West Sector, Bagac, January 30th-February 1st, 1942 (turns 22-24)
Picking up where we left off, the damaged JP Marine is left at 1-strength by the combined efforts of Paysawan bunker and Eng/B Coy. X/B Coy is limping across the river. The PH units that were part of the reception committee are now deploying to the river banks to delay the Japanese. If I can extricate my core units beyond Paysawan they won't stop before Mariveles (Figure 1).
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| Figure 1 - 2nd wave JP Marines ashore at Paysawan |
Slightly North of the JP Marines, another JP Infantry left its over-strength on the outskirts of Bagac courtesy of 1/A Coy. The Heavy Infantry moved onto the jungle road to attack PH/B Coy who resists both that attack and the assault from a Regular to its North. Counter-attacking any of these units is not worth the inevitable casualties but the PH Recruits in this favorable terrain and fully entrenched have proven remarkably resilient. It is true that so far the JP that attacked them were understrength and somewhat disorganized.
The Ha-Go tank decided that attacking Bagac/East bunker might be a better option but still took minor damage. It was destroyed when my turn activated but I don't remember if it was Bagac/East or the AA/AT Bty.
If I'm reading the inserts correctly both JP aircraft decided to bombard the retreating X/B Coy, either before or after the damaged JP Marine tried and failed to move them from their position (Figure 2).
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| Figure 2 - Bagac, Turn 22 |
Turn 23 and 1/A Coy is attacked at Bagac by the same Regular and again inflicts 3 casualties. The Heavy Infantry also attacks PH/B Coy and this tame takes one casualty. The Infantry that had attacked PH/B Coy the previous turn combines with an Heavy Infantry from the East Sector and the Hamaki strategic bomber to destroy Bagac/East bunker. The 1-strength JP Marines move North to clear the path for their comrades to, in conjunction with the B5N2 tactical, attack X/B Coy who retreats along the river (they will move onto the river's source on the mountain).
When it was my turn Paysawan bunker fired on the full-strength JP Marine for two casualties and USMC/B Coy put the last survivors of the other JP Marine unit out of their misery and moved into their location (Figure 3).
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| Figure 3 - Bagac, Turn 23 |
Turn 24 and again 1/A Coy is attacked at Bagac, this time by an Engineer that removes most (if not all) the entrenchment it still had. The Regular had moved into the jungle that USMC/B Coy had vacated and proceeded to attack the AA/AT Gun in conjunction with another Regular and the Hamaki strategic bomber. The Heavy Infantry continues its attack on PH/B Coy who is starting to buckle. USMC/B Coy attacks the surviving JP Marine unit and inflicts 3 casualties. On the Bagac-Paysawan road Eng/B Coy moves into the bridge clearing the path for X/D (Heavy) Coy to move into a covering position. This in turn leaves Paysawan clear for 1/A Coy's withdrawal. This kind of juggling is what I imagine drives logistics officers to an early grave (Figure 4).
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| Figure 4 - Retreating to Paysawan |
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