General Yamashita had lost most of his supplies and men trying to hold on to Leyte, so he decided to go on the defensive and placed his troops on-top off three mountains.He placed 30,000 troops at Kembu to protect Clark Field, 125,000 men Shimbu to protect Manila's water supply and he commanded troops at Shoba to redoubt the north.Admiral Kinkaid's 7th Fleet landed Kreuger's 6th Army on the southwest corner of Luzon on January 9, 1945.At first, they met little opposition, but soon, Yamashita's Kembu group blocked the Americans from marching on Manila.MacArthur was impatient for success, but by January 29, the 14th Corps reached San Fernando.On Febuary 11, Clark Field was taken.
On January 29, Major General Hall's 11th Corps landed at San Antonio and reached Subic by Febuary 5, joined by the 14th Corps to cut off Bataan, just like the Japanese did in 1941.On January 31, the 11th Airborne Division landed at Nasugasa Bay, 40 miles south of Manila, but met stiff opposition.They reached Nichols Field by Febuary 12.
Although Yamashita did not want to defend Manila and had withdrew into the mountains, Rear Admiral Iwabuchi, Commander of the 31st Naval Base Force, was ordered to defend it at all costs.The 37th Infantry fought to the northwest corner of Manila and freed 1300 Allied prisoners from Bilibid Prison.Manial was fought for street to street, but it finally fell on March 4, after 16,000 Japanese died trying to defend it.
Before the fall of Manila, the Americans had cleared Bataan and were ready to retake Corregidor.Allied intelligence underestimated the Japanese garrison there.When paratroopers were dropped in, they missed the target and 280 men died.On the same day, landings were made, but it took two weeks to overrun the garrison and another 225 Americans lost their lives.But, Correigedor finally fell and by April 16, all the islands in Manila Bay were in Allied hands.
The campaign for Luzon could have ended right this point because the Japanese force of 172,000 troops was without food and supplies and could not threaten the Americans.However, 50,000 troops under General Yokoyama concentrated east of Manila and controlled the water supply.General Griswold attacked Yokoyama's Shimba group but with only two divisions, he found it difficult to knock out the Japanese cave defenses.So, the 11th Corps was brought in and made better progress in the south, near Laguna de Bay.To the north, it took American troops until May to take the Wawa and Ipo dams undamaged.This constant fighting left the Shimba group severly weakened and soon was no longer effective as a fighting force.Yamashita continued to fight, though.They fought very bravely and stubbornly.They finally surrendered on September 2, 1945, after Japan herself surrender.In my mind, Lt. General Tomoyuki Yamashita was one of the greatest generals of World War 2 because he held on to the Philippines until his country surrender.So, on actuality, Luzon was never fully recaptured, but most of it was, so in my opinion, both sides came out of this battle with the same amount of glory.