Chapter I: Calumpit Chaos
January 1, 1942
Calumpit, Bulacan
Commonwealth of the Philippines
Joseph Griffin moved stealthily in the street leading to the hotel. He could now see the church up ahead, its bell tower distinct among the Spanish houses lining the plaza. There were a few Japanese soldiers in the area that Joe took care off. Both stealth and noise were preferred options of engagement as minutes he previously raided a nearby baseball field and sabotage the Japanese radio outpost followed gunning down several Japanese soldiers with a Type 11 light machine gun in one of the platforms above. He obtained a photograph of Masataka Shima, commander of the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines. As he moved forward, there was to his right was what remained of a concrete house that was destroyed by bombs dropped from Japanese bombers. In the remnants of the structure, there were a bunch of supply crates guarded by three Japanese soldiers. Joe made it an objective to loot whatever crates he found across for capture war material, weapons, grenades, intel, or war treasure. Gunning down the Japanese soldiers, he then planted a Type 97 grenade in the crates. The subsequent explosion blew the crates open. What he saw next surprised him. It was a small Golden Buddha. It remained unharmed from the explosion of his grenade. Going near, he observed and touched the Buddha, sliding his fingers across the belly and the jewel stones adorning it. He then grabbed it and tucked it away on his backpack. The sight of the Buddha stunned him. While Buddhism has a significant following in the Philippines, he never had seen anything like the one he retrieved.
"We're the Japanese looting temples and monuments all across the Far East?" Joe thought.
He would then report his findings to Sargent Jack "Gunny" Lawton, who was currently in an M3 Stuart light tank piloted by his brother Donald "Donnie" Griffin.
Joe then proceeded to the hotel, killing the Japanese soldiers stationed inside with his M1928 Thompson. He then followed a followed a set of stairs that lead to the roof that provided a view of the plaza and the church below. He saw several Japanese troops firing their Arisaka bolt-action rifles at Gunny and Donnie who subsequently returned fire with the M3 Stuart's .30 caliber machine and 37 mm cannon. Wasting no time, Joe immediately manned the Type 11 light machine gun in front of him and sprayed the Japanese soldiers beneath. A Type 95 Ha-Go then rolled in from behind the church. With the combined arms fire of the Stuart Light tank and Joe's manned Type 11, the Ha-Go exploded and erupted in flames. Gunny then signaled Joe to rendezvous below.
Reaching down the old Spanish plaza facing the church, a symbol of Spain's 333 year dominance of the islands, Joe reunited with Gunny and Donnie. Gunny disembarked from the tank with an M1912 shotgun in hand.
"Joe, get on top of the church tower to signal the demolition team." Gunny ordered Joe.
Obediently, Joe climbed the circular stairs that lead to the top of the bells. He grabbed the robe and pulled hard on the bell.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The bell rang throughout the town, heard by both American and Japanese soldiers a like. Joe then hurriedly ran down the stairs, grabbed a couple of Thompson and M1 Garand clips from an abandoned ammunition crate near the church's cemetery, and hopped on board the military track.
"Hang on, it's gonna be a bumpy ride." Gunny said as he gunned the engines as the truck started to move.
"Hold on!" Gunny shouted.
Japanese troops then emerged from the town chasing after the group. A machine gun pillbox opened fire on the truck. Joe shot the gunner but it was replaced with another soldier.
BOOM!
The sound of cannon exploded as the gunner was sent flying, the machine gun pillbox destroyed from the Stuart's 37 mm cannon.
"I got your back brother!' Donnie came in.
The Japanese soldiers shifted their attention towards the Stuart. Joe and Donnie gunned them down as they tried climbing the tank but there were just too many. Donnie killed a few more before his Thompson's magazine ran dry, forcing him to switch to his M1911. He gunned down a few before retreating back to the hatch, closing and locking it just as the Japanese soldiers reached the top.
"Donnie, No!" Joe screamed. There was nothing his he could do for his brother.
"Damn it Marine, make sure you and that tank reach the bridge before we light it up!" Gunny yelled.
The view of the overrun tank was then obscured by a pursuing Type 95 Ha-Go, giving chase to the truck Joe and Gunny were in. Joe's Thompson did nothing to the armor of the tank as the bullets just simply bounced off. Seeing a mix of Mk. 2 fragmentation grenades and captured Type 97s, he then started throwing them on the path of the Ha-Go, whilst shooting back at Japanese soldiers stationed in the balconies and windows of the buildings lining the street. A couple more grenades and the Ha-Go was disabled with its tracks detached from the cogs. The machine gun continued to fire towards their truck but they were soon out of range. A group of four Japanese soldiers then lined up to the sides of the track, chasing after it. Joe easily shot them all with his Thompson.
After crashing through the metallic gate, Joe and Gunny were back at the foot of the bridge. The remaining American soldiers in the area were pushed back as the Japanese made a rush to the bridge. Demolition specialists grabbed the the charges and started planting it, whilst Joe, Gunny, and the remaining riflemen covered them from the Japanese.
"Charges are set!" Yelled one soldier.
"Alright, fall back! Fall back to the other side!" Gunny shouted.
The remaining soldiers and demolition team then climbed the truck that Joe and Gunny were in just as the charges blew up, rocking the truck. Luckily, they managed to escape the explosion just as the Calumpit Bridge was destroyed. The Japanese advance into Bataan was temporarily delayed, the American knew the Philippines would fall with Pearl Harbor crippled a month ago.
"At ease lad." Gunny told Joe, comforting him regarding the loss of his brother. "I'm sorry about your brother. He…Um he was a brave marine. Can't ask more than that."
"Ah sarge, I found this." Joe said, opening his bag and presenting the Buddha to Gunny who was stunned at the sight of the treasure.
"I think the Japanese are looting whatever they find here in the Far East to fund their war effort." Joe said.
"Alright, keep that Buddha. I'll inform General MacArthur himself. Once this info is relayed back to Washington, we can find out what sinister things the Japs are up to. Right now, we head to Bataan! Let's go Marines!"
The Marines then left in the truck and headed to Bataan, where a large Filipino-American force is currently stationed, defending the peninsula from the Japanese.