Luz Banzon Magsaysay – Part 3 of Chapter 6

Part 3

Boone’s arrival

It was late in the afternoon when local guerillas led by Colonel John Boone and Guillermo Arcenas showed up at the Layac Junction. They were welcomed by the American contingent. The two guerrilla leaders informed the Americans of the presence of another big Japanese contingent concentrated in the mountains of Bataan, specifically in Hermosa.

They also informed the Americans that three towns (Hermosa, Dinalupihan and Abucay) in Bataan had already been fully liberated from the Japanese.

Cavalry in Bulacan

The Manila-bound American First Cavalry Division, composed of about 16,000 soldiers,  entered Malolos, Bulacan on January 22 with very little opposition. Later in the  afternoon, the Cavalrymen received an order from General MacArthur to proceed to Meycauayan and set up blocking forces against some Japanese units reported to be fleeing from Manila.

Americans in Meycawayan

In the early morning of January 23, the American Liberation forces now gathered in Meycauayan, Bulacan were ordered to move again to another position in Polo, some five kilometers away from Caloocan City. They were tasked to hold the line while waiting for the rest of the American First Cavalry Division coming from Pangasinan.

By this time, most of the American forces had already landed in Lingayen. In fact, the XIV Corps also began the drive south as early as January 18. The 37th and 40th Infantry Divisions used a narrow front without thinking of protecting its flank knowing that the Japanese forces on the Central Plain had been defeated or had evacuated northward.

Baguio assault

American dive bombers began its bombing run in Baguio City exactly two weeks after the American Liberation forces landed in Lingayen, Pangasinan. Pinpointed Japanese outposts and barracks in the city were the targets of the American pilots. It was an obvious effort to deprive the Japanese gathered in the city of pines.

Japanese resistance

The XIV Corps, 37th and 40th Infantry Divisions encountered minor resistance from the remaining Japanese troops outside Clark Field today. General Walter Kruger committed the 40th Infantry Regiment to defend the Clark Field area and ordered the 37th Infantry Regiment to proceed to Polo, Bulacan to join forces with the leading First Cavalry Division and the XIV Corps.

Zigzag Pass meet

In Dinalupihan, the US 38^th Cavalry Reconnaisance Troop, 38^th Field Artillery Battalion, 113^th Engineer Combat Battalion and the 138^th Field Artillery Battallion finally arrived in town. They were welcomed by the 38^th Cavalry Regiment and other units. They immediately took positions along the (present) Bamban-Colo-San Benito frontline in Dinalupihan to deter the Japanese from escaping from the Zigzag Pass.

The 113^th Medical Battalion also showed up in Dinalupihan in the afternoon and took the rear position in the Poblacion area. They started giving away food rations and medicines – cascara, bismuth powder, bottles of quinine, sulfaguanidine, sulfadiazine and atabrine — to the remaining civilians in the area.

First confrontation

The Japanese Kembu soldiers atop Mount Malasimbu resumed firing at some reconnaissance troopers belonging to the US 38^th Cavalry Battalion. No casualty was reported  on the American side. They simply crossed the Almacen River, away from the enemy’s range of fire.

The 138^th Field Artillery Battalion took it from there. They shelled the cone-like mountain from top to bottom, almost incessantly. It was also the first of the numerous close encounters in the Zigzag Pass.

Corregidor bombing

The aerial bombing of Corregidor also started primarily to soften up the Japanese defenses on the island. The carrer-based heavy bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) commenced the aerial assault on the Manila Bay island and continued almost daily until February 16, with about 540 long tons of incendiary bombs dropped.

Estimated figures of the bombing campaign on Corregidor up to February 24 showed 2,028 effective sorties, with 3,163 short tons of bombs dropped on the island.

American units

More American units arrived in Dinalupihan on January 24. They include the 149^th, 151^st, and 152^nd 1nfantry Battalions, together with the 139^th Artillery Second Battalion and the 38^th Division Special Troops.

