The Blood and Mud in the Philippines: Anti-Guerrilla Warfare on Panay Island
Chapter 9–ISOLATION
9.1 Fighting at Bocari
The village of Bocari is at the foot of the outer rim of a depression around Mt. Inaman that peaked at about 1,350 meters. The outer rim of the basin measured about four kilometers east to west and two to three kilometers from north to south. On both sides of the 10-meter wide river, there were some 600 houses of villagers around terraced and skillfully irrigated rice fields. The people here were raising corn, sweet potato, kamote kahoy (cassava), leek, mongo (mung beans), peanut, and tobacco in areas where water was not easily accessible. In swampy areas, there were taro potatoes; and on the slopes were mangoes and bananas.
Everyday some Japanese soldiers managed to reach Bocari, exhausted, disheveled, and in rags. I met each one of them to hear the circumstances of Japanese soldiers killed in battle that they had spotted along the way. They reported the tragic end of the Army Hospital patients that happened east of Barrio Buyo and the awful scene of around 30 Japaneses soldiers killed naked on a mountain slope north of Leon. I also learned that tanks south of Pavia had killed a number of Japanese soldiers, who had attacked them.
The soldiers who had trailed behind thus came one after the other into Bocari. Nevertheless, the greatest concern was for the forces and the Hôjin under the leadership of Captain Saitô. Those of us in Bocari had been resting, recovering from malnutrition and beri-beri with the abundant food available. That made us more bothered and worried about our separated comrades and the Hôjin.
In early May, 2nd Lieutenant Saeki and his platoon of the Noda Force of the Tanabe unit arrived at headquarters guided by a soldier of the 2nd Company. The Saeki platoon was the messenger/search unit of the Saitô force. Since our separation, it was only then that we learned about the actions of the Saitô unit as well as the mass suicides of the elderly, women and children. Our unit was charged with the care for the Hôjin as the Saitô unit did not have enough food in their position. Escorted by the Suzuki Company, the Hôjin arrived several days later, hobbling in ragged mompe outfits (Japanese trousers). Many had tropical ulcers. They looked miserable like beggars – very different from their days in Iloilo City – and this brought tears to our eyes. Among them was Mr. Kimura, the head of the Japanese Association, who had a beard like that of a goat. So was Miss Ritsuko Kayamori, the only survivor of the Kayamoris, and so on. Each one of them was a pitiful sight.
In the beginning, the area close to Mt. Inaman was the safer area from which food could be obtained and was offered to the Hôjins. Soon, however, there was no more food to consume. Hence, the Hôjin were to be assigned to various units in groups of 14 or 15 members. As we were discussing this distribution of responsibility, a Taiwanese comfort woman named Chiyo came up to me, lamenting, ‘The Hôjin all despise us as Taiwanese and prostitutes. Please, do not divide us but keep us as one group.’ I felt very sorry for them and wondered how I should deal with them. They were the most popular of the groups; most units wanted to be in charge of them. For the sake of the women, and as I wanted to avoid problems that might be caused should they start their prostitution business under the current circumstances, I assigned them to the care of Lieutenant Nakamura of the remaining 10 2nd Division unit who had the reputation of being a strict man.
As everyone assembled, we decided on the positions of each of the forces. We could take a rest and regain physical health with abundant food, but we worried about the lack of ammunition. For the two mortars, there were only a dozen shells. Each soldier had only 140 to 150 bullets for their rifles. There were still a few thousand rounds for machine-guns but we did not have enough for a proper battle. All we could do was to pray that the enemy would not attack us.
When May came, a few companies of US forces started attacking the west position with rifles and light machine-guns. Enemy planes also started strafing. At one time, they even scattered fuel from the air and set it afire, causing the death of several soldiers and leaving the position in flames. The US forces repeatedly attacked the west position of the Yoshioka unit. Because of lack of ammunition they remained patient; they drew the enemy near and shot them. After several assaults that brought about the death of some American soldiers, the attacks on the Yoshioka force ceased.
One thing about the US fighting style that made us feel relaxed was that they never attacked at night. Therefore, we could sleep without concern. Since we were taking it too easy, a dozen guerrillas broke in one night through a gap between the front positions and attacked the nipa houses of the Mukaibara force. Luckily, they quickly fought back and the enemy retreated. Thus, the guerrillas who made occasional sudden raids were more frightening for us than the Americans.
The US forces continued to attack a few companies and to conduct air raids. Nonetheless, we did not have much difficulty. To obtain information on the enemy, we were listening to the Japanese radio broadcasts from Saigon and the American broadcasts in Japanese from San Francisco. They reported that the US forces that landed in Okinawa on April 1 were pressing in on the Japanese Army. After the capture of Okinawa, the attack by the Allied forces on Japan proper would not be far away.
Towards the end of June, a large group of American soldiers – numbering more than a battalion–suddenly appeared on the plateau, about 500 meters in front of the Mizutani force. From morning until night, they fired hundreds of mortar shells. Seen from the headquarters sited on the slope of Mt. Inaman, clouds of mud covered the position of the Mizutani force. All the sheltering foliage burnt to the ground and left the position unprotected. For a few days more, the US forces patiently kept on shelling. We were envious of the large quantities of ammunition that they wasted. (To be continued)
