For the last two weeks, the war had raged on in the Pacific after the unexpected Japanese attack
against British and American possessions in the East. The Japanese soldiers had already achieved
victory after victory, pushing their enemy back on Malaya, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the
Pacific islands. But this week would be one of Japan’s finest hours in the course of the war,
as they finally overcame their enemy in Hong Kong,
launched their main offensive on the Philippines, and struck an incredible victory
against the only place in the Pacific that had managed to thwart their expansionist aims so far.
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Back on December 11, the task force of Admiral Kajioka had suffered a humiliating defeat at the
hands of the US marines that defended Wake Island. Kajioka had underestimated Wake’s
defensive capabilities, and as a result, he was forced to limp back to base with two vessels lost
and several damaged. But despite his complete failure, Kajioka wasn’t relieved from his command;
instead, Admiral Inoue offered him more assistance for a second attack.
Operations against Pearl Harbor, Guam and the Gilbert Islands had concluded successfully in the
first week, so their forces were now available for Kajioka to command. Inoue thus assigned him the
6th Cruiser Division of Admiral Goto for support, two destroyers from the Gilberts to replace those
lost in the first attack, and two aircraft carriers , two cruisers and two destroyers
that were returning from Pearl Harbor to give valuable ground-support with their aircraft.
Now, Kajioka had better odds to prove his worth in his second attempt to take Wake Island,
departing Roi with his reinforced task force on December 21. Meanwhile in the Philippines,
General MacArthur prepared his forces for the imminent main Japanese offensive. The most
probable invasion site was in the Lingayen Gulf, where MacArthur had placed the North Luzon Force
under the command of General Wainwright, and due to the recent Japanese landings in the north,
he shortened its operational area south of San Fernando on the coast.
Thus, Wainwright sent the 11th Division and the 26th Cavalry Regiment to defend the Gulf north
of Damortis and also sent a regiment of the 71st Division to San Fernando to stop the advance of
the enemy coming from Vigan, while the rest of his forces stood on the route to Manila.
On the other side, General Homma planned to land at the Lingayen Gulf
with his well-trained 48th Division , then driving south between the Zambales Mountains
along a valley that led directly to Manila. He had also prepared elements of the 16th Division
under the command of Lieutenant-General Morioka Susumu to land on Lamon Bay , planning to
immediately advance upon landing towards Laguna de Bay. On December 17, Morioka’s forces departed
Amami Oshima heading towards their destination. On the same day, Homma’s first invasion force,
consisting of the 9th Regiment, departed Keelung en route to the Lingayen Gulf.
The following day, the second invasion force embarked from the Penghu Islands,
while the third invasion force sailed from Takao heading to its objective. The three invasion
forces would arrive together at the Lingayen Gulf on the night of December 21, and thus, Homma
prepared to start his main offensive. Earlier that day though, submarines from the Asiatic Fleet had
discovered and engaged the Japanese convoys, only managing to destroy one of the troop transports .
That same day, the Thais would sign with Japan a treaty of alliance,
from which they received the northernmost Malay states that were lost the previous
century. They were also promised the Shan states in Burma, also lost to the British a century ago,
so they would mainly support the Japanese in their offensives against these regions.
At Hong Kong, General Sakai’s men also managed to break through the Mount Nicholson defensive line,
forcing the British to establish a last line of defense on Mount Cameron.
And at Wake, the arrival of the carriers Sōryū and Hiryū on the vicinity of the island meant
that the defenders were going to be subjected to a heavy air bombardment. The attacks managed to
destroy all the remaining Wildcats and also caused considerable damage to Peale Island.
The following day, General Kawaguchi and two battalions of his detachment
departed Miri en route to Kuching, where Colonel Lane was actually preparing to retreat southwest
towards Dutch Borneo. To cover the convoys, the Japanese also bombarded the Singkawang airfield,
forcing the Dutch to move their aircraft to Sumatra. Despite their efforts though, Kawaguchi’s
convoy would be discovered by Dutch submarines, who then started to prey upon their victims.
