army Air Force Far East (USAFFE) out of the Philippines on January 3. A composite group consisting of the remaining fighters, light bombers and harassment aircraft will remain in Bataan, along with a ground element and squadron of volunteer pilots from the USAAF and PAAF. Heading this squadron is now Lieutenant Colonel William Dyess. Ground service crews will remain at Del Monte and Cebu to support the 4th Composite Group, which controls the remaining 30 medium and light transport aircraft that remain (Lieutenant Colonel Pappy Gunn, US Army Reserve), along with a few Navy float planes that are attached to the 16th Naval District. The seaplane tenders Childs and Preston, both converted 4 stack destroyers, make a final run to Bataan on January 2 with 100 infantry replacement volunteers from Cebu and nearly 300 tons of mortar rounds (60 and 81 mm) as well as a new SCR-270 radar set (all of which were rushed forward by those same two ships from Australia). Taking advantage of heavy rain, the ships remain until the night of January 3, allowing them to complete their offloading and take aboard 200 stretcher cases of American wounded. By good fortune both make it to Cebu without being detected, but sadly neither survives the Battle of the Celebes Sea. They are the last two American surface ships to leave Luzon successfully.
On the night of January 6, the last American and Filipino military and civilian government personnel evacuate Manila by boat. The Japanese 16th Division is a mere 20 kilometers away from both Manila and Cavite, while the Japanese 48th Division has patrols entering Camp O' Donnell. The only remaining major unit that is still outside of Bataan is the 6th Cavalry Brigade, and with the 26th Cavalry and 112th Cavalry both in position to retreat unimpeded. Both however are deployed in front of Clark Field in a final effort to once again make the Japanese deploy for an assault before they fall back and also to buy a little more time for the evacuation of useful salvaged equipment and parts.
The Japanese react as expected, and once again the American cavalry breaks off after a few skirmishes. The final demolition parties retreat through the cavalry screen as it retreats south and on January 8, 1942, the Japanese enter Manila and on that same date, the last of the American rear guard, A Troop/1 Squadron / 112th Cavalry Regiment, enters the Bataan defense line.
Homma is criticized in part for his slowness in pursuing the Americans after Lingayen Gulf, although he is defended by others who point out at his heavy losses, weakness in supply and the unexpected heavy resistance put up by Filipino troops, as strong as the Chinese resistance in the Battle of Shanghai back in 1937. General Homma keeps his job, but there are grumblings back in Tokyo and few see a role for him after the campaign is over. He is ordered to finish off the Americans as soon as possible.
Meanwhile in Bataan the siege is finally about to begin.