Battle of Manila Foreshadowed Future Urban Warfare, Provided Lessons Learned

View Online Battle of Manila Foreshadowed Future Urban Warfare, Provided Lessons Learned Feb. 11, 2025 | By David Vergun The Battle of Manila in the Philippines, which took place 80 years ago, from Feb. 3, 1945, to March 3, 1945, is widely considered to be one of the most destructive urban battles ever fought in terms of lives lost, with near-total destruction of the capital. Some have referred to the Battle of Manila as "the Stalingrad of Asia," Stalingrad being a large city in the Soviet Union that was the site of protracted fighting between the Red Army and troops of Nazi Germany earlier in World War II. The day after the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the Japanese attacked the Philippines, which was a U.S. territory.  At the time, Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur was the commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East. MacArthur and his forces in the Philippines were defeated, and in March 1942, he escaped to Australia, promising to return to the Philippines.  The Battle of Manila and other battles in the Philippines fulfilled MacArthur's promise, albeit at the cost of 1,010 U.S. soldiers and countless Filipino civilians who were killed in the Battle of Manila alone. The Battle of Manila provided valuable tactical lessons for future urban warfare, such as the battles of Seoul, Hue City, Baghdad and Fallujah.  The Japanese defense of the city included turning buildings into fortresses and integrating obstacles to disrupt and channel U.S. forces into kill zones. The monthlong battle demonstrated what a determined, well-prepared and well-entrenched enemy force can accomplish in an urban environment despite being outnumbered more than two to one.  The U.S. strategy took advantage of combined arms warfare, whereby tanks and artillery used direct fire at close range to breach structures. Sappers carrying explosives and infantrymen armed with flamethrowers, grenades, bazookas and other small arms assisted in the advance.  U.S. soldiers quickly learned to limit their exposure in open areas, moving from building to building rather than down the streets. Upon entering buildings, flamethrowers and small-arms fire were employed to clear the structure.  In such close quarters of fighting, fratricide quickly became a concern for U.S. forces operating in chaos, as there was no well-defined forward edge of the battle area, as there would have been in non-urban combat areas.  The battle also highlighted the danger to civilians caught in the path of the fighting. It is estimated that over 100,000 Filipino civilians were killed during the battle.  The following year, on July 4, the Philippines gained their independence. Today, the Philippines and Japan are close U.S. allies.

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