Japan

Weather 11 – C&C, 12 – C & Rough, 13 – Rain & Calm.

At Iba the 48th XX breaks up into supported Battalions and loaded onto LCs/TAs – one battalion loads up from the beaches due to Port capacity restrictions. The fleet sets sail for the south, much to the relief of MacArthur who was worried about landings at the “tail” of Luzon.

At Panay island SW of Kabilo D3 II lands, LC Damaged, D 1 and 2 IIs land at Iloilo – one disrupted.

B1 and B2 land at Bacolod defended by Construction III and 2 F IIs who are overwhelmed and destroyed by NGS and Air Support (5:1 = DE)

B3 II lnads at Dumaguete which is seized without problems.

In Borneo, the militia officers of the North Borneo Volunteer battalion (Queen’s Own) are startled by the arrival off Sandakan of the Cruiser Kage and transports carrying the A1 II of the 1st Formosan regt. With NGS the Japanese chase the Borneo militia out of the town (5:1 = DR). Vowing to recapture their drinks cabinet, the NBV II swear to fight the Japanese to the last from the Jungle outside the town.

At Zamboanga the A2 and A3 IIs land much to the surprise of the USAAF service personnel working on 3 squadrons of B-17s. Both battalions land undisrupted and under the guns of the Nachi destroy all three B-17 units.

To make matters worse, the 2/Sas lands at Jolo airfield seizing the port and facilities for no loss.

MacArthur issues a press statement blaming Roosevelt for lack of troops from the US to help defend the islands. Congress condemns the administration.

In Mindanao the US Const II north of Malabang is overrun by Japanese forces. The 16/33 III attacks Cagayan across the mountain range from the SW of the city while the 38th XX sidesteps the defenders of Del Monte to attack the city from the south. the defenders (2nd F III and 94th, 197th Hvy AA IIs) hope to hold out from the unsupplied Japanese (no Res Pts available) but are destroyed instead (3:1 = HX) Of the mass of Res Pts in the city, only one is captured by the IJA. In the port itself, the Patrol Boat flotilla (2) succesfully escapes to Cebu while half a flotilla worth of Merchant ships are scuttled, the remainder reaching Cebu City.

In the exploitation phase the IIs fan out to seize air strips and ports on the islands captured – the Filipino Mixed B narrowly avoids capture at Binalbagan.

US

Units left at Del Monte take one look at the fires of Cagayan and flee south along the road south. The 3-4-4 [III] is left behind by the US 147th Art III who reaches Dulawan on its way to the southern port of Dadiangas. At Cotablato the 41/163. 131 Art III and 43 PS III embark on Merchants 2 and 3. The 148th Art III is left behind due to port loading capacity. The gunners shake their fists at the departing transports who head to Legaspi. rescue is soon at hand however as Merchant flotillas 1 and 4 arrive off the ports to transport the remaining US units out of Mindanao.

In Borneo the NBV heads into the jungle to await the expected Japanese attack.

In southern Luzon, all available units are spread out along the “tail” to defend against sea borne landings.

A press announcement reports the completion of the “MacArthur Line” outside of Manila. The Supreme Commander is photographed inspecting the trenches and announces the line as impregnable. The 11th F XX is rebuilt from Cadre.