Bataan Holds the First Assaults
Japanese artillery and infantry opened the main attack against the first Bataan defensive line on 9 January. American and Philippine units held the difficult ground and denied Homma the quick collapse his original timetable had expected. Tactical success bought time at a cost the defenders could not replace. The population inside Bataan had already been placed on reduced rations, medical resources were limited and every day of combat consumed ammunition and strength while Japanese forces could reinforce from outside the peninsula. The first line proved that Bataan could resist. It…
Continue in The Fall of the Southern Empires →
