In Manila, MacArthur began to implement his plan of defense, starting with the declaration of Manila as an open city. He transferred his staff to Corregidor and ordered an orderly withdrawal of his troops to the Bataan peninsula. Troops who opposed the Japanese at Lingayen conducted delaying actions, blowing up bridges and conducting rear guard actions to enable the retreating troops from north and south to converge into a bottleneck towards Bataan. He had his choice of arena, his familiarity with the terrain afforded him natural advantages. The dense jungle and heavy foliage could lessen the effectiveness of Japanese air superiority and curtail movement of enemy troops.
Savage fighting ensued, one of the most gallant battles of the Second World War. There was no lack of courage on both sides. Japanese troops, veterans of China and Manchuria, attacked relentlessly. Ill equipped and ill fed Filipinos and Americans defended tenaciously.
Arduously, the balance tilted in favor of the Japanese. Pickets of resistance were gradually pushed back in ever thinning lines. Eventually, fatigue, disease, lack of food and the irresistible force of the Japanese assault overcame the courage and will to fight on. Bataan fell. The Rock stood alone.
The Death March started on April 10, 1942 at the American field hospital in Mariveles where the captives were herded and made to wait for two hours under a blazing sun. They were then ordered to march to Balanga, a distance of about twenty miles. They reached Balanga at ten in the evening. They were not fed but were allowed to drink and fill their canteens with contaminated water from shallow pools used by water buffaloes to wallow. Dysentery and stomach cramps resulted.
On the 3rd day, captives began to lag behind, dropping from exhaustion and disease. Most of these men were shot or bayoneted. Comrades who tried to help were prodded with bayonets. Dead men, some with spilled entrails, littered the roadside. Soon, men at the head of the column heard crackling pops of small arms fire; a clean-up squad was executing those who lagged and fell behind. Dread filled the men as they trudged, step by agonizing step. They reached Orani at three in the afternoon where they were held in a compound for 500 men. More than 2,000 men sweltered under the tropical sun, the sky blue above them and tantalizing clouds kept close to the mountains and stayed there. That night the captives tried to sleep sitting up, muscles cramped, aching all over, hungry and fatigued. Men died quietly in the enfolding darkness, released from their misery in death.
At daybreak, the dead were dragged for burial in shallow trenches. Unconscious men, mistaken for dead, were buried alive. Huge cauldrons of gruel were hauled near the gate of the compound, their first taste of food - a ladle for each man. Also for the first time, they were able to drink clean water when they were allowed to fill their canteens from a free flowing artesian well. Again, they sweltered under the intense heat of the noon day sun. They milled about like driven cattle - dumb, helpless.
They resumed the march at twilight . At least, the heat was dissipating. A 15 minute rain around midnight cleansed their filthy bodies. After resting for a few hours, they resumed the march and reached Lubao, Pampanga. At Lubao, civilians rushed to give them food and water but ferocious guards lashed at the civilians, preventing further contact. Undaunted, foodstuffs rained down on the column from inside the houses. These acts of mercy stopped when guards brutalized recipients of such kindness, creating more misery. The brave civilians wept.
Finally, they reached San Fernando, Pampanga, where they were herded into a compound ringed with barbed wire. At dawn of April 15, they were crammed into several box cars, more than a hundred men to each box car with minimal ventilation. The sliding door was closed and padlocked from the outside.
The train finally moved after two hours of endless waiting, the temperature rising by the minute, suffocating men and causing more needless deaths.
