034 - Japanese Invasion o Luzon

Just like they had on the morning of December 7^th/8^th, the Japanese launched a combined air and sea assault on the northern tip of the Philippines, in Luzon. Japanese Marine and Army Infantry stormed the beaches all across the Luzon Peninsula. Additionally, the inner regions and defensive positions were hit with bombing runs, mainly by Nell and Kate high-level bombers.

The Japanese battle commanders had looked to December 8^th (7^th in the U.S., due to the International Date Line) as their day of destiny for months, planning a massive attack on all points in the Pacific, from Pearl Harbor to Southeastern Asia to the Philippines and smaller islands.

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Unlike most of the other landings, the Japanese invasion of Luzon was a complicated multi-prong, multi-day attack. On December 8^th, forces stormed tiny Batan Island, 150 miles directly north of the Luzon archipelago.

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They then used the airstrip at Batan to launch simultaneous air, sea, and land attacks on Camiguin Island, Vigan, and the beachhead at Lingayen Gulf (pictured left). The December 10^th landings were marked by aggressive offensive and defensive actions,. Even though the Japanese were outnumbers 3-to-1, the Filipino forces were mostly weak National Guard forces that received little support from American General Douglas MacArthur’s main American Army Forces.

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While the invasion of Northern Luzon was largely uncontested, the Japanese attack forces in Davao (in the southernmost Philippine island of Mindanao), and attacks on Jolo Island (in west central Philippines), met with greater resistance. Still, the central and southern attacks were designed for future staging areas, when the Japanese would attack the Australian Air Force in New Zealand, New Guinea and Australia. For now, Luzon…and then Manila were the initial goals for the Philippines.

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