At noon, two companies from the 113^th Engineer Combat Battalion doing rehabilitation-repair of a bridge in Barrio Bacong (Hermosa) were fired upon by Japanese snipers holed up near Bamban. Three Americans were killed, but the rest escaped towards Luacan, Dinalupihan.

In retaliation, the 139^th Artillery Second Battalion bombarded Japanese positions in Bamban (Hermosa) for nearly an hour. The range of the guns was about five to ten kilometers. Against white clouds above the mountain, everyone saw deadly shells soaring on to their deadly mission. Some seconds later, dust and smoke burst into the air, and then after a longer time, the loud “bangs” were heard.

Small American observation planes were up in the air all this time, taking pictures of Mount Malasimbu and the adjoining moutains, and radioing back information regarding hits and other places to be targetted. Heavy bombers in groups of six circled over the numerous hills and then also dropped their bombs. The mountain slopes roared back their displeasure.

On the western front, the Liberation faction under General Walter Krueger and     guerrillas from Zambales attacked the Japanese Western Sector regiment holed up along the Bangal-Tipo area. Shots rang out all afternoon and stopped only before dusk.

Overall, the Japanese Kembu Group were still successful in their defense of the western sector line.

On to Manila

By January 25, the American First Cavalry Division advanced to Polo, Bulacan after learning that the 37^th Infantry Regiment, the replacement of the 38^th Infantry currently involved in the Battle of Zigzag Pass in Dinalupihan, bogged down in Calumpit, Bulacan.

In the southern sector of Manila, the advance of the 11^th Airborne Division toward Manila was also delayed by the stiff  defense put up by a faction of the Japanese Shimbu Group in the Las Pinas area.

The Batangas Force was also delayed by the light opposition put up by Japanese soldiers assigned near the Cavite-Laguna boundary. Sporadic fightings also occurred in Cabuyao (Laguna) and Carmona (Cavite).

All the while, the Japanese also established a defense line near the Fort McKinley and Nichols Field areas, a stronghold they called the “Genko Line.”

Killing spree in Bataan

Lt. Kaneshiro, the one-time translator between General Edward King and General Masaharu Homma during the April 9, 1942 surrender of the USAFFE forces in Bataan, and currently the regiment’s commanding officer in the Balanga-Pilar-Orion area, surrounded Barrio Camachile, Orion and at gunpoint, arrested 186 males from the coastal barrio. Interrogations were held inside the barrio while the whole village started to light up in flames .

The Japanese left the barrio at 3:00 in the afternoon. They took with them 80 people, mostly residents of Barrio Sto. Domingo. Two boys, aged seven and two, were also taken prisoners to the Balanga Elementary School where further interrogation followed.  About one-half of the total number of these villagers from Sto. Domingo, were among those rescued by the American forces after liberating the said town on February 13, 1945.

Move faster

On January 26, soldiers of the First Cavalry Division, upon reaching Polo, Bulacan,  came across the intact Balintawak Beer Brewery and helped themselves to cold beer.

General Douglas MacArthur, fearing for the safety of the Allied internees still being held at the University of Santo Tomas, prodded the 37^th Infantry Regiment to move faster toward the town of Polo and join forces with the First Cavalry Division and the XIV Corps.

In the south sector of Manila, new units belonging to the 11^th Airborne Division were involved in another parachute drop in the wide areas of Taguig and Pateros. Their mission was to encircle the Japanese forces concentrated inside the vast Fort MacKinley, which at this time no longer had the support of their air force planes. This was confirmed when American planes were not challenged in the air by the once-formidable Japanese Air Force formerly based in nearby Nichols Field.

The Japanese, somehow, already expected the parachute drop. They tried to prevent it by using their anti-aircraft guns but failed to hit even a single Liberation warplane. Still, they remained in the camp and fortified their positions inside the Genko Line.

Save the American POWs

Seventeen days after the American landing in Pangasinan, Major Bob Lapham, the American USAFFE senior guerrilla chief based in Nueva Ecija, traveled from Cabanatuan to the Sixth Army headquarters in Pangasinan, some 30 miles away. He proposed to Lieutenant General Walter Krueger that a rescue attempt be made to liberate the estimated 500 mixed POWs at the Cabanatuan prison camp before the Japanese could possibly kill them all.

