Eisenhower in the Pacific: Part 1 The Shoestring Warriors of Luzon
- Thread starter galveston bay
- Start date
The Siege February - March 1942 (part 2) Japanese forces and buildup
Japanese Forces Siege of Bataan April 5, 1942
The 20th Army is taken from Kwantung Army February 11with General Seki Genroku in command until his death from dengue fever March 3. He is then replaced by Major General Kita Siechi. The 14th Army is relegated to garrison duty in Luzon and stripped of its artillery, armor and most of its engineers. General Homma is made military governor of Luzon while retaining his command. This is considered a major humiliation but deserved for his failure to destroy the American and Filipino forces before they escaped to Bataan.
14th Army
48th Infantry Division - badly mauled in the early campaign, it is combat ineffective by the end of the December and spends January and February as the garrison of Manila before finally getting sufficient replacements to allow it to be sent to Timor in April 1942.
65th Infantry Division – badly mauled at 1st Bataan, it suffers serious attrition in January and February holding the line from disease before it is moved to Manila to take over garrison duty as well as providing garrisons for northern Luzon.
14th Infantry Division – like the other divisions of the 14th Army, severely mauled at 1st Bataan and suffered serious casualties from disease until pulled out of the line in early March. It takes over garrison duty in southern and central Luzon. The 65th and 14th Divisions are still understrength due to casualties and are not considered capable of offensive operations.
10th Independent Garrison Force – arrives April 2, and consists of 5 infantry battalions of reservists for garrison duty who are assigned positions in central Luzon.
20th Army
16th Infantry Division – badly mauled at 1st Bataan, more so by disease, this division was pulled back to Subic Bay to refit and absorb replacements and remains there until April as the garrison until sufficient Imperial Navy garrison troops can be moved to Subic Bay to take over.
4th Infantry Division – seriously hurt at 1st Bataan, for a time was the only division holding the line for almost two weeks and suffered heavy attrition from disease and small scale clashes with the enemy. It is the highest priority in terms of replacements and thus is fully back up to strength by the end of March, although few of the infantry soldiers in the front line battalions remain from the start of the campaign.
38th Infantry Division – this division conquered Hong Kong, where it took serious losses and committed a number of atrocities. It arrives at Subic Bay in late March and moves into line alongside of the 4th Infantry Division where it quickly becomes known for its aggressive patrolling. Its deployment to the Philippines forced the allocation of a division from Manchuria to take its place in the Invasion of Java
Army troops – 4th, 7th Tank Regiments (150 light and medium tanks total), 3rd, 21st Engineer Regiments, 1st, 8th, 16th Field Artillery regiments (105 and 150 mm guns), 9th Artillery battalion (150 mm guns)
also arriving is the 62nd Infantry Brigade (drawn from the 21st Infantry Division out of Indochina)
1st Artillery Special Brigade (5.9 inch howitzers, 9.4 inch guns, and 210 mm howitzers, with the 9.4 inch guns already shelling Fort Frank, the rest are in Bataan). Later the 10th Artillery Command, a division sized formation, takes over and the 1st Special Brigade is incorporated into it.
Also arriving is the 22nd Air Brigade with 60 Helen bombers to upgrade Army aviation in the Philippines and take the place of Naval Air Force units that have been sent elsewhere. This gives the Japanese Army 90 medium and 120 light bombers for operations over Luzon, along with 60 Nate and Oscar fighters.
Navy Units
1st and 4th Kure Special Naval Landing Force (brigade strength units, with the 1st at Manila, the 4th at Subic Bay). Only a few float planes and flying boats remained assigned to the Philippines at this time.
As of April 1, the Japanese have suffered 35,000 casualties, including 8,000 dead, 11,000 wounded or sick to the point of evacuation from the theater, and the Americans hold 250 prisoners (most of whom were captured while wounded and helpless).
The 20th Army is taken from Kwantung Army February 11with General Seki Genroku in command until his death from dengue fever March 3. He is then replaced by Major General Kita Siechi. The 14th Army is relegated to garrison duty in Luzon and stripped of its artillery, armor and most of its engineers. General Homma is made military governor of Luzon while retaining his command. This is considered a major humiliation but deserved for his failure to destroy the American and Filipino forces before they escaped to Bataan.
14th Army
48th Infantry Division - badly mauled in the early campaign, it is combat ineffective by the end of the December and spends January and February as the garrison of Manila before finally getting sufficient replacements to allow it to be sent to Timor in April 1942.
