Battle at Baliuag PTO (id:#57576)

Critical Hit (Total Pacific Theatre Pack 1 ID: PTO1-4)   [next]   [previous]

Baliuag, Luzon, Philippines 1941-12-31 (7 others)

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Overview:

Baliuag, in Pampanga Province, was an important defensive position along the last of the defensive lines shielding the withdrawal of USAFFE troops into Bataan. Baliuag was then “…a town of rambling houses and nipa huts scattered along Route 5 and the north bank of the Angat River.” Indeed, if the enemy were to push south of Baliuag they would have been able to reach Plaridel, six miles to the south, and then cut the road leading from Manila to the vital bridge at Calumpit, cutting off any remaining South Luzon Force elements trying to make it into Bataan. As the 91 st Infantry Division (PA) withdrew, the 71st Infantry Divison (PA) initially defended Baliuag on 31 December 1941 against an assault by a battalion of Japanese infantry from the 48th Infantry Division supported by the 4th and 7th Tank Regiments. The Japanese force was led by Col. Seinosuke Sonoda, commander of the 7th Tank Regiment, and it also had a company of engineers also to repair and roads or bridges to facilitate the Japanese advance. Early Japanese efforts to ford a stream north of Baliuag were resisted successfully, and the enemy sought a new avenue of approach. The 71st stayed in Baliuag until early afternoon, when they departed at about 1400 enroute for Plaridel and movement onward to Bataan. By this time the Japanese had managed to reach the eastern end of Baliuag and by 1500 were massing to make an attack. With nothing in between the retiring 71st and the approaching Japanese combined force, Brigadier General Albert M. Jones, Commander of South Luzon Force, ordered the M3 Stuart tanks of Company C, 192nd Tank Battalion to be committed in order to hold the enemy at Baliuag. Beginning at 1700, the Japanese sent two platoons of medium tanks into Baliuag, and there they were engaged by there by two platoons of Company C/192nd in a back-and-forth fight lasting some two hours long.

Defender: Japanese (7th Tank Regiment)  

Errata (source)