Today we had a research day.
Japan planned to take the Philippines as part of a plan to create a Greater East Asia. They wanted to occupy it while they took raw materials from Malaya and the greater fleet attacked the United States. There goals of this attack was to prevent America from using it as a base to launch an attack on Japan, to get a area and supply bases to help operations against the Dutch East Indies, and to secure communication lines between Japan and its occupied areas.
The 14th Army was assigned to carry out the attack. It was an amphibious assault assisted by tanks, artillery, destroyers, an air unit, and many other attack units. They had 604 aircraft with 146 bombers, 123 fighters, and miscellaneous other aircraft. They also had an aircraft carrier, destroyers, cruisers, mine craft, and torpedo boats.
While Pearl Harbor was underway the US forces got word of a possible attack and were advised to bomb the Japanese base at Formosa. The Japanese attacked at 12:30 and destroyed most of the b-17s while still on the ground and their p-40 escorts. They began landings on Luzon island Dec 8, the next day. A few Japanese transports were damaged.
The main force landed on Dec 22 at Lingayen Gulf some 43,000 strong. The US didn’t have adequate forces so the Japanese were able to advance ten miles by dark. They were scattered and were forced to retreat to Bataan. They were able to inflict damage to the Japanese while retreating and Japan laid siege to Bataan.
The Japanese were eventually able to break through defenses and defeat the allies. The prisoners were taken on “Hell Ships” to be used as slave labor. Some of these boats were attacked and sunk by American aircraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines_Campaign_(1941%E2%80%931942)
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