The Role of the US Army 158th RCT in the Liberation of Batangas in 1945

On 9 January 1945, the United States 6^th Army landed its forces on the beaches of Lingayen in Pangasinan to commence the liberation of Luzon from Japanese occupation. From there, the forces would mop up northern Luzon of Japanese positions and race south to liberate the capital city of Manila. At the end of the same month, the United States 8^th Army landed on the beaches at Nasugbu in Batangas with the mission of blocking Japanese troops escaping south and, if viable, supporting the American offensive from the north.

By the 23^rd of February, Manila had been partially reclaimed but, crucially, the Americans had in their possession Nichols Airfield (now Villamor Air Base) and Fort McKinley (presently Fort Bonifacio). The order was given “to destroy all the Japs in Southern Luzon South of Manila¹.”

The task, which of course included the liberation of the Province of Batangas, was given to the 11^th Airborne Division, which had landed in Nasugbu late the previous month. To accomplish the mission, however, a storied army group called the 158^th Regimental Combat Team (RCT), nicknamed the “Bushmasters²” after a deadly viper the group encountered in jungle warfare training in Panama early in the 20^th century, was attached to the division.

The 158^th was under the command of General Hanford McNider, who had earlier been wounded in the campaign in New Guinea and given command of the RCT on his recovery. He was considered something of a legend in the 158^th and would be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General by an act of Congress in 1956, five years after his retirement³.

When the mission of liberating Southern Luzon, including Batangas, was started, the 158^th moved out from Nasugbu on 4 March along the western side of Taal Lake. Fighting along this route was expected to be light in comparison to the eastern side of the lake, but this was just as well because the RCT was also being eyed for the liberation of the Bicol Peninsula.

Robert Ross Smith, in his 1963 book⁴, explained the operations: the 158^th

This was early in March, at which time the Division Headquarters of the 11^th Airborne had been set up on Tagaytay Ridge. To speed up communication with the 158^th, the US Army Corps of Engineers built a “dusty, twisting, narrow” road from Batulao to Lemery. Within the army, the road was referred to as the “Shorty Road.” This is likely the same road that in the present day is called the Diokno Highway.

While resistance encountered by the 158^th from Nasugbu all the way through Tuy, Balayan and Calaca was cursory, things started to change when the RCT arrived in Lemery. Wrote Maj. Edward M. Flanagan Jr. in a book:

From Lemery, the RCT moved on to the Calumpang Peninsula – which separates the bays of Batangas and Balayan – to liberate the towns of Mabini and Bauan. Securing the peninsula was strategically important because it would keep the northern Verde Island passage safe for American ships supporting the Luzon campaign and allow for the development of bases along the shores of the two bays.

Bauan was liberated on 9 March. By the 12^th, the 158^th had also secured the then-town of Batangas⁵. The RCT would be relieved from their posts at the Calumpang Peninsula and ordered to move into and attack Cuenca and Mount Maculot as well as its two “satellite” hills which the Americans called San Jose and Santa Rosa Hills.

Along Route 417 on the way to Cuenca, the RCT started to encounter heavier resistance from Japanese troops estimated to have been around 1,250 men supported by “300-mm. howitzer, two 70-mm. guns, ten or more 81-mm. mortars, a few lighter mortars, and a wealth of machine guns and machine cannon, including many removed from disabled Japanese aircraft at the Lipa airstrips.”

By the 23^rd of March, the 158^th had taken the town of Cuenca, but instead of pursuing well-dug in Japanese soldiers on Mount Maculot, the RCT was ordered to withdraw back to Lemery to start preparing for the planned assault on the Bicol Peninsula. The group’s position at the foot of Maculot was taken over by the 187^th Infantry, diverted from Tanauan and given the task of completing the reduction of Japanese troops on Maculot.