Meanwhile, far to the north, the 7th Cavalry captured one
of the important water supply installations, Novaliches Dam.17 On
5 February, when troopers first reached the dam, they found no prepared
demolitions, but they did intercept three Japanese who were carrying
explosives toward the installation. The next day, against little resistance,
the regiment secured the Balara Water Filters, which were found undamaged
but wired for demolitions.
On 7 and 8 February the troopers patrolled southwest
along the main water pipeline from the filters four miles to San Juan
Reservoir, which they captured intact about 1530 on the 8th. Forty-five
minutes later a Japanese artillery shell fired from high ground across the
Marikina River hit the reservoir's main outlet valve. Fortunately, damage
was not so severe that the valve could not be worked by hand. For most of
the rest of the period that it remained in the Manila area, the 7th Cavalry
(the only major element of the 1st Cavalry Division not to fight within the
city limits) continued to protect Novaliches Dam, the Balara Filters, and
the pipelines connecting the two installations.
The 8th Cavalry secured a water facility still closer to
Manila, but not before the regiment fought a pitched battle against the
strongest resistance any troops of the 1st Cavalry Division encountered in
the area north of the Pasig. Moving east across the San Juan River on 7
February, the 8th Cavalry pushed up to the northwest corner of New Manila
Subdivision, where fire from the 1st
Independent Naval Battalion and
a supporting heavy weapons detachment stopped the advance. The subdivision
extended northeast to southwest three blocks (about 850 yards) and twelve
blocks (roughly 1,500 yards) southeast to the northern edge of San Juan del
Monte Subdivision. The Japanese had heavily mined the streets within New
Manila; pierced rock walls along the streets with slits through which 20-mm.
machine cannon could fire; turned many homes into machine gun nests; and, at
the southern edge of the subdivision, emplaced three dual-purpose naval guns
so as to cover much of the suburb with point-blank, flat-trajectory fire.
On 8 February the 8th Cavalry attacked again, supported
by a company of mediums from the 44th Tank Battalion and by the 61st
(105-mm. howitzers) and 947th (155-mm. howitzers) Field Artillery
Battalions. The 105's fired 1,360 rounds of high explosive into New Manila
and San Juan del Monte suburbs and the 155's added another 350 rounds of the
same type of ammunition. While this support succeeded in knocking out many
Japanese strongpoints--and destroying many homes--it was inadequate to
overcome all the opposition. The mine fields limited the effectiveness of
tank support. The 8th Cavalry had to make short infantry rushes from one
strongpoint to another to gain ground, but by the end of the day had
substantially completed the reduction of the area. The task cost the 8th
Cavalry 41 men wounded; the 44th Tank Battalion 11 men killed and 12
wounded. Three tanks were knocked out; one of them was completely demolished
by a huge Japanese land mine. The 8th Cavalry and division artillery each
claimed credit for all Japanese losses of men and matériel: the cavalry
regiment averred it killed 350 Japanese and captured or destroyed 22 20-mm.
machine cannon, 3 6-inch naval guns, and 5 13.2-mm. machine guns; the
artillery's claims were the same 350 Japanese killed, and 23 20-mm. machine
cannon, a 105-mm. howitzer, and a 6-inch naval gun destroyed.18 Be
that as it may, the cavalry cleared the rest of the suburban area northeast
and east of the city during the next few days with little trouble. The 1st
Independent Naval Battalion, apparently
deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, started withdrawing
eastward with its 800 remaining troops on 10 February. The unit left behind
about 500 dead and all its heavy weapons.19
On 9 February the 8th Cavalry moved on from New Manila to
San Juan del Monte and secured El Deposito, an underground reservoir fed by
artesian wells and located about a mile southwest of San Juan Reservoir.
Following the seizure of El Deposito, the last of the close-in water
installations, the 8th Cavalry continued south until it reached the north
bank of the Pasig River at a point just east of the city limits. The 5th
Cavalry, which had been relieved in the center of the city by the 37th
Division on 7 February, went south on the 8th's left and, encountering only
scattered opposition, reached the Pasig a mile east of the 8th Cavalry on
the morning of 10 February.
The 37th Division and the 1st Cavalry Division had
accomplished much during the week ending 10 February. They had cleared all
Manila and its suburbs north of the Pasig; pushed Colonel Noguchi's Northern
Force either south across the
Pasig or east across the Marikina; captured or destroyed almost all the Northern
Force's heavy support
weapons; and secured intact the close-in water supply installations. The Northern
Force, as a matter of fact,
had made no concerted effort to hold northern Manila. Noguchi had executed
his assigned demolitions and then withdrawn most of his troops south over
the Pasig, destroying the bridges behind him. His 1st
Independent Naval Battalion had
escaped to the east. The two American divisions had killed perhaps 1,500
Japanese in the region north of the Pasig, but it appears that less than
half of these were members of Noguchi's combat units--the majority were
ill-armed service troops and stragglers. Despite the limitations placed on
it, artillery fire, supplemented by tank and mortar fire, caused the vast
bulk of the Japanese casualties north of the river. That infantry assault
operations accounted for relatively few Japanese is at least partially
attested to by the fact that American casualties were not more than 50 men
killed and 150 wounded.
Except for the fires that had raged out of control along
the north bank of the Pasig, burning down or gutting many buildings, damage
to the city had so far been limited largely to Japanese bridge destruction
and to destruction resulting from American artillery and tank fire in the
Tondo District and the New Manila and San Juan suburbs. The Americans had
discovered few evidences of atrocities against the Filipino population north
of the Pasig. It appeared that the rest of the battle might be fought
according to the rules and that the city might yet escape with only
superficial damage.
To date operations had served principally as a "get
acquainted session" for both the Japanese and Americans. Admiral Iwabuchi
had learned that XIV Corps was in Manila to stay; General Griswold had
learned that the task of securing the city and environs was not going to be
as easy as anticipated. Finally, in clearing the northern portion of the
metropolitan area, the troops of the 37th Division and the 1st Cavalry
Division had gained invaluable experience in city fighting that would serve
them in good stead in operations south of the Pasig. Even as the 1st Cavalry
Division was securing the water supply system, the 37th Division was putting
this experience to the test.
