Free The Leper Spy by Ben Montgomery Page A

ordered that no troops be brought to Corregidor except one infantry unit and the army nurses, but these sad and tired stragglers refused to capitulate. Major General Moore assigned the new troops to tactical employment. The night sky on April 9 glowed red for hours as the Japanese blew up ammunition stores and bomb-laden vessels in the harbor.
    With their new turf on Bataan under control, the Japanese rushed guns into place on the beaches, trained them on Corregidor, and began pounding away. The Corregidor guns were set to return fire on the beaches, but General Wainwright ordered them to hold fire. American prisoners of war now snaked along the roads of Bataan, and two nearby base hospitals were filled with sick and wounded US soldiers.
    It seemed only a matter of time before the Japanese attempted a landing at Corregidor, but Moore was determined to hold the Rock for as long as possible. Soon, on April 11, five Japanese landing barges appeared off one of the points on Bataan’s shoreline, hugging the shore and headed for the bay. Three Corregidor batteries opened fire and drove the boats back out of sight.
    On April 12, General Wainwright issued these words to his troops on the Rock:
    Corregidor can and will be held. There can be no question of surrendering this mighty fortress to the enemy. It will be defended with all the resources at our command. Major General George F. Moore, commanding general of Fort Mills, is wholeheartedly with me in the unalterable decision to hold this island together with its auxiliary forts.
    I call upon every person in this fortress—officer, enlisted man, or civilian—to consider himself from this time onward as a member of a team which is resolved to meet the enemy’s challenge each hour of every night and day.
    All men who have served here before will remain at their posts, while those who have come from Bataan will be assigned to appropriate tasks and battle stations. It is essential above all that the men who have joined us from the mainland promptly rid themselves of any defeatist attitude which they may have and consider themselves a part of this fighting unit.
    Bataan has fallen—but Corregidor will carry on! On this mighty fortress—a pearl of a great price on which the enemy has set his covetous eyes—the spirit of Bataan will continue to live!
    The bombs fell daily, pulverizing the little island. One evening around 10:00 PM , a large group of men had congregated outside Malinta Tunnel, against orders, and a heavy shell fell in their midst. The bang launched the group into the air, killing them instantly. There were about fifty casualties.
    On April 20, reports from guerrillas reached Moore that the enemy was assembling a large landing force on the east coast of Bataan. Time was short.
    April 29 was Emperor Hirohito’s birthday.
    â€œAs anticipated,” Moore wrote, “the enemy decided to celebrate.”
    The bombs started falling at 7:30 AM . The 260th air-raid alarm sounded on the island, signaling the start of a nightmare that wouldn’t end.
    0800: Extremely heavy shelling at both portals of Malinta Tunnel and North dock.
    0821: Enemy shelling Topside while observation plane overhead adjusts fire.
    0923: Bombs dropped on west end of Corregidor.
    0935: Battery Ramsey and H-60th bombed. Fire started below Middleside Incinerator.
    0957: Middleside barracks bombed; some men injured.
    0958: Enemy shelling near North Point.
    1002: Two ammunition dumps at Topside exploding.
    All day long. The next day, too. And the next. During one five-hour period, twelve 240-millimeter shells per minute—or thirty-six hundred total—rained down on Topside. The dust was so bad it blinded the spotters.
    The beach defense installations on the north side of the island were ruined. The trees and natural vegetation had been blown to hell, and the ground was covered with powdered dust. Barbed wire and land mines had been blasted away. Communication lines were