65th Infantry Division – badly mauled at 1st Bataan, it suffers serious attrition in January and February holding the line from disease before it is moved to Manila to take over garrison duty as well as providing garrisons for northern Luzon.
14th Infantry Division – like the other divisions of the 14th Army, severely mauled at 1st Bataan and suffered serious casualties from disease until pulled out of the line in early March. It takes over garrison duty in southern and central Luzon. The 65th and 14th Divisions are still understrength due to casualties and are not considered capable of offensive operations.
10th Independent Garrison Force – arrives April 2, and consists of 5 infantry battalions of reservists for garrison duty who are assigned positions in central Luzon.
20th Army
16th Infantry Division – badly mauled at 1st Bataan, more so by disease, this division was pulled back to Subic Bay to refit and absorb replacements and remains there until April as the garrison until sufficient Imperial Navy garrison troops can be moved to Subic Bay to take over.
4th Infantry Division – seriously hurt at 1st Bataan, for a time was the only division holding the line for almost two weeks and suffered heavy attrition from disease and small scale clashes with the enemy. It is the highest priority in terms of replacements and thus is fully back up to strength by the end of March, although few of the infantry soldiers in the front line battalions remain from the start of the campaign.
38th Infantry Division – this division conquered Hong Kong, where it took serious losses and committed a number of atrocities. It arrives at Subic Bay in late March and moves into line alongside of the 4th Infantry Division where it quickly becomes known for its aggressive patrolling. Its deployment to the Philippines forced the allocation of a division from Manchuria to take its place in the Invasion of Java
Army troops – 4th, 7th Tank Regiments (150 light and medium tanks total), 3rd, 21st Engineer Regiments, 1st, 8th, 16th Field Artillery regiments (105 and 150 mm guns), 9th Artillery battalion (150 mm guns)
also arriving is the 62nd Infantry Brigade (drawn from the 21st Infantry Division out of Indochina)
1st Artillery Special Brigade (5.9 inch howitzers, 9.4 inch guns, and 210 mm howitzers, with the 9.4 inch guns already shelling Fort Frank, the rest are in Bataan). Later the 10th Artillery Command, a division sized formation, takes over and the 1st Special Brigade is incorporated into it.
Also arriving is the 22nd Air Brigade with 60 Helen bombers to upgrade Army aviation in the Philippines and take the place of Naval Air Force units that have been sent elsewhere. This gives the Japanese Army 90 medium and 120 light bombers for operations over Luzon, along with 60 Nate and Oscar fighters.
Navy Units
1st and 4th Kure Special Naval Landing Force (brigade strength units, with the 1st at Manila, the 4th at Subic Bay). Only a few float planes and flying boats remained assigned to the Philippines at this time.
As of April 1, the Japanese have suffered 35,000 casualties, including 8,000 dead, 11,000 wounded or sick to the point of evacuation from the theater, and the Americans hold 250 prisoners (most of whom were captured while wounded and helpless).
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authors note: the 38th Infantry Division is the result of events in the story creating ripples, as is the deployment of another Special Naval Landing Force. The artillery and engineers and tanks are historical, as are the remaining infantry divisions and brigades. The 48th Division is deployed late due to events in the story too, which caused other problems.
In all an entire army (the 20th) and 3 divisions have been stripped from Manchuria, and 3 divisions are raised early and sent to Manchuria to replace them (which means they are training units for a long time to come). This reduced the Kwantung Army from 13 to 10 combat divisions, and several other divisions are at reduced strength as they are raided for cadres for divisions in Japan which were gutted to provide emergency replacements for Luzon and other Southern Operations (Malaya took heavier casualties than OTL as well).
In all the Japanese have suffered roughly 50% greater casualties than historical to date. The biggest impact is that the Kwantung Army is not capable of any offensive operations in the spring and summer of 1942, which historically the Japanese were planning to conduct if the Soviets collapsed as a result of German operations. Stalin is well apprised of this information as spring begins.
Ambitious plans for an invasion of Darwin have been cancelled, due primarily to losses.
Hopes for a quick move into India in April/May 1942 are also cancelled, although a major Japanese naval raid is heading for the Indian Ocean
In all an entire army (the 20th) and 3 divisions have been stripped from Manchuria, and 3 divisions are raised early and sent to Manchuria to replace them (which means they are training units for a long time to come). This reduced the Kwantung Army from 13 to 10 combat divisions, and several other divisions are at reduced strength as they are raided for cadres for divisions in Japan which were gutted to provide emergency replacements for Luzon and other Southern Operations (Malaya took heavier casualties than OTL as well).
