Seventy-five years ago, a terrible battle broke out in the Beautiful Island Nation of Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and the United States, representing justice, and the Japanese army, the representative of evil, fought a decisive battle of the century in manila, the capital of the country. After the bloody battle of the US army, the once invincible Japanese army was completely defeated. MacArthur, the commander of the U.S. Army, finally fulfilled his wish to completely recover the Philippines and planted the flag of victory on this beautiful city.
At the beginning of the Pacific War in 1942, the U.S.-Philippine army was defeated in the face of the japanese army's all-round superiority, and MacArthur, then commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater, had to withdraw strategically from the Philippines. Before leaving, he left the classic "I will come back again", and this beautiful island in the Pacific Ocean fell into the hands of the Japanese army.
Shortly after the occupation of the Philippines, a Japanese-backed puppet regime was established in October 1943. Under Japanese control, the Philippines gradually became a raw material base for Japan, and the strategic materials needed by Japan began to be continuously transported to the Japanese mainland from here.
Fast forward to 1945, when the eastern part of the Philippines had been liberated by the U.S. military. Shortly after the Battle of Leyte Gulf, MacArthur returned to Philippine soil. But for this "veteran who did not accept defeat", the metropolis occupied by the Japanese army, Manila, was the "gift" that the experienced general really wanted.
On the other hand, under the command of General Yamashita Fengwen of the 14th Front, the Japanese army, which had reached the end of its way, organized the remaining army and navy units in Luzon into three groups: the Shangwu Group, the Zhenwu Group, and the Jianwu Group, with a total strength of more than 280,000 people. The intention of the Japanese army was to prepare to hold the island here, defend and deplete the Allied forces for a long time, and to resist the enemy outside the island. In order to facilitate command, the Japanese headquarters originally stationed in Manila began to retreat in the direction of Baguio, and the important idea of the Japanese army was one: to stick to the northern mountains.
After weighing the pros and cons, the Japanese commander, Yamashita Bongfumi, decided to abandon Manila. So he asked the then commander of the city defense, Major General Iwabuchi, to carry out three major-scale sabotage of Manila to prevent the Allied occupation of Manila; Iwabuchi, who received the order, sent soldiers three times to start setting up a large number of roadblocks in manila, destroying bridges and infrastructure, and using abandoned vehicles as cover to block the Allied advance. The rest of the troops were scattered throughout the city, facilitating guerrilla warfare and street warfare with allied raids on Manila.
Manila City Defense Commander Major General Iwabuchi three times
On January 9, 1945, the U.S. 6th Army, under the command of Lieutenant General Kruger, began its southward advance after landing at Renga Bay. For more than 20 days, the U.S. military landed in the west and south of Luzon, not only blocking the road to the Bataan Peninsula, but also began to gather heavy troops to advance to the capital Manila. Only a few days later, with the help of the Philippine guerrillas, the main road and bridge to Manila were firmly in the hands of the American army.
On February 3, 1945, U.S. troops, already assembled on the outskirts of Manila, officially launched an offensive against the historic city. The first target of the U.S. military was a prisoner-of-war camp on the campus of St. Thomas University in the city, where about 6,000 civilians and prisoners of war were held.
At 9:00 p.m., the 8th Army of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division and local guerrillas, guided by Sherman tanks, attacked the prisoner-of-war camp, annihilating the gate and some Japanese guards, and most of the civilians and prisoners of war were rescued; while some remnants of the Japanese army held the rest of the prisoners of war hostage in the main building of the campus, and the American and local guerrillas immediately exchanged fire with them, and the outnumbered Japanese finally surrendered to the Americans on February 5, releasing the remaining personnel. According to post-war statistics, the rescue operation rescued a total of 5,785 prisoners of war and civilians, of whom 5,000 were local people.
At the same time, the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division and the 11th Airborne Division in the northern suburbs of Manila were met with stubborn resistance from the Japanese garrisons inside the city. In order to protect the only bridge on the Bashi River in Manila, the Quezon Bridge, from being occupied by the American army, the Japanese army and the American army fought wildly here, although the Japanese army initially occupied a certain offensive, but in the end it was still unable to stop the fierce offensive of the American army. The fighting continued until the morning of the 8th, when the Americans eliminated a large number of Japanese soldiers, and the buildings in the urban area were seriously damaged by the Japanese army.
