Battle for the Rock
After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, Japanese forces invaded the Philippines with little opposition. They took over most of the South China Sea islands, except for one called Corregidor. The small Corregidor Island is located at the entrance of Manila Bay, known as the finest harbor in the Orient. With its mixed and underpowered garrison, the island was the only obstruction that prevented the Japanese from having total control of the Philippines. American soldiers, Marines, Navy personnel, and the remains of improvised and locally-trained Philippine units would strengthen the 4th Marine Regiment to fight back the Japanese invaders. Known as the Gibraltar of the East, Corregidor Island and its World War I-era fortifications resisted five intense months of continuous Japanese bombardments. But after the fall of Bataan in April of 1942, the Japanese Special Landing Forces turned to Corregidor for one more implacable coordinated attack. General Masaharu Homma and more than 50,000 Japanese forces stormed the Corregidor beaches and encircled the vastly outnumbered allied troops in the area. A brutal battle for control of the island erupted.
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