Lubang Island is located in the South China Sea in Mindoro, the Philippines. It is located southwest from the capital Manila and is 150 kilometers away. The island stretches 27km from north to south and 10km from east to west, with mountains as high as 500 meters standing in the center. The population was about 18,000. Almost all islanders lived near the coast where the land was relatively flat; they made a living by cultivating rice and tropical fruit such as Mango and Papaya and catching fish and shellfish. The inhabitants had a frugal lifestyle because there were no special industries and no natural resources on this island, but the island is geographically significant because it is very close to the capital, Manila city.
Onoda walked along the coast to learn the geographical information well because he had large-scale maps only and then he headed to execute the missions. First, he tried to destroy bridges and a runway, but, the Army made a strong resistance against him. They insisted that the bridges were needed for when they retreated. The Navy also hesitated to bomb the runway just in case allied forces would use it. Next, he tried to train the island guards in guerilla warfare; however, he realized the severe situation of the island guards. There were about 200 of them, but, out of the 200 there were 50 new recruits who were trained for only 3 months and immediately deployed to the island. More surprisingly, they had poor equipment. Their guns were archaic; there were no machine guns and grenades. Onoda immediately requested the command center to send at least some grenades. They sent a plethora of grenades and a heavy machine gun by the next ship, but, the problem was that there were no well-trained machine-gunners.
More than the above issues, Onoda met his biggest challenge; he did not have the authority to give an order to his comrades, therefore, he had to explain the significance of guerilla warfare to each of the leaders first. He could give advice to them, but he could not give them orders. Although Onoda was a lieutenant, he was quite young at the age of 22 years old, so sometimes they talked about Onoda behind his back. Therefore the preparation for guerilla warfare did not go smoothly. He was so frustrated by his lack of operational command.
The Japanese troops obtained food and shelter by force, so the local residents were afraid of them. They did not try to have a good relationship with them as much as they could.
In the meantime, the US marine force landed in Lubang Island on February 28, 1945. Onoda saw a small-unit appearing to be like guerilla soldiers landing onto the western coast at the top of the mountain. The group went into the jungle and then disappeared. In the daytime, they never appeared. Even the sound of gunfire had not been heard, time passed by in strained silence. However, that night, a sudden fire burning in the sky from the direction of Lubang City startled Onoda. He spent the night with a crushing fear and irritation in the deepening dark. The long night had ended as daybreak came and Onoda caught sight of US battleship troops marching onto Lubang Island through his binoculars. After a while, with the big discharge of artillery sounds, destroyers’ naval gunfire started. The torrential rain of cannon fire continued for about two hours and it totally destroyed Tilik City. In the midst of the roar of explosion, the coastal area was not able to be seen by the soaring cloud of dust and then, the main force landed from the eastern coast. The island guards were fired upon in pincer operation, causing them to scatter in all directions. Onoda fended off the US attack and fled into the jungle. Onoda attempted a night attack; however, there were no US troop’s in sight. They withdrew already from the territory. Onoda regretted attacking the US military because he almost forgot his mission,”live whatever it takes” due to anger.
The sick and wounded soldiers were the initial target. The patients who were very sick committed suicide using explosive bombs and disappeared without leaving any trace. The other Japanese troops performed lethal attacks at the US military and were caught in the crossfire. All of the leaders except Onoda died. The situation had come to a logical result because the island guards were not combatants and were under trained. They were just soldiers waiting for a command of withdraw.
Next Page
Chapter 6. Missing The Info of End of War and The 1st Death of Hiroo Onoda