The rest of the American troops were relatively smooth, except for the 7th and 8th Brigades of the 1st Cavalry Division who had engaged in a long exchange of fire with the Japanese at the water supply plant in the north of the city, and the other units had crossed the Bashi River into the city by building pontoon bridges. In order to protect local buildings and innocent civilians during the fighting, MacArthur strictly banned large-scale shelling and air raids on the city before the battle began.
In the face of the Offensive of the American Army, the Japanese army, which had lost its mind, began to turn its guns on ordinary people. Atrocities against local residents began to erupt throughout Manila, and the destruction of the city and the invasion of the people became another blood debt owed by the Japanese army in the local area.
From February 23 to 28, the U.S. army that had occupied the new city began to attack the old part of Manila: the U.S. army first used heavy artillery and other weapons to eliminate the Japanese soldiers on the ground and in the houses, and then began to clean up the houses and strongholds one by one; the Japanese army took full advantage of the stone walls of the old city of Manila, the old drainage facilities, and the Santa Lucia barracks and san Diego Castle, which had become cultural relics, to kill and injure the American soldiers who were cleaning.
On March 3, 1945, the Philippine Treasury Building, the last stronghold of the Japanese army in Manila, was captured by the American Army, and the main body of the building was completely destroyed by the American artillery. On the same day, the Constitutional Government of the Philippines was sworn in at Malakanangong in Manila, which is also a new government that can represent the Filipino people after the fall of the Philippine puppet government.
On March 4, 1945, the remaining japanese troops officially announced their surrender to the American army, and the commander of the Manila garrison, Iwabuchi, committed suicide after three defeats, and Manila, which had been ravaged by the Japanese army, finally ushered in the final peace. According to post-war statistics, the Battle of Manila became the most serious and tragic urban liberation operation in the entire history of World War II, and the degree of urban destruction even exceeded that of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, which were attacked by the US atomic bombs, and its tragic degree could be compared with the Soviet Union's Stalingrad defense war.
A total of 1,010 American soldiers were killed in the battle, and more than 5,500 wounded; the Japanese side died 16,000, and the troops involved in the battle were almost wiped out, and fewer than 2,000 became prisoners of the American army. In this battle, the local filipino population became the biggest victim, about 100,000-150,000 residents died in the atrocities of the Japanese army, in addition to millions of people displaced and homeless.
Manila's many historical and cultural monuments and buildings have been severely damaged, and countless government buildings, universities and colleges, monasteries and churches, as well as accompanying treasures dating back to the founding of the city, were destroyed in this war. Once known as the "Pearl of the Orient," the metropolis, known for bringing together Asian and European cultures, has largely been wiped off the map.
On February 18, 1995, the Manila Monument was officially unveiled in Manila's Santa Isabel Square to express the government's remembrance and remembrance of the victims of the war. On the monument, an inscription was left: "This monument is dedicated to all innocent victims of the war, many of whom walked into common graves, nameless and uninhabited, even engulfed in flames or buried under rubble by dust and rubble." They were the more than 100,000 women, children and infants who died during the Liberation Campaign in Manila. We have not forgotten, and should never forget, them; may their rest be part of this holy city now. "
On February 14, 2015, the "Remember Manila 1945 Foundation", established by the Survivors of the Battle of Manila, held a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Manila, at which the descendants of the victims of that year severely accused the Japanese military of atrocities and demanded that the Japanese government acknowledge the atrocities committed during World War II and formally apologize.
The Battle of Manila, the most tragic urban battle of World War II. It has exposed the shortcomings of the US and Japanese armies in urban warfare, and at the same time has left a formal example for future generations to study urban offensive and defensive warfare; but what is even more difficult to forget is the numerous crimes committed by the Japanese army in the local area, this tragic scene warns us of the preciousness and importance of peace, and also makes us firm in the historical inevitability that justice will eventually triumph over evil, we love peace, but we must also be vigilant against those militants and evil forces.
Resources
1. Warsaw in Asia: The Battle of Manila in World War II
2. The Battle of Manila
3. 1945 – Blood Battle manila