Major Lapham had already considered freeing the prisoners from the Cabanatuan camp even before the Liberation forces attacked Leyte. Unfortunately, he feared logistical issues concerning hiding and caring for the prisoners.

An earlier plan was also proposed by Lieutenant Colonel Bernard Anderson, leader of another guerrilla group based near the camp: that they (local guerrillas) would secure the prisoners, escort them 50 miles (80 km) to Debut Bay, and transport them out of the country using 30 submarines. Unfortunately, the plan was denied approval as General Douglas MacArthur feared that the Japanese would catch up with the fleeing prisoners and kill them all. In addition, the Navy did not have the required number of submarines, especially with MacArthur’s upcoming invasion of Luzon.

General Krueger approved Lapham’s plan and said that if any rescue attempt were to be made in Cabanatuan, it would have to be on January 29, at 7:30 in the evening.

Southern liberation forces

In the southern sector, the 11^th Airborne Division fought their way along the national highway of Las Pinas on January 27. In single-file, they kept to the shelter of the houses to avoid sniper’s fire. The Japanese, unexpectedly, resorted to a guerrilla type of warfare inside the town, knowing that they could not win against the American’s big artillery and great tanks.

Before dusk, a faction of the Batangas Force also reached Las Pinas. Instead of joining the 11^th Airborne, they immediately proceeded northeast, toward the Nichols Field area, also part of the Japanese Genko Line.

On the same night, people heard numerous firing coming from three directions: Las Pinas, Nichols Field and Fort MacKinley. The fighting died down at early dawn. In the end, the Batangas Force succeeded in defeating the Japanese soldiers based in Cabuyao (Laguna) and Carmona (Cavite). They immediately motored toward Las Pinas to join forces with the 11^th Airborne Division.

During all this time, the Japanese Naval Defense Force in Manila under Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi did not bother to send reinforcement to Las Pinas. Instead, they concentrated on the defense of the city itself.

Hungry but free

The people of Las Pinas woke up the following day still hungry but free. Waving old Philippine flags, they gathered on the streets and watched the triumphant Liberation soldiers motored toward the direction of Manila. They opened their doors and offered their houses as resting area for the tired and haggard soldiers and guerrillas. Here and there, dead Japanese soldiers lay on the streets and inside damaged houses, from the previous night’s fighting.

Without wasting precious time, the 11^th Airborne proceeded to Paranaque early in the morning. Here, they met very little opposition from the Japanese outside the town.

Not aware of the exact number of the enemy, the Liberation troops proceeded cautiously

from La Huerta up to the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran. By dusk, the whole town of Parañaque was liberated.

The 11^th Airborne and the Batangas Force finally reunited in Paranaque. When informed that the Japanese defenses inside Fort MacKinley and Nichols Field were already on the verge of collapse, the combined Liberation units decided to assault their next target, Pasay City, the following day.

Huk lands

After successfully liberating at least eight towns in Pampanga from the Japanese, Castro Alejandrino of the Huk organization was “elected” as provisional governor of Pampanga by the eight incumbent municipal mayors today on January 28.

Another Huk leader, Juan Feleo, was also “elected” as governor of Nueva Ecija. (This explains why the Americans found Huk guerrillas already occupying the provincial building in Cabanatuan when they arrived on January 31 to liberate the Americans concentrated in the prison camp.)

Pasay defense line

The majority of the retreating Japanese troops who defended Las Pinas two days ago had decided to establish their new defense line in Pasay City on January 29. Again, Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi did not bother to send reinforcements to Pasay. He had already decided on a protracted defense of Malate, starting from the former Buendia Avenue (now Gil Puyat).

Before noon, American shells from the sky and from land sizzled toward  the  Japanese  defenses  along  the Pasay-Manila boundary. An hour later, the Liberation forces moved in and came into contact with the Japanese scattered along Libertad Street. The fighting took place block by block northward.