In all the Japanese have suffered roughly 50% greater casualties than historical to date. The biggest impact is that the Kwantung Army is not capable of any offensive operations in the spring and summer of 1942, which historically the Japanese were planning to conduct if the Soviets collapsed as a result of German operations. Stalin is well apprised of this information as spring begins.
Ambitious plans for an invasion of Darwin have been cancelled, due primarily to losses.
Hopes for a quick move into India in April/May 1942 are also cancelled, although a major Japanese naval raid is heading for the Indian Ocean
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Interesting. IIRC the Invasion of Burma wasn't conducted with troops from any other campaigns (it had the 15th Army assigned to it), but are there any butterflies there? If supplies could keep flowing to China through the Burma Road that would have huge butterflies.
As is, given that it's unlikely the Kwantung Army will ever see those troops again, I wonder what the butterflies could be for the Soviet Invasion of Manchuria. If the force gets depleted enough and the Soviets get far enough south fast enough there might not be a divided Korea.
The Burma Campaign is continuing per OTL. A division from the Malaya Campaign (the 18th) had to get some additional replacements, but it was a higher priority than Luzon. The other reinforcing division for Burma (the 56th) was replaced by a division from Manchuria which took its place in the Java campaign.
Burma is a very high priority, as it has oil, rice and other important resources as well as being the shield for SE Asia and of course it is a very high priority to cut the Burma Road (which is cut as soon as Rangoon fell in any event). China remains as screwed in this timeline as OTL.
Just read the wiki on the Peggy bomber - so this is available in 1942 verses 1944?
Don't think it is likely that the Ki-67 Peggy bomber will be avaliable at all at this point in time.
Most likely it would be the Ki-49 Helen.
'
Edit: Ninja's strike again from Shogun Galveston.....
How badly does this strain army-navy relations in Japan? Or not too bad yet because they're still winning?
I'd also suggest this must have some butterflies in the Soviet-German fighting, but you could probably make a whole 5-thread timeline to work out those effects
Battle of Balanga Bagac Line (prelude)
Battle of the Balanga Bagac Line (The Good Friday Offensive)
April 1
After weeks of reinforcement and refitting and difficult feats of logistics to establish forward supply dumps and move adequate artillery ammunition forward, the Japanese 20th Army is finally almost ready to begin its attack. Filipino and Japanese troops engage in numerous patrol actions across the front, and General Wainwright is convinced that the Japanese will launch a major offensive within days. Orders are issued to deliver a special Easter Dinner to all units on April 2 (Maundy Thursday).
April 2
Luzon Force Intelligence determines that the main weight of the Japanese attack will be directed once again on the eastern (Manila Bay) side of Bataan. The Japanese begin their final preparations. After dinner that evening, the reserve commanded by General Lim with the 101st Infantry Division (PA) and 6th Cavalry Brigade (US), along with Bataan Engineer Group (PA, brigade strength), and the reserve artillery are moved within a few kilometers of the line under cover of night so that they are in easy reach of the positions held by I Corps (King) with the 1st Infantry Division (PA), 51st Infantry Division (PA) and 12th Infantry Division (US/PA). II Corps is stripped of half of its remaining artillery and mortar ammunition held in divisional and corps depots and that ammunition is sent back to the rear to establish a reserve. As of this date the Luzon Force is down to just 4 units of fire available for its artillery and mortars.
April 3 Pre dawn
American and Filipino troops are sleeping or on sentry duty (half awake, half asleep or trying to doze at lease) when the first reports of infiltration efforts begin to make the rounds on the front of the I Corps. Scattered fire fights begin to break out at 0400 hours and after. Flares and starshells begin to light up the sky all along the I Corps Front, while Japanese mortars begin hammering known defensive positions. Word reaches General King, who orders all units to stand to and prepare to receive the enemy including the II Corps, just in case the Japanese push there as well. A message reporting that the enemy offensive appears to be imminent is sent to Wainwright, who orders a radio report be sent to Eisenhower in Australia.