At the same time that this was occurring, British and American military leaders, as well as
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, met at Washington in the Arcadia Conference.
The Conference would last until January 14, and it will have important effects, which we will discuss
down the line, but the most important one would be the reaffirmation of the “Europe First” strategy,
already proposed in past conferences . This meant that the Allies would prioritize
offensives in Europe, while in the Pacific, they would adopt a defensive stance. But December 22
would also see the start of Homma’s main offensive as his forces started to land in the Lingayen Gulf
early in the morning. They disembarked largely unopposed at three positions , then overrunning
units of the 11th Division south of Agoo. At the same time, Japanese forces at Vigan
started their drive south, while the 9th Regiment at Bauang supported them with an attack to the
north on San Fernando and also advanced on Baguio to prevent a possible encirclement.
Acting with haste, the Japanese would manage to reunite around San Fernando, leaving the
regiment of the 71st in a difficult position and forcing them to retreat back to Baguio.
Alarmed about the landings, MacArthur would have asked for reinforcements to contain the situation,
but with the US more focused in Europe, his Filipino forces would have to suffice.
Wainwright would thus order the 26th Cavalry Regiment to establish a defensive line at the
town of Damortis, but they too would be hit hard by Homma’s forces and ended up
forced to retreat. Desperate, Wainwright then sent an M3 tank platoon to Rosario,
which managed to advance up to Agoo but ended up destroyed under Japanese fire. By night, Homma
had secured Rosario and the immediate area of the Lingayen Gulf, with only the battered 26th Cavalry
still resisting to the south . Thus, MacArthur’s planned active defense operations to stop the
Japanese on the beaches had completely failed. The next day would see the continuation of the
Japanese offensive, which managed to expel the retreating American defenders from Sison
and Pozorrubio. Later that day, the 26th Cavalry would be surrounded at Binalonan,
but would successfully retreat after four hours of heavy fighting. Beaten, MacArthur
now knew that his best chance was to establish a series of defensive lines , with the first one
behind the Agno River, meant to delay the Japanese advance while his forces at Manila moved to Bataan
to prepare for a contracted defense. This plan was WPO-3, which had been devised by the American high
command prior to the start of the war and was considered to be too defeatist by MacArthur.
He implemented WPO-3 far too late and did not properly prepare for its implementation.
The day already looked grim for the American defenders, but it was about to get even worse,
as Kajioka’s reinforced task force had finally arrived at Wake Island early in the morning.
Under the cover of night, Kajioka planned to land his ground forces and SNLF marines
with naval and air support, hoping that the US marines would not detect their approach
and staging a diversionary bombardment over Peale Island to distract them. Around 03:00, the
Japanese started to land at Wake Island, with some 580 marines landing on four different locations
and a further 100 marines landing on the southern shore of Wilkes Island. Heavy fighting ensued,
especially around a 3inch gun manned by Lieutenant Robert Hanna, which started to fire on the patrol
boats used to transport the Japanese marines. Hanna’s gun was defended by Major Putnam and the
crew of the VMF-211 squadron, which successfully held the perimeter against the Japanese attacks.
Although Hanna would manage to explode both of the Japanese patrol boats, the Japanese still landed
all their forces and got to cut the American communications. This left Major Deveroux and
Commander Cunningham in the dark, so Deveroux would order forces from Peale to mount a last
line of defense in front of his command post. A small force of SNLF marines, the Kesshitai,
had actually infiltrated undetected on the eastern end of the airfield, advancing up to this last
line of defense. And at Wilkes, Captain Platt and his forces had surrounded the 100 SNLF marines,
then executing a surprise attack that inflicted heavy casualties and left the Japanese completely
weakened. But despite the marines’ best efforts, Cunningham would decide to surrender at 07:00,
trying to save as many lives as possible. The American defenders would actually manage to
hold most of their positions on Wake for twelve hours in total before the news of the surrender
reached them, but at that point, Deveroux and Cunningham believed most of these positions lost,
and could not check out on them because they had lost communications at the start of the assault.