The Japanese, who occupied the De La Salle University for two hours, started to withdraw toward Malate and San Andres. At past noon, a faction of the Batangas Force previously involved in the siege of Nichols Field showed up in Makati, near Buendia Avenue. They established contact with the 11^th Airborne and committed their forces in the San Andres-Santa Ana area while the fighting continued. At night, the Liberation forces were within two blocks from Vito Cruz, in the vicinity of the present Philippine General Hospital.

MacArthur’s second front

General MacArthur opened a second front in the planned drive to Manila. Even before XIV Corps began the drive south to Manila from Pangasinan (the first part of Operation Mike 6), a second amphibious landing headed by the 38th Division of the XI Corps, albeit on a much smaller scale than at Lingayen Gulf, landed troops in San Narciso, north of Subic Bay and 25 miles west of the Bataan Peninsula. The American landings were also unopposed. The XI Corps was placed under the command of General Charles L. Jones since January 27.

Naval base freed

Early January 30, the port facilities at Olongapo were completely in the hands of the 34th Regiment Combat Team (RCT). This included the Grande Island. There was only one American casualty, an enlisted man who was gored by an angry bull inside the naval base.

Unfortunately, other Japanese units formerly assigned at the Subic Naval Base had evacuated before its occupation by the Americans and proceeded to Corregidor via the South China Sea.

Immediately, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 34th RCT attacked Olongapo City. As the remaining Japanese still gathered in the city started firing, American tanks showed up and destroyed the Japanese defense. The succeeding battle set Olongapo on fire. The city was devastated but the enemy was easily defeated. Zambales province was already fully liberated. The 38th Division’s 151st Infantry Regiment, initially tasked to secure the entrance to Subic Bay, was ordered into XI Corps reserve.

The 152nd Infantry Regiment, meanwhile, was given the mission to pass through positions held by the 34th RCT and drove eastward along an irregular and unimproved Route 7 about twenty miles (30 km) to Dinalupihan. The 149th Infantry Regiment was also ordered to move eastward, north of and parallel to the 152nd, linked up with XIV Corps, then turned south and west along Route 7 to meet up with the 152nd.

Relieved general

At the on-going campaign in Zigzag Pass, General Henry Charles L. Jones of XI Corps had earlier estimated that Route 7 (presently known as Gapan-Olongapo Road)  could be taken in less than a week. He was unaware though that the Japanese already gathered in the  Zigzag Pass, located  in the vicinity of Hermosa and Dinalupihan (Bataan), had converted the area into a strong citadel.

During the last three days of battles, however, the U.S. 152nd Regiment had already collected more American casualties than during the 78 days of combat in Leyte. So, despite General Jones’ success in recovering the US Naval Base in Olongapo City, General Douglas MacArthur had no option but to relieve Jones of his post. General Roy W. Easley became the new commander of the 38th Division.

General Easley immediately made use of his P-47 bombers for air support. The planes began an intensive strafing and bombing of the Dinalupihan-Hermosa-Olongapo jungle. They dropped napalm bombs on the Japanese positions.He also directed his ground forces to attack the Zigzag Pass from the direction of Olongapo City. But he already knew that it would not be an easy task to dislodge the enemy.

Japan’s Kembu Group

The Japanese Kembu Group and the displaced Japanese Western Sector regiment from Subic Naval Base and other towns of Zambales were still deeply secured along the Bangal-Tipo mountain area, the only gateway from Zambales to Manila. They simply hid inside their bunkers as soon as the American P-47 bombers started dropping incendiary and napalm bombs in their mountainous line of defense.

Morong guerrillas

The Moron Regiment guerillas, under the command of Colonel John Boone’s Bataan Military Group, also proceeded to Olongapo City via the newly-freed South Gate of the Subic naval base and joined the immobile 6^th US Army’s XI Corps gathered in Kalaklan, just outside Olongapo City.

