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LUZON MOP UP NORTH OF KAPINTALAN When the 2d Battalion was relieved by the 1st Battalion of its mission of driving northeast to meet the 27th infantry, it turned west, toward Highway #5, with the all inclusive mission of working the draws and ravines leading toward the Highway, systematically destroying all enemy positions found, capturing or destroying all enemy equipment, and killing or capturing all enemy troops in the area, and then swinging north and continuing the process to a line about one thousand yards south of Balete Pass. The general plan was for E and F Companies to move slowly toward the highway abreast and about three hundred yards apart, sending patrols to the front and flanks, and maintaining constant contact with each other. If determined resistance was met from a position of any considerable strength, the forward elements would draw back slightly to permit artillery and mortar registration, and then overrun the position. The first phase of the plan went through without a hitch. On 29 April the battalion pushed off, with F Company on the right and E Company on the left, and G Company following behind to eliminate the leftovers. By the 3d of May, E and F Companies reached Highway #5. All of the work had been done by patrols of platoon strength. Some resistance was met at many points, but it was never necessary to launch a company attack. On the 4th, G Company swung north to begin the second phase of the plan. At 0920 the Company jumped off from a point about 2000 yards south of Balete Pass. G Company was ordered to move from the southeast toward this position in support of G Company, but was held up by a deep gorge across their route of march and did not make the junction with G Company. About one hundred yards northeast of the jump off point, G Company ran into heavy small arms fire from Japs in spider holes, pillboxes, and caves in a ravine to their front. The company attacked the position, destroying one cave and clearing several spider holes, but was unable to penetrate further. On the 5th G Company remained stationary, with the exception of one platoon which was dispatched to guard tanks driving up Highway #5 to deliver supporting fire to E Company. The tanks, preceded by a minesweeping party, moved up the highway to a point almost directly west of G Company’s positions and delivered fire on the enemy pocket. On the way back to their base, both tanks hit mines which had been laid by Jap infiltrators while they had been firing. One tank had a rack torn off, and was immobilized, but the other, though damaged, was still mobile. At 1140, E Company jumped off down a large ravine toward the enemy concentration G Company had engaged the previous evening, and at 1315 ran into intense machine gun and rifle fire from a number of thickly wooded areas. The company forged slowly ahead, but was greatly handicapped by the difficulty of spotting enemy positions in the dense brush. Company E was ordered to bypass the position and advance toward Balete Pass before dark. Company G then resumed the attack against this pocket from the southwest. On the 6th, Company G was still unable to locate enemy positions in the pocket, which had now held up the advance for two days. E Company continued north without opposition and occupied a ridge about eight hundred yards south of Calso near Highway #5, but left a patrol to help pinpoint enemy emplacements in the pocket prior to another attack. That afternoon, a coordinated attack was made. Simultaneously, a platoon from E Company attacked from the northeast, an F Company platoon from the southeast, and a C Company platoon east from Highway #5. The E Company platoon swept to Highway #5 without making contact, but the F Company platoon killed four Japs and found fifteen dead from mortar and M-7 fire. C Company killed seven Japs and closed eight caves. Between 2050 and 2400, a G Company ambush north of the ravine killed seven more Japs attempting to escape. On the morning of the 8th, G Company pushed through the ravine and sealed the remaining caves. Again, after several days of stiff and determined resistance, from ideally located positions, the enemy had suddenly broken. On the afternoon of 7 May, Company L was attached to the 2d Battalion and moved into position between Company C and Company E, five hundred yards east of Highway #5, and eight hundred yards south of Calso. At 1230, on the 8th, after a preparation by tanks and assault guns, Company C and Company L advanced northeast to attack an enemy strongpoint three hundred yards to their front. At 1600, Company L reached the top of a small rise just short of the objective only to find about a platoon of Japs occupying the usual caves and spider holes on the reverse slope. A brisk fire fight developed and continued until dark, when L Company dug in. Company G, meanwhile, bypassed this engagement and bivouacked for the night a hundred yards to the north. On the morning of the 9th, Company L knocked out the resistance on the reverse slope of the hill after a short fire fight, while Company C, continuing northeast up the ravine, hit a large concentration of caves, spider holes, and pillboxes. A fierce fire fight developed, which continued during the afternoon. L Company moved around the right flank. Working down a ridge toward the enemy’s flank in an attempt to attack from the rear, they were met by heavy fire from a knob to their front. They withdrew a short distance to commanding ground and dug in for the night. A patrol contacted C Company at 1630. At 0915 on the 10th, they continued to receive light opposition as they advanced, however, and spent the day cleaning out pockets of resistance in the area. The next morning C Company discovered that the six hour fire fight of the 9th had reduced the enemy pocket to remnant status. They overran the position killing six Japs and capturing a 47mm gun and ammunition, two heavy machine guns, and two flame throwers. Leaving a small force to mop up the area, Company C swung north toward Highway #5. Just before noon, they contacted I Company of the 27th on the highway nine hundred yards south of Balete Pass. On the 10th, the remainder of the 3d Battalion, less Company E, which was still attached to the 1st Battalion, moved north up Highway #5. L Company reverted to their control, and C Company was attached. The 3d Battalion thereupon continued to drive to the north. This marked the completion of the 2d Battalion’s share of the drive north from Kapintalan. Even though their strength was augmented by Companies C and L, who deserve full shares of the credit, they had racked up an enviable score. From the 27th of April to the 10th of May, they had killed two hundred seventy five Japs by nose count, and captured three prisoners. The number of Japs sealed up in caves will never be computed. Captured or destroyed materials include: four 47mm A-T guns, numerous medical supplies and pack saddles, three trucks, one entire dump of small arms ammunition, and ninety five cases of 47mm ammunition. The 3d Battalion’s principal mission was to check out a strong Jap concentration near Highway #5, about nine hundred yards from Balete Pass, which was preventing continuous use of Highway #5 as a supply route. Companies C and I were given the job. Advancing northward, Company I ran into a series of pillboxes to their front, and made no progress against it by nightfall. The two tanks attached to the battalion registered upon the enemy position during the day, however, and on the 11th, after c Company had cleared the highway, the tanks moved along the highway and up the ravine to give close support to a coordinated attack by C and I Companies. I Company advanced northeast down the ravine, while C Company drove up from the opposite direction. By the evening of the 13th, the two companies had, with the very effective aid of indirect tank fire and 81mm mortar fire, contained the Japs in the upper end of he draw. Sixty two Japs had been killed at the end of the day. That night several small parties of Japs attempted to escape through I Company block, but were repulsed. On the 14th, Company C reverted to the 1st Battalion, and by the 15th, with nineteen more Japs added to the score, the draw was cleared of the enemy. This action completed the wiping out of the Jap 63d Infantry Regiment CP. Upon reversion to 3d Battalion control on 12 March, L Company was ordered to drive southeast to contact K Company, which was then attached to the 1st battalion, but was expected to rejoin the 3d Battalion soon. On the 14th, having completed their mission with the 1st Battalion when the hill which had been the 1/35 and 3/27 common objective was secured, K Company reverted to the 3d Battalion. Both companies pushed slowly toward each other, against slight but steady resistance from small enemy groups which each of the two mopped up as they went along. On the afternoon of the 14th, the juncture was made. The next day, on the march to the battalion, several Jap stragglers were killed. Although Highway #5 had been declared open on the 13th, it was not actually secured until C, I, K and L Companies of the 35th had eliminated the last vestige of resistance south of the pass on the 15th. Back to History Index The Capture of Santa Fe - 2d Battalion Operations in the Bolong Area
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