the Japanese Empire, only one remained unachieved.  The invaders had up until now conquered the Dutch  

East Indies, advanced down the Malayan Peninsula  to capture Singapore, expanded through a series  

of islands in the Pacific Ocean, and achieved  important air and naval attacks that caused havoc  

on the Allied fleets. Furthermore, with the fall  of Rangoon, the Burma operation was on good track,  

so Tokyo was planning to shift to phase two  of operations, looking east towards Midway  

and the US, south towards Australia and New  Guinea and west towards Ceylon and India. But  

despite the early capture of Manila, still  there was a huge thorn on the Japanese side  

that hadn't been vanquished by the invaders. Thus,  today we'll continue to cover the Battle of Bataan  

as the Japanese get reinforced and prepare for  a final assault against the Filipino defenders.

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As we had last seen in the Philippines, the  Japanese forces had suffered a tremendous  

defeat in the month of February. Discouraged  and battle weary, the invaders' advance had  

been stopped by the resilient American defenders  at the Orion-Bagac Line. Diseases like malaria  

and dysentery , alongside starvation,  weakened both sides in the Philippines,  

but they took a heavy toll on the Japanese in  particular. But not everyone died from disease:  

by the end of February, some units had been  surrounded in pockets, others had been held by  

the tenacious defenders and two entire battalions  had been destroyed at the Battle of the Points,  

which finally forced General Homma to order the  withdrawal of all his engaged forces all along  

the Orion-Bagac Line. This defeat had left Homma  humiliated by commanders in Tokyo and he forced to  

ask for reinforcements, being the only Japanese  commander to have been defeated up until now.  

And yet, they would still allow  him to prove his worth in the end,  

with the reinforcement of a completely fresh  division and some much needed siege artillery.  

The transfer of the 4th Division from Shanghai  to the Philippines would take some time though,  

and with the focus of the Empire on the Dutch  East Indies, it would finally arrive by March 15.  

Now, with his other forces strengthened  and well-rested and with the additional  

reinforcement of the Nagano Detachment , the  Japanese general was ready for a final assault. 

Meanwhile, the American defenders had their  spirits up after the successful defense of  

the Orion-Bagac Line, but the lack of food and  medicine due to the strong Japanese blockade  

would eventually leave them weaker with each  passing day, as food rations would be cut by  

50% in the last two weeks of fighting. The 26th  cavalry's horses were slaughtered for meat.  

Efforts were made to break Homma's blockade, but  it was fruitless, the Americans simply didn't have  

the naval resources needed to do so. President  Roosevelt and Chief of Staff George Marshall  

thus continued their efforts to supply General  MacArthur, but it was too little for the  

commander of the USAFFE, who felt abandoned by  Washington. At this point, MacArthur had also  

become a war hero for the American population,  bolstered by his personal media coverage team,  

thus his safety was paramount, losing him to  the Japanese would be disastrous for morale.  

On February 22, with the situation getting  ever more difficult on the Bataan Peninsula,  

Roosevelt finally ordered MacArthur to leave  the Philippines and take command of forces  

in Australia and the Southwest Pacfiic Area.  The general chose to remain in the Peninsula  

as much as he could to ensure that his forces  wouldn't get completely demoralized, but he  

eventually had to leave on March 12, traveling  first to Mindanao and then flying to Australia.  

Before he left, MacArthur assigned the Visayan  Force to Brigadier-General Bradford Chynoweth  

as to allow General Sharp to fully focus on the  defense of Mindanao, from where the Americans  

still hoped to launch a counteroffensive;  and also ordered Major-General George Moore  

to prepare supplies and defenses on Corregidor  Island for a final stand in case Bataan fell. 

Despite MacArthur's intentions to retain command  from Australia, General Wainwright would be left  

in command of American forces in the Philippines  , with the final order to fight for as long as  

his troops had the ability to resist. When  MacArthur arrived at Adelaide on March 17,  

he promised to return to the Philippines with  his famous words “I Shall Return” , which would  

become a rallying cry for the Americans in  the future. But at this point, the morale of  

the Filipinos was already starting to decline  due to their bad situation, and the general's  

departure only hurted their confidence even more.  With the assumption of Wainwright, 1st Corps was  

then assigned to General Jones, who had commanded  the South Luzon Force in its retreat to Bataan,  

and the overall command of the peninsula  was assigned to Major-General Edward King,  

who had been the commander of the artillery during  the campaign. By the end of March, defenses across  

the Orion-Bagac Line had been improved and the  half-starved and poorly equipped Filipino soldiers  

had further enhanced their training in jungle  warfare. On the other side, Homma planned to make  

a coordinated three-pronged assault along a narrow  front located around the key Mount Samat. After  

breaking through Samat, the Japanese would then  push to Mount Limay and from there to Mariveles.  