Japanese Artillery about to open fire on Good Friday, April 3, 1942
Situation US Army Far East Luzon Force Midnight April 2/3 1942
In the 67 days since the end of the 1st Bataan, the front has been quiet, with activity limited to patrol actions, harassment shelling and sniping, and occasionally more aggressive raids. A steady bombing campaign has been waged against Corregidor, with occasional raids at Mariveles and smaller towns in American held Bataan. The tropical conditions have also inflicted malaria and dengue fever on the troops, although aggressive anti-mosquito efforts taken before and during the campaign have reduced this from what could have been worse. In those 2 months, 6,000 men have died from wounds, injuries or disease. Another 3,000 were died in combat or subsequently from wounds or injuries during or after the fighting of 1st Bataan, thus of the 112,000 men who successfully retreated to Bataan, around 9,000 of them are dead. Another 20,000 are sick but recovering and in their units, aid stations or on light duty in the rear suffering from relatively serious bouts of malaria, dengue fever, injuries or wounds. Most of these men returned to their posts when it became clear that a major attack was coming. Another 13,000 men are in hospitals with serious wounds that require extensive recovery time or are permanently disabling. Another 2,000 seriously wounded were flown out or evacuated by submarine, as were 4,000 men and women (most of whom also had suffered bouts of Malaria). At this point only a temperature of 103 degrees will warrant evacuation to a hospital. Nearly everyone on Bataan has had or is still suffering from either Malaria or Dengue Fever by April 2.
In a conventional campaign, the combat units of the Luzon force would have been withdrawn for refitting, or received extensive replacements, and almost 60,000 of the men of the 103,000 left after 1st Bataan would have been replaced or sent to the rear for extended periods to recover. That is impossible here. As of April 2, infantry companies are running at about 70% strength, with battalions a bit closer to 80% (as many sick remain at the battalion level) but at least the men are still getting standard rations and clean water.
Ammunition for small arms is adequate for at least a couple of more serious battles, but artillery and mortar ammunition is down to 4 days worth (a unit of fire can be found here)
http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/U/n/Unit_Of_Fire.htm
April 1
After weeks of reinforcement and refitting and difficult feats of logistics to establish forward supply dumps and move adequate artillery ammunition forward, the Japanese 20th Army is finally almost ready to begin its attack. Filipino and Japanese troops engage in numerous patrol actions across the front, and General Wainwright is convinced that the Japanese will launch a major offensive within days. Orders are issued to deliver a special Easter Dinner to all units on April 2 (Maundy Thursday).
April 2
Luzon Force Intelligence determines that the main weight of the Japanese attack will be directed once again on the eastern (Manila Bay) side of Bataan. The Japanese begin their final preparations. After dinner that evening, the reserve commanded by General Lim with the 101st Infantry Division (PA) and 6th Cavalry Brigade (US), along with Bataan Engineer Group (PA, brigade strength), and the reserve artillery are moved within a few kilometers of the line under cover of night so that they are in easy reach of the positions held by I Corps (King) with the 1st Infantry Division (PA), 51st Infantry Division (PA) and 12th Infantry Division (US/PA). II Corps is stripped of half of its remaining artillery and mortar ammunition held in divisional and corps depots and that ammunition is sent back to the rear to establish a reserve. As of this date the Luzon Force is down to just 4 units of fire available for its artillery and mortars.
April 3 Pre dawn
American and Filipino troops are sleeping or on sentry duty (half awake, half asleep or trying to doze at lease) when the first reports of infiltration efforts begin to make the rounds on the front of the I Corps. Scattered fire fights begin to break out at 0400 hours and after. Flares and starshells begin to light up the sky all along the I Corps Front, while Japanese mortars begin hammering known defensive positions. Word reaches General King, who orders all units to stand to and prepare to receive the enemy including the II Corps, just in case the Japanese push there as well. A message reporting that the enemy offensive appears to be imminent is sent to Wainwright, who orders a radio report be sent to Eisenhower in Australia.
