the ropes, the time had finally come for the final step of the Japanese advance.

Now, the Dutch East Indies, the final link in their planned defensive chain across the

Pacific, stood open for a Japanese attack.

And as the Japanese prepared to execute one of their most bold and brilliant plans of

invasion, the Malayan and Philippinean fronts saw the start of strong Allied resistance.

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The year of 1942 didn't start as a normal and regular year for the Dutch.

Their homeland, ravaged by war, was under the occupation of the enemy Germans; their

government and their queen were in exile, helping the Allies in any manner they could;

and their most important colony had become a target for Japanese expansion.

But this colony was not defenseless at all, as Lieutenant-General Hein ter Poorten counted

with around 85000 soldiers, with most of them concentrated at the island of Java.

The Dutch also counted with a sizable naval force of 5 cruisers, 8 destroyers, 12 submarines

and 56 other ships, under the command of Lieutenant-Admiral Conrad Helfrich, nicknamed "Ship-a-day Helfrich",

because he sank more Japanese ships in the first weeks of the war than the entire British

or American Navies together.

It's worth mentioning that Helfrich's small force of submarines was a formidable

opponent for the Japanese navy, sinking several of their ships as we've seen in the previous

weeks.

Dutch air power was an important threat as well, having around 500 aircraft at their

disposal, from which some 300 were frontline aircraft.

These were based on several secret airfields scattered around the East Indies, such as

Samarinda II or Singkawang II, to where the Dutch planes would be transferred in case

of war, trying to prevent their destruction by a Japanese air attack.

These airfields were, however, quickly discovered by the invaders, then becoming vital strategic

objectives and easy prey for Japanese bombers.

For the invasion of the Dutch East Indies, the Japanese plan stipulated that they first

needed to secure footholds on Malaya and the Philippines . After this was achieved, the

Japanese would then launch an amphibious invasion of Borneo, making it the stepping stone from

which to launch the invasion of the East Indies.

Absolute coordination was essential for this operation, especially since the Indies were

the most important target of the Japanese offensives due to its richness in petroleum

oil, rubber, nickel, tin, scrap iron and other strategic resources . The 16th Army under

Lieutenant-General Imamura Hitoshi was appointed by the commander of the Southern Expeditionary

Army Group General Hisaichi Terauchi, to carry out the invasion of the East Indies, supported

by the 3rd Air Force once their operations in Malaya had concluded.

Originally, this army was composed by the 2nd Division and the Sakaguchi Detachment,

which took part in the conquests of Davao and Jolo; but Tokyo had also already planned

for the 38th and 48th Divisions, as well as the South Seas Detachment and many other units,

to be assigned to the 16th Army as the capture of Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaya, Guam

and Rabaul progressed.

Initially supporting the invasion of the Philippines, the 3rd Fleet of Admiral Takahashi and its

11th Air Fleet were also appointed to support the Dutch East Indies campaign.

The plan for the 16th Army was to launch a series of naval invasions against key points

in the Dutch East Indies, namely some of the secret airfields that we've discussed, as

the Japanese would need air support from these points for their planned invasion of Java.

This plan, drafted by the leading commanders of the 3rd Fleet, was very specific about

where and when each unit would carry out the invasion operations.

After securing Davao and Jolo, the Sakaguchi Detachment would land on Tarakan Island around

the 33rd day after the start of the war, then launching an invasion of Balikpapan ten days

later.

Once Balikpapan was under Japanese hands, General Sakaguchi would naval invade Banjarmasin

around the 53rd day before finally landing on Bali some 16 days later.

Meanwhile, after taking Hong Kong, two battalions of the 38th Division would assemble in Palau

to seize Ambon and then attack Kupang in Timor Island; while the rest of the division would

be appointed to launch the invasion of southern Sumatra.

Finally, the main force of this army would execute the invasion of the island of Java.

The 2nd Division would be responsible for the landings in western Java, while the 48th

Division would take charge of the invasion of eastern Java.

The 3rd Fleet's Sasebo Force of SNLF marines and Yokosuka Force of paratroopers would also

be responsible for the subsequent capture of Manado, Kendari and Makassar in the Celebes,

while also assisting in the operations against Timor.

By January 3, with the rapid advances in the Malayan and Philippinean fronts and with the

successful capture of British Borneo, the Japanese command finally felt ready to start

the Dutch East Indies campaign.

On January 6, Takahashi's fleet arrived at Davao, where the Sakaguchi Detachment had

already concentrated.

The following day, the invasion force departed Malalag Bay heading towards Tarakan Island

in Dutch Borneo.

They were escorted by a fleet consisting of 9 destroyers and a light-cruiser, under the

command of Rear-Admiral Nishimura Shoji.

Meanwhile, the Dutch had a garrison of around 1400 men in Tarakan, led by Lieutenant-Colonel

Simon de Waal.

This force had prepared defensive positions expecting a Japanese attack to the west, yet

they were to be surprised.

On January 10, Dutch reconnaissance detected the Japanese convoy en route to Tarakan, so

de Waal ordered the destruction of all oil installations in the island.

He also sent some bombers to disrupt the landings, but to no avail, as by the early hours of

January 11 after the official declaration of war on the Netherlands, some SNLF marines

and Sakaguchi's main force had already landed north of the Amal River.

They then marched south to the mouth of the river under a burning red sky, where they

stormed and outflanked some Dutch pillboxes.

That morning, a battalion of the Sakaguchi Detachment also landed further south at Tandjoeng

Batoe to capture the Lingkas oil fields.

This unit tried to advance through the jungle, but was slowed down by the extremely dense

vegetation.