This plan was based on the incorrect assumption  that the defenders were executing a defense  

in depth along three lines , so Homma  expected the assault to take over a month. 

The assault on Mount Samat would be carried  out by the 4th Division of Lieutenant-General  

Kitano Kenzo, closely supported by General  Nara's 65th Independent Mixed Brigade.  

Nara was to advance west up the Pantingan River  and then continue towards the Mariveles Mountains,  

while the 4th Division divided in two, with  the Right Wing getting across the Tiawir River  

and then heading down along the  Catmon Valley towards Samat,  

and with the Left Wing advancing on  the east directly towards the mount.  

Kitano believed that once Samat was taken, only  a pursuit of the Americans would be required,  

so his estimate was far more optimistic than that  of Homma's. In the meantime, General Morioka's  

16th Division would make a feint attack to pin  down the 1st Corps and the Nagano Detachment  

would cover the right flank of the invaders with  feint landings across the eastern coast of Bataan.  

By the end of March, American forces started to  be subjected to heavy air and artillery attacks,  

and on March 28, Homma ordered the  final preparations to be carried out,  

so the Japanese units began to move  forward to their expected battle positions.  

Two days later, the 16th Division would start  its feint attacks against the 1st Sector;  

and by April 2, the preparations for the final  assault against Bataan were finally ready. 

At dawn on April 3, the Japanese commenced a  final 6-hours long air and artillery barrage  

over the Mount Samat area before the start of the  offensive. This was undoubtedly one of the most  

devastating bombardments of the war, with more  than 60 tons of bombs dropped over the defenders,  

destroying many of the defenses recently  constructed and weakening three entire  

regiments . By afternoon, the heavy  barrage had achieved its main objective,  

so the invaders began their advance . Nara was  confronted by the bulk of the 41st Division,  

while Kitano would face the 21st Division  of Brigadier-General Mateo Capinpin.  

Some elements of the 65th Brigade would  also engage the 2nd Philippine Constabulary  

to prevent them from coming to the aid of 2nd  Corps, but Nara's main effort was directed against  

the center of the 41st Division, where they got  to quickly push down against the 42nd Regiment.  

The Japanese general expected heavy opposition but  found none , so he decided to continue southwards.  

Meanwhile, the Right Wing had crossed the Tiawir  and immediately engaged the 21st Regiment,  

rapidly scattering them and continuing its  advance southwards. By nightfall, both forces  

had surprisingly advanced up to 1000 yards without  facing strong resistance due to the success of the  

bombardment earlier that day, which had devastated  the morale and organization of the defenders.  

When news of the disintegration of the corps' left  flank reached General Parker, he sent forward the  

33rd Regiment to stop the Japanese advance on  an area between Samat and the Catmon River. 

The following day would start with a  renewed air and artillery bombardment.  

The remnants of the 42nd and 43rd Regiments  would yet again flee to the south in a stampede,  

leaving only three regiments  to stem the Japanese offensive.  

Yet despite their courageous resistance, they were  no match against the superior Japanese firepower,  

so they had to retreat further south to prevent  any more losses. At the same time, the Left Wing  

finally went into action, attacking the 22nd  and 23rd Regiments and forcing them to retreat.  

American artillery at this point was hitting  friendly and enemy units alike, but could not  

stop the advance of the invaders. By the end of  the day, the Japanese were in possession of the  

entire main line of resistance and the Right Wing  had gotten to the northern foothills of Samat.  

Facing a looming disaster, General King sent the  31st Regiment to further reinforce the American  

defenders, while also placing the 45th and 57th  Regiments on positions of readiness nearby.  

On Easter Sunday, the 4th Division reorganized  its forces for Kitano to start his attack  

against Mount Samat. The Right Wing would  seize the heights of the mountain and then  

continue south to the Tala River while the Left  Wing executed the main attack against Samat.  

After the customary bombardment of the defenders'  positions, Kitano started his assault but found  

strong resistance coming from Capinpin's  men . Nonetheless, the Right Wing would  

advance unopposed towards the northwest slopes of  Samat, forcing the American artillery to retreat. 

