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LUZON THE OLD SPANISH TRAIL 10 –27 JUNE 1945 During the period 28 May – 10 June, the 35th Infantry engaged in no action against the enemy except routine patrolling, in the course of which some thirty five Japs were killed. On 9 June, the Regiment was alerted for a new assignment and on 10 and 11 June, we received our orders: To Secure Highway #5 from Santa Fe to Aritao; maintain road blocks at Dupex, Malasin, and west of Aritao; and, most important, to attack south on the Old Spanish Trail to secure the Marang River Fork. The job of outposting highway #5 was given to the 1st Battalion. This assignment lasted only from the 10th to the 15th. During that period the battalion, disposed along the highway, patrolled to the west, killing a total of thirty five Japs and capturing two prisoners. On the 15th of June, they were relieved by elements of the 126th Infantry, and joined the 2d Battalion on the Old Spanish Trail. The 1st Battalion was assigned the task of patrolling and maintaining road blocks in the Aritao-Dupex-Malasin area. By the 13th the battalion had set up a total of fourteen blocks, strategically located to stop Jap movement from the east and south. At their road blocks and in the course of extensive patrolling, the battalion killed one hundred one Japs and captured three prisoners. The 2d Battalion was given the mission of driving seventeen thousand yards south on the Old Spanish Trail to the Marang River Forks, and thereafter contacting the 27th Infantry. F Company jumped off from Aritao on the 11th, and by nightfall had moved six thousand yards. On the 12th, patrols reconnoitered the trail for another thirty five hundred yards, while g Company bypassed F and occupied san Francisco, a thousand yards to the front. F Company patrols found evidence of Jap activity all along the trail. At 103 of he 13th, G Company pushed off from San Francisco, and at 1630, ran into a group of Japs dug in on the ridges on both sides of the trail. Mortar and artillery fire was placed on the enemy, while patrols from the rear of the column crossed both ridges and worked up on the enemy rear. When the artillery fire ceased, they jumped the enemy from the rear, destroying the positions and killing fifteen Japs. On 14 June, G Company was reinforced by a platoon each from E and F Companies, to patrol along the ridges to the right and left flanks respectively during the advance. After an artillery preparation, G Company jumped off, and advanced four hundred yards before receiving intense machine gun fire from the right flank. The E Company platoon flanked the machine gun nest and eliminated it. One thousand yards further up the trail, the company hit a strong river and trail block, knocked it out, and occupied the position for the night. The 3d Battalion was relieved of its assignment along Highway #5 on 15 June, and moved by truck to the end of the bulldozer road on the Old Spanish Trail. At the end of the day, they bivouacked just behind the 2d Battalion, with the mission of following up the 2d Battalion’s advance, patrolling extensively on both sides of the trail, and securing the bulldozer road. In anticipation of their arrival, E and F Companies, whose elements had been deployed along the trail for a considerable distance behind G Company, moved forward on 14 June until the three companies were abreast. At 0730 on the 15th, the drive continued, with E company in the valley, G Company on the ridge to the right, and F Company on the ridge to the left. After a nine hundred yard advance, E Company hit a Jap trail block which was not knocked out until 1600. F Company moved seven hundred yards farther south on the left ridge. G Company advanced seven hundred yards beyond E, and set up a road block which bagged six Japs during the night. Shortly after jumping off on the 16th, the battalion ran into two groups of Japs, established astride the ridges and attempting to dominate the trail by machine gun and knee mortar fire. After a mortar and artillery preparation, F and G Companies moved forward and cleaned out the enemy positions on both ridges. During the remainder of the day’s advance there was no enemy contact except for a few small parties of three to five Japs attempting to evacuate to the northeast. Throughout the entire drive down the Old Spanish Trail these small escape parties were found both along the trail and in the adjacent areas covered by our patrols: chasing and killing them became a routine chore. When the 2d Battalion dug in for the night of the 16th, they were within four thousand yards of the Marang River Forks, having driven thirteen thousand yards up the Old Spanish Trail in six days: an average of better then two thousand yards per day. After an artillery preparation, E and G Companies moved out on the morning of the 17th, F Company remained in position of the ridge to the left of the valley. At 1315, G Company received 150mm, 90mm, and knee mortar fire from a gulch to their left front. 81mm mortar fire was placed in the gulch, after which the two companies advanced to within three hundred yards of the gulch and dug in for the night. On the morning of the 18th, F Company passed through G to clear the gully, but found the Japs had pulled out during the night. G Company remained in position throughout the day, while E and F Companies advanced to a point two thousand yards north of the Forks. Only minor contacts with the enema were made, but many land mines were found along the trail, all of which were neutralized with no casualties incurred. On 19 June, the 3d Battalion assumed responsibility for the valley to the left of the Marang River. E Company led the 2d Battalion movement up the right side of the valley. At 1025 they ran into a large Jap hospital area, in which were found several fresh graves and nine unburied bodies. The bodies were those of wounded men who had evidently been too weak to evacuate under their own power, and had died of starvation and lack of proper care of their wounds after the hospital units had left. The bodies were unarmed: their comrades had not even left them a knife or a hand grenade with which to achieve the Japanese idea of an honorable death. At 1530, 19 June, E company reached the Marang River Fork. In nine days, from the 11th to the 19th of June, the 2d Battalion had driven seventeen thousand yards. After the 16th, the advance had slowed to a mere fifteen hundred yards a day due to the increasing density of Japs in the area attempting to escape northeast, and the necessity of patrolling farther and farther afield I order to intercept them. On the left side of the valley, L Company, which had moved ahead of the battalion on the 18th, led the advance, with K Company following, reached the Fork at 1600, a half hour behind E Company on the right side. The mission now was to contact the 27th Infantry, who had been working north up the trail from Carranglan. The 2d Battalion, with C attached, assumed responsibility for securing the bulldozer road and patrolling to either side. On the 20th, C Company took over positions at the Fork, to maintain communications between the 2d Battalion and the 3d Battalion elements on both forks of the trail. L Company pushed off on 20 June, and pushed one thousand yards southeast up the Cauco Trail before running into heavy small arms fire. The next morning the company jumped off after an artillery preparation and passed through the area without contact. This process was repeated on the 21st, 22nd, and the 23rd. The opposition was evidently a delaying force employing the technique of setting up a strong block, delivering heavy fire upon our advancing troops, and then retreating before battle could be joined. Thus, with only a small force they could reduce the speed of our advance about one-third. On the 24th, from a point on the hill about three thousand yards southeast of the fork, patrols were sent forward another two thousand yards without making contact with the 27th. On the 25th, they were relieved by I Company and moved back to the Fork. No further attempts were made to reach the 27th on the Cauco Trail. On the 21st, meanwhile, K Company pushed southeast up the Old Spanish Trail without meeting organized opposition, and set up a perimeter three thousand yards southwest of the fork. On the 22nd, a combat patrol to Mt. Kitayama, almost directly south, met a 27t Infantry patrol. However, this meeting did not complete the mission, which ws to make contact on the trail. On the 24th, a two-day combat patrol jumped off from K Company and drove three thousand yards up the trail to Susuki Pass, where they met a patrol from the 2d Battalion 27th Infantry, thus accomplishing both the Regiment’s and the Division’s mission of the campaign in the Carabello Mountains.
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