The fall of Wake would nonetheless drop morale for the Allied defenders,
but their sacrifice would not be forgotten. December 23 would also see the fall of the Mount
Cameron line in Hong Kong, leaving Victoria City to the mercy of the Japanese; as well as a Dutch
attack by two submarines, the K-XIV and K-XVI , over the Japanese convoys en route to Kuching,
which managed to sink two troop transports and one destroyer. On Christmas Eve, Kawaguchi’s
attack on Kuching began early in the morning, landing at the mouth of the Santubong River.
The British defenders offered fierce resistance, but in the end,
Colonel Lane decided the following day to retreat through the jungles towards Dutch West Borneo.
Also at Hong Kong, Canadian forces were preparing a last stand at the Stanley Peninsula, where the
Japanese were rapidly encroaching on them; and at Changsha, the Japanese decided to start a new
operation in China, which we will cover next week. The early hours of December 24 would also see
the 16th Division landing at Lamon Bay to the surprise of the Philippine defenders.
Morioka’s forces disembarked at three different locations , quickly engaging the defenders of the
South Luzon Force. General Parker had placed the 1st and 51st Divisions there, but defenses were
highly disorganized, as the 51st was moving to Legaspi to counter the previous invasion.
To add to the confusion, MacArthur had placed Parker under the command of the Bataan defenses,
then assigning the South Luzon Force to Brigadier-General Albert
Jones. Jones immediately planned to delay a possible Japanese advance through the
mountains to Manila while at the same time fighting an aggressive withdrawal into Bataan.
Back in Mauban, Morioka was facing fierce resistance by the dugged-in Filipino forces,
but in the end the Japanese still managed to push back the defenders.
Forces coming from Legaspi also met at Siain after moving through the Bichol Peninsula,
while the main units of the 16th Division pressed west towards Mount Banahao
and south towards Tayabas Bay with the objective of taking control of the route to Manila.
Homma planned for them to then advance across the Tayabas Mountains to Cavite, from where
they could capture Manila. For the Japanese, the Philippinean capital was now within their grasp.
Acting according to WPO-3 , MacArthur ordered Jones to efficiently coordinate with Wainwright
for their retreat to Bataan, because if one of them retreated too fast, then the other would be
trapped and annihilated. Thus, Jones established his main defensive line on the town of Los Baños ,
with the 51st Division hastily retreating south of Mount Banahao under heavy Japanese pressure
and the 1st Division retreating north of the mountains with little opposition. At this point,
Wainwright had also started to withdraw to his second line, ranging from the Zambales Mountains
to the town of San Jose. On Christmas Day, the end came for the British defenders at Hong Kong,
as General Maltby and the Hong Kong authorities finally decided to surrender . On Stanley,
the Canadians resisted fiercely and even managed to briefly break through, but when news of the
surrender reached them, they did so as well. December 25 would also see the invasion of
Jolo in the Sulu Islands, with General Sakaguchi departing Davao back on December 23.
Upon arriving to his destination, one of his battalions landed at Jolo
and captured the city and the airfield facing slight resistance from the local inhabitants.
Now, Sakaguchi had his main base ready to conduct operations against Dutch Borneo. Meanwhile on
December 26, MacArthur declared Manila an open city, knowing that its defense would probably
cause the destruction of all his forces, yet the city would nonetheless be subjected to Japanese
bombardments that caused a fair amount of damage. At this point, Homma’s forces had already broken
through the towns of Carmen and Tayug, but they failed to rout the fleeing American defenders.
By December 27, the Japanese had gotten to the towns of San Manuel and San Quintin,
while Wainwright had successfully reached his second line of defense.
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This is where we leave you for now, but next week we’ll cover the continuation of the Japanese
advance down the Malay Peninsula and of the American retreat into Bataan, so make sure you
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