Deprived of artillery support, the defenders began  to concede terrain and were eventually pushed back  

by the Left Wing. Furthermore, the Right Wing  also advanced on the southern slopes of Samat  

and captured many soldiers of the 21st Division,  including General Capinpin. By nightfall,  

Mount Samat was under Japanese control and  the Right Wing had advanced to the west,  

fully routing the 21st Division headquarters. Nara  also continued to drive south towards Mariveles  

and the 16th Division and the Nagano Detachment  were preparing to join in the attack against Mount  

Limay. But now, with the arrival of the new  reinforcements , King was planning to launch  

a four-pronged counterattack aimed to regain the  main line. Yet Homma was also planning to launch  

an attack eastwards against the 51st Division  and the 32nd Regiment, with the intention of  

pushing southeast to get to the Limay River. At  dawn on April 6, both sides put their plans in  

motion. Within a day, the American counterattack  rapidly ended up in complete disaster. Since  

the 21st Division had already been routed , the  31st Regiment would have to attack Samat alone.  

Despite the 31st's tenacity and resilience, the  bulk of the Left Wing fell upon them, forcing the  

Americans to go on the defensive . In the center,  the 33rd Regiment also saw its rear disappear  

against the savage Japanese forces, so it ended  up completely encircled by the 65th Brigade. 

And to the west, the 41st Regiment initially  fared much better , but Nara counterattacked and  

forced them back to the Pantingan River. The 45th  Regiment was the most successful out of the four,  

overcoming the Japanese resistance and continuing  its advance north towards the 41st Regiment,  

but already it was clear that the American  counterattack was a failure. On the other hand,  

Nara had managed to cut off the 2nd Sector  from the 1st and had advanced so far that  

forward elements of the 65th Brigade were  engaging the 57th Regiment. Furthermore,  

Kitano sent the 37th Regiment with tanks to  attack against the 51st Division, quickly  

overrunning the defenders' positions and forcing  them to retreat behind the San Vicente River.  

The 31st Regiment would also have  to follow suit, and to the west,  

the 45th Regiment would have to withdraw as well  to avoid an encirclement. By the end of the day,  

the Americans truly had a disastrous situation  on their hands, with the loss of two divisions  

and with the complete breakdown of the main line  of defense; and on April 7, the situation would  

only get much worse. After a failed counterattack  to reestablish a connection with 1st Corps, which  

was carried out by the 45th and 57th Regiments,  Homma decided to quickly capitalize on his gains.  

Seeing a gap between the southern extremity  of the San Vicente line and the 57th Regiment,  

Kitano thus sent the 61st Regiment to  endanger the flanks of the Americans.  

This attack was highly successful, finally  forcing the 57th to retreat eastwards. 

Meanwhile, despite their strong and fierce  resistance, the isolated 33rd Regiment was  

routed at last and only few men would manage  to escape to safety through the jungles.  

But the main assault would be carried out by  the 4th Division and the Nagano Detachment,  

directly striking at the demoralized  defenders on the San Vicente River.  

Under a relentless bombardment, the Filipinos  on the right would break, soon starting an  

unorganized retreat . The Americans to the left  fared a little better, but the assault of the 8th  

Regiment would finally send them packing as well.  To cover the withdrawal towards the Mamala River,  

General King would send the 26th Cavalry Regiment,  which recently got to arrive from 1st Corps, to  

hold off the invaders . The cavalrymen tenaciously  resisted Kitano's assault, but the 8th Regiment  

would finally encircle them, so they would have  to retreat behind the river. By afternoon, a new  

line had been formed on the Mamala River, but the  invaders immediately continued to hammer down the  

defenders, so the Americans would have to continue  their retreat south towards the Alangan River.  

In his desperation, Wainwright ordered the  11th Division to attack eastwards and save  

the 2nd Corps, but the task was impossible and  it was already too late. Instead, General Jones  

would be forced to withdraw towards the Binuangan  River to relink with Parker's line. At this point,  

the situation was completely chaotic for the  defenders. With Homma continuing his drive  

against Mariveles and Cabcaben on April 8, the  decimated Filipino forces would continually be  

on the retreat due to the strong bombardment  and the heavy pressure of Kitano's men. 

It was clear now that the 2nd Corps had fully  disintegrated and that the end was nigh for the