Sakaguchi also lost communications with them, so the Japanese general didn't know of their

whereabouts.

At the same time, aided by a Japanese guide who knew the area, Sakaguchi's main force

broke through the jungle and got to the north side of the Tarakan oil field by midday.

As the Japanese advanced north of the Tarakan Oil field the Dutch bombarded them with artillery

and motor [mortars?]

far from Saraber's support point.

The Dutch and Japanese made several simultaneous offensives against another, but eventually

the Japanese launched a series of night raids and Yamamoto's troops managed to capture both

lines of Dutch Barracks.

The defenders had also lost many men, and their communications with the coastal batteries

were breaking down.

This left de Waal with no choice but to capitulate on the morning of January 12.

Yet without communications, some Dutch units were still fighting on.

One of these units was the Karoengan Battery, which came into contact with the Japanese

battalion that had lost communications around noon.

Yet despite the sustained attack, the Karoengan Battery accurately shot and sunk two Japanese

minesweepers and one landing craft.

The battery was finally captured on January 13, subjected to the Japanese vengeance for

the loss of their minesweepers, who then executed most of its crew.

Sakaguchi had lost only 7 men in the entire battle, while the IJN lost around 250 men,

mainly in the destroyed minesweepers.

In contrast, the Dutch lost around 300 men, with the rest ending up captured.

The same day that the Sakaguchi Detachment was landing on Tarakan, Rear-Admiral Takagi

Takeo started the IJN operation in the Celebes.

An invasion fleet under Rear-Admiral Tanaka Raizo, consisting of 3 cruisers and 11 destroyers,

escorted the Sasebo Force, consisting of 3200 SNLF marines, while some 762 paratroopers

from the Yokosuka Force prepared to be dropped on the Langoan airfield.

The main force of Sasebo would land around Manado to envelop the Dutch defenders and

capture the town, with another force of 1400 SNLF marines also landing at Kema to help

the paratroopers secure the airfield.

In the Celebes, Colonel Marinus Vooren had substantial forces under his command, spread

across three major areas: Manado, Kendari and Makassar.

Manado was defended by around 1500 men under Major Ben Schillmöller, mainly from the National

Reserve battalion.

In the early morning of January 11, the Sasebo Force came ashore at Manado and Kume, repulsing

a small number of Dutch units and heading towards the Langoan airfield.

A couple of hours later, the Yokosuka Force was dropped on Langoan, where the paratroopers

managed to completely seize the airfield.

In response to the strong Japanese attack, the defenders retreated to Tinoör, where

they were finally crushed by the SNLF marines by noon.

With the fall of Manado, Tomohon and Tondano, Schillmöller had decided by night to retreat

with most of his forces to the west towards Amoerang, where he would commence guerrilla

warfare.

The following day, the Japanese parachuted a company of reinforcements at Manado.

Soon, all the Japanese forces made contact at Langoan and captured the city.

With Schillmöller's retreat, some scattered Dutch units also started to wage guerrilla

warfare, so the Dutch formed in total five guerrilla groups operating separately.

This paratroop operation at Manado was the first ever carried out by Japanese forces,

and it was a complete success.

The Sasebo Force would finally remain in Manado until January 16 to carry out mopping-up operations,

although most of the guerrilla groups would manage to escape them.

The successful capture of Tarakan and Manado signified the start of the Dutch East Indies

campaign, and this was something that deeply concerned the ABDA Command.

Yet this week, the Allies had their hands already full in some other regions.

In the Philippines, for instance, fighting started in the Abucay Line back on January

9, when General Homma sent the 65th Independent Mixed Brigade and the 7th Tank Regiment to

push south on the East Road and break through the 2nd Corps' positions.

Facing the Japanese attack were General Parker's 41st and 51st Divisions, as well as the elite

57th Regiment of Philippine Scouts.

These defenders quickly rushed to rain heavy artillery fire over the Japanese advance,

inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy.

At the same time, the Japanese 122nd Regiment moved west towards the 1st Corps' area and

captured the town of Olangopo.

The following day, the main attack began against the Abucay Line, as the Japanese forces advanced

upon the western sector of the line.

To bolster the morale of his troops, General MacArthur himself decided to visit the frontlines,

although this would be his only trip to Bataan during the battle . Despite the progress of

the Japanese advance, the heavy bombardment carried out by the American defenders forced

Lieutenant-General Nara Akira of the 65th Independent Mixed Brigade to push his forces

further west.

On the night of January 11, the first Japanese units started to cross the Calaguiman River

against the positions of the 57th Regiment.

The Philippine Scouts resisted attack after attack of Nara's forces, executing well-planned

counterattacks that always managed to regain most of the lost territory.

Parker also saw the difficult situation in which his troops were and so, he decided to

reinforce them with his reserves.

Elsewhere in the center of the line though, the Japanese had successfully pushed back

the 41st Division; and in the far western sector, the battered 51st Division was being

attacked repeatedly, which left it very close to completely crumbling.

Furthermore, on January 15, Nara found a seam between the 41st and 51st Divisions and quickly

set out to exploit his newfound opportunity.

Parker ordered a counterattack early on January 16, which managed to push back the Japanese

a little bit, yet Nara saw this coming and planned to envelop the Filipino troops once

they had advanced.

This left the 51st completely exposed and rapidly collapsing.

That same day, the 122nd Regiment moved south towards Morong, where its advance was finally

stopped by the 26th Cavalry Regiment.

Despite their successful horse-mounted charge, which would be the last US cavalry regiment

to engage in horse-mounted warfare, General Wainwright had no other choice but to withdraw