Japanese Artillery about to open fire on Good Friday, April 3, 1942
Situation US Army Far East Luzon Force Midnight April 2/3 1942
In the 67 days since the end of the 1st Bataan, the front has been quiet, with activity limited to patrol actions, harassment shelling and sniping, and occasionally more aggressive raids. A steady bombing campaign has been waged against Corregidor, with occasional raids at Mariveles and smaller towns in American held Bataan. The tropical conditions have also inflicted malaria and dengue fever on the troops, although aggressive anti-mosquito efforts taken before and during the campaign have reduced this from what could have been worse. In those 2 months, 6,000 men have died from wounds, injuries or disease. Another 3,000 were died in combat or subsequently from wounds or injuries during or after the fighting of 1st Bataan, thus of the 112,000 men who successfully retreated to Bataan, around 9,000 of them are dead. Another 20,000 are sick but recovering and in their units, aid stations or on light duty in the rear suffering from relatively serious bouts of malaria, dengue fever, injuries or wounds. Most of these men returned to their posts when it became clear that a major attack was coming. Another 13,000 men are in hospitals with serious wounds that require extensive recovery time or are permanently disabling. Another 2,000 seriously wounded were flown out or evacuated by submarine, as were 4,000 men and women (most of whom also had suffered bouts of Malaria). At this point only a temperature of 103 degrees will warrant evacuation to a hospital. Nearly everyone on Bataan has had or is still suffering from either Malaria or Dengue Fever by April 2.
In a conventional campaign, the combat units of the Luzon force would have been withdrawn for refitting, or received extensive replacements, and almost 60,000 of the men of the 103,000 left after 1st Bataan would have been replaced or sent to the rear for extended periods to recover. That is impossible here. As of April 2, infantry companies are running at about 70% strength, with battalions a bit closer to 80% (as many sick remain at the battalion level) but at least the men are still getting standard rations and clean water.
Ammunition for small arms is adequate for at least a couple of more serious battles, but artillery and mortar ammunition is down to 4 days worth (a unit of fire can be found here)
http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/U/n/Unit_Of_Fire.htm
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authors notes:
Attrition based on the numbers from this post, adjusting here and there for other factors
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...arriors-of-luzon.409504/page-41#post-14513899
When the real battle for Corregidor begins, it will have its own situation report numbers
Historically, this offensive broke the Luzon Force due to Japanese firepower, and the effects of exhaustion, illness, and malnutrition on the garrison. Only about a third of the garrison was more or less fit for combat in OTL (and only in the sense that they were well enough to fight on the defense and move a 100 yards without collapsing). ITTL, the garrison is closer to 80% effectiveness, more like the Marines of Guadalcanal in terms of the effects of illness and poor food (but adequate amounts). So the Filipinos and Americans will be able to physically handle the stress of the battle.
But now it comes down to fighting...
Attrition based on the numbers from this post, adjusting here and there for other factors
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...arriors-of-luzon.409504/page-41#post-14513899
When the real battle for Corregidor begins, it will have its own situation report numbers
Historically, this offensive broke the Luzon Force due to Japanese firepower, and the effects of exhaustion, illness, and malnutrition on the garrison. Only about a third of the garrison was more or less fit for combat in OTL (and only in the sense that they were well enough to fight on the defense and move a 100 yards without collapsing). ITTL, the garrison is closer to 80% effectiveness, more like the Marines of Guadalcanal in terms of the effects of illness and poor food (but adequate amounts). So the Filipinos and Americans will be able to physically handle the stress of the battle.
But now it comes down to fighting...
Is there any plausibly conceivable way to get more ammunition to the forces on Bataan, as by one way flights of planes with extra fuel tanks that drop the supplies before the crew bails out? I ask this because, if I'm not mistaken, the Japanese in this scenario do not yet have full control of the PI outer islands or of the Dutch East Indies.
I seem to recall reading accounts IOTL of mortar and heavy machine gun ammunition being delivered ? (In fairly small quantities.)
Subs delivered both 0.50-caliber ammo as well as new 3-inch AA shells (the older shells had bad fuses), they also delivered quinine and some replacement equipment.
However, subs are limited in both the quantity of material they can carry, plus all crates have to fit inside their hatches. This means a lot of things can't be delivered by sub, and the quantities delivered are going to be small - generally not enough to turn the tide but enough to keep the defenders going...
Japanese troops that survive will have a higher degree of respect for the "weak" yankees then i guess. Heroes of Bataan will have more movies made about them i guess since they are basically the Alamo now
And to keep the defenders from feeling as if they've been abandoned and written off. IMHO morale counts for a lot in situations like this.
You are 100% right about that, I should have mentioned it myself...
The subs also took out valuable personnel with information and skills badly needed for the war effort, another useful function...
Guardian54
Banned
In any siege, the will of the defender to fight to the last soldier, the last bullet and the last bayonet is the most decisive aspect of the siege.
Whether it decides how long they can stall the enemy (Bataan, Leningrad, etc.), or whether there will be a civilization left by the time the siege is over (Operation Starvation) depends on context.