On to Caloocan

The  long  wait  for  the  Manila-bound American First Cavalry troops gathered in Polo, Bulacan finally came to an end after the 37^th Infantry Regiment, a smaller Army contingent of about 6,000 men who landed in Pangasinan three days earlier finally showed up in Barrio Karuhatan. The two American contingents joined forces and advanced to Caloocan City at high noon. Here, they prepared for their attack in Manila while waiting for signals from their southern counterpart, the 11^th Airborne Division and/or the Batangas Force.

Southern Force

In the southern section of Manila, the arrival of the remaining Batangas (Southern) Force in Nichols Field provided the artillery machinery needed by the 11^th Airborne Division parachutists who had engaged the Japanese in Fort McKinley. Before the day ended, the  Japanese defending the two military installations were finally clobbered. Mop-up operations were immediately initiated inside the two military camps.

On January 30, the US 11th Airborne Division, under Maj. Gen. Joseph M. Swing also staged an amphibious landing instead of jumping in the southern part of. They landed some 45 miles southwest of the capital city. This totally surprised the Japanese who were focused on the American drive from the north.

Two regiments of the US 11th Airborne landed unopposed. They were able to seize a bridge near the beach before the bewildered Japanese could demolish it. This enabled the Airborne paratroopers to begin their northern drive to Manila.

The Airborne Division’s Third Regiment (511th Parachute) joined the two regiments thereafter. In no time, they were already advancing north along the paved Manila-Cavite highway. Rejoicing Filipino civilians lined the highway cheering them on.

The 11th Airborne Division belonged to the Eighth Army of Lt. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger. The Division was initially planned to contain Japanese troops throughout southwestern Luzon. MacArthur, however, decided to use the Division to add to the drive on Manila. It proved to be an epic drive.

The Great Raid

In a separate dawn raid behind enemy lines in Nueva Ecija on January 31, one hundred American soldiers of the Alamo Rangers of the United States Army, and more than 400 Filipino regular guerrillas (not Huks) joined forces and conducted the Cabanauan Raid, also known as “The Great Raid.” The Alamo Scouts were led by 1st Lts. William Nellist and Thomas Rounsaville.

A total of 522 POWs were succesfully liberated, along with 33 civilians. The prisoners included 464 American soldiers, 28 American civilians, 23 British soldiers (including Edwin Rose),two British civilians, three Dutch, two Norwegian civilians, one Canadian, and one Filipino civilian.

The Rangers returned with the rescued prisoners to the headquarters of the Sixth Army in Guimba, Nueva Ecija, where the sick were hospitalized and the strong rested before sending them to Calasiao, Pangasinan, the camp of the 2nd Replacement Battalion under Major Marcos Sottman.

Batangas landing

On the same day, the Eighth (8th) United States Army of Lt. General Robert L. Eichelberger, consisting of the 187th and 188th Glider Infantry Regiments of Col. Robert H. Soule, and troopers of the U.S. 11th Airborne Division under Maj. Gen. Joseph M. Swing also landed unopposed at Nasugbu, Batangas. They immediately began moving north toward Manila to participate in the liberation of the capital city.

Zigzag Pass battle

On this day also, the American 38th Division advanced east and immediately saw the intricate maze of enemy fortifications in the Zigzag Pass area (Roosevelt) in Dinalupihan. Gunbattles erupted as the Japanese positioned on both flanks of the highway fired at the Americans. The Liberators were stopped on their advance as the gunbattles heated up.

Guerillas of Abucay

Colonel John P. Boone, head of the Bataan Military District, ordered the guerrilas of Abucay to immediately reconstruct the two bridges in Abucay which were blown down by the Japanese before retreating to the mountains. Boone also ordered Major Anastacio Valencia and his guerillas to fortify their checkpoints in Barrios Capitangan, Gabon, Laon and Mabatang to prevent Japanese soldiers from neighboring towns to recapture Abucay.

On that same night, wire traps called “patakid” were laid by Abucay guerrillas across Barrios Gabon and Laon purposedly to capture returning Japanese stragglers. 

To be continued