MacArthur had originally allotted only five divisions to Krueger’s northern forces-five divisions to tackle the bulk of the Japanese army on Luzon. The bitter campaigns raging in the mountains were low priority to General Douglas MacArthur, commander of all Allied forces in the Philippines. Gill could expect no replacements-Krueger had none to give.
Surprisingly, Krueger agreed and told the division commander, “I’m fully satisfied that your division has done and is doing all that is humanly possible under the incredibly difficult terrain conditions and resistance facing it.” Krueger then instructed Gill to continue the attack with what he had. There was no room for maneuver in the rugged Caraballo Mountains through which the trail wound. The trail was heavily fortified by elite troops of the Japanese Fourteenth Area Army. Gill complained that the division was battle-weary and understrength because there were no replacements. General Gill sought to deflect his superior’s wrath during the spring of 1945 by expressing his own doubts about the division’s ability to secure the trail.
The division was bogged down on northern Luzon on a mountain track called the Villa Verde Trail, taking more casualties than ground. It was expected, then, that he would land solidly on the back of the 32nd Division’s Major General William H. Sixth Army commander, General Walter Krueger, was notorious for cracking down on subordinates whose attacks fizzled during the fight to reclaim the Philippines. 32nd Infantry Division Battle to Control the Villa Verde Trail | Historynet Close
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