[Disturbing] The unit that defied their superiors

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Manila in the 1930s.

Manila, a major global city at the time and a metropolis in the US-colonized Philippines.

With the outbreak of WWII in the 1940s, the owner(?) changed from the US to Japan.

Japan's momentum, which seemed eternal due to the massive success of the initial Southern Operation, neared total defeat by 1944.

The Japanese-occupied Philippines also got caught in the crossfire as the Allied forces launched their counter-offensive...

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Tomoyuki Yamashita, who contributed to the capture of Singapore but was sidelined by Tojo, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Philippine defense. Knowing he stood no chance against US firepower and logistics, Yamashita chose a war of attrition to delay the invasion of the Japanese mainland as much as possible.

The defense plan was to retreat to northern Luzon and use the jungle as a shield to negate the Allied firepower.

Manila was supposed to be declared an 'Open City' and the troops withdrawn.

(An Open City is declared for locations with no military installations or troops, or when a fall is imminent, to avoid meaningless battle, destruction, and massacres.) He tried to prevent civilian massacres and the destruction of the city, but unfortunately, Navy forces were stationed in Manila.

Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi, who controlled Manila at the time, ignored the orders of Yamashita (who was Army) and established the Manila Defense Force to hold the city.

The defense force consisted of injured sailors or those whose ships had been sunk, so their combat capability wasn't exactly high.

Iwabuchi led 12,500 sailors, reinforced by 4,500 IJA (Army) troops under Col. Katsuzo Noguchi and Capt. Saburo Abe. They built extensive defensive positions, including inside the 16th-century Intramuros, cut down palms on Dewey Blvd for an airstrip, and barricaded major roads.

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Intramuros in Manila.

Some speculate Iwabuchi ignored Yamashita because he was Navy, but also because his flagship, the Kirishima, was sunk in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, and he felt his honor was tarnished. Thus, he fought to seek a 'honorable death' while holding Manila.

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The US also saw Manila as a must-retake city to avenge the humiliation of losing the Philippines during the Southern Operation.

Feb 3, 1945, US forces began entering Manila. Despite the advantage of urban warfare, ship crews, the wounded, and conscripted civilians weren't exactly elite marines. Those trying to flee the Manila Defense Force were forced back into battle by nearby Japanese troops. Realizing defense was impossible, Iwabuchi belatedly requested a retreat, but received no answer.

As the battle dragged on, innocent Manila civilians who couldn't evacuate began to die. Due to the nature of urban combat, the US had to use direct fire or gasoline to burn buildings to suppress defenders since it was hard to clear them otherwise.

The US tried to minimize civilian casualties, but...

The Japanese troops, driven to madness and facing attacks from anti-Japanese guerrillas (angry at years of brutal Japanese rule), began indiscriminately raping and massacring civilians under the pretext of stopping guerrillas (who were hard to distinguish from civilians).

Witnessing the Manila massacre, Haniji Nishioka (deceased 2004): 'Because many guerrillas had infiltrated the buildings, we advised the Filipinos to evacuate several times, but they didn't comply. The commander ordered our squad to annihilate the guerrillas without leaving a single one. We blew up buildings and shot Filipinos running out. Many were non-resisting women and children.' - NHK War Testimony Archive.

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The result:

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100,000 civilians were massacred, and Manila, once a global city, was burned to ashes.

Iwabuchi, who shouted for holding Manila, eventually got the retreat order too late. As the US closed in, he blew himself up with a grenade in his HQ. 12,000 defenders died, while the US lost 1,000 with 5,500 wounded.

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Siblings who survived the massacre. Their parents weren't so lucky.

'On that morning of the massacre, a Japanese Navy officer on routine patrol ordered me and a few others to take down the Red Cross flag. In broken English, he said: "Bad... Americans very bad... Americans hate the Red Cross. But Japanese okay..."'

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학살에서 살아남은 남매, 부모는 운이 좋지 못했다.

그 대량학살의 아침에, 한 일본군 해군 장교가 일상적인 순찰이라면서 건물을 돌아보았다. 그리고는 나와 몇 명에게 적십자기를 내리라고 명령했다. 그리고는 어설픈 영어로 이렇게 말했다. “나쁘다....미국인은 매우 나쁘다.... 미국인들은 적십자를 싫어한다. 그러나 Japanese okay......"