Bab 14: Breaking Point
As dawn broke, lookouts near the beaches of San Fabian spotted ships approaching the coast. They immediately alerted General Tinio of the unknown vessels who then ordered all men under his command to move away from the town and into the defensive trenches they built around it.
A couple of minutes passed explosions ripped through the town of San Fabian. Fortunately they were able to evacuate the residents to the nearby town of San Carlos so they were able to avoid civilian casualties.
General Tinio dispatched runners to General Alejandrino and General Aguinaldo to inform them of the situation and that San Fabian will fall to American hands in any hour.
He also sent word to General Aglipay, and General Benito Natividad, based in Vigan, about the imminent fall of Pangasinan and told them to hide their forces between the town of Candon and Mount Tirad and ambush any American force that arrives in the area.
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More than a month before the Americans invaded San Fabian, the Americans got wind of the plan of the revolutionaries to hide out in the Cordillera mountains due to rumored collaborators within Aguinaldo's circle.
The Americans now know that the route Aguinaldo will take will be near the west coast of Luzon island through Pangasinan then Ilocos Sur, where they will pass through the towns of Candon, Santo Tomas, and Salcedo before going through Mount Tirad.
This information allowed the Americans to plan ahead in order to finally capture the rebel leader. General Otis planned an offensive that aims to surround the Filipinos heading north.
One under General Arthur MacArthur moved along the railroad from Manila to Dagupan.
Another under General Henry Lawton moved up the Pampanga River towards San Isidro, Nueva Ecija.
Lastly a force under General Lloyd Wheaton who will land in San Fabian via the Lingayen Gulf.
One of greatest information they got from the collaborators were about the series of traps laid out by the Filipinos. They breathed a sigh of relief that these traps only extended until Angeles, Pampanga after which they can go after Aguinaldo's forces without delay.
In a bid to further trap Aguinaldo's men, forces that were bogged down in the Visayas, and those in Intramuros were redeployed to invade Aparri and cut-off supplies coming in from Japan.
During the actual landings in San Fabian, they planned to send a fake dispatch using locals who pledged loyalty to the American flag to trick the revolutionaries that their forces are still far away in San Fernando, Pampanga when in reality they would have captured Tarlac by then. They hoped that this move will force Aguinaldo to further split his forces allowing them to whittle down the Filipino forces down bit-by-bit
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After Aguinaldo and his men arrived in Cabanatuan, they were met with a report that the Americans have landed and taken San Fabian potentially threatening their retreat towards the Cordillera mountains.
They were pretty confident of their progress so far as they have been successful in slowing the Americans down. The last report they got was that the Americans had just occupied San Fernando and is slowly making their way to Angeles, which is still quite a distance away from their position so they aren't that worried.
In contrast, the news that the Americans had occupied San Fabian startled them as the Americans will definitely immediately put pressure on the forces of General Manuel Tino, and subsequently, General Alejandrino who is defending the nearby town of San Jacinto.
Another bad news came in about the capture of Aparri. It seems the Americans found out about the arms smuggling using the town and decided to take it as well in order to prevent more stuff from Japan or China to come in.
Their situation is now dire as they now essentially surrounded. With San Fabian captured, their route to their Cordillera base is in danger of being cut-off unless by some miracle General Tinio and General Alejandrino manages to hold-out until after they are able pass through Pangasinan, which is highly unlikely at this point.
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After the Americans bombarded Dagupan, they immediately landed their forces on San Fabian. To their surprise there was no resistance. They found a completely abandoned town devoid of any people or any signs of enemy soldiers.
General Wheaton ordered his men to be on alert. Lessons from the Battle of Bacolod suggests that the Filipinos may be lying in wait just outside of town waiting to strike at a moments notice.
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On the other side of the battlefield, General Tinio ordered his men to fortify their trenches and not let any American through not until Aguinaldo gets to Ilocos Sur. This has been questioned by the men under him as they know that Aguinaldo is still far away and they would be annihilated even before the revolutionary leader arrives in Pangasinan.
Tinio didn't deny this, but in case they are overwhelmed, he had plans on retreating southwards with Alejandrino to link-up with General Luna then drive the Americans back one final time.
If they are successful they will then march towards Candon then through Mount Tirad, if not then they will die fighting to the end.
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In a move to combat their predicament, Aguinaldo had sent General Luna and his forces towards San Fabian hoping they could augment the forces in Pangasinan before it's too late.
General Gregorio Del Pilar's forces meanwhile was ordered to stay with Aguinaldo while they retreated north towards San Jose, Nueva Ecija hoping he could get to Pangasinan before Tinio, and Alejandrino falls to the Americans.
General Mariano Trias was ordered to stay in Cabanatuan in case the Americans chasing them catch-up.
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As General Luna made his way to Tarlac, his forces were ambushed by American forces who are lying in wait on the outskirts of the town. The Americans were expecting Aguinaldo to send one of the Generals by his side to march towards San Fabian where the bulk of their elite forces are going to be battling against General Wheaton's forces.
The first minutes of the ambush was a success as the Filipinos were caught off-guard. Almost a quarter of General Luna's forces were killed, and more were wounded. Fortunately, the general came out unscathed and immediately ordered a counter-attack.
The resulting battle ended with the deaths of almost half of the American ambushers with the rest retreating back to Tarlac. This also resulted in further deaths on the Filipino's side essentially cutting the Filipino forces down to less than half it's original strength.
Unfortunately for the Filipinos, the battle alerted other nearby American forces who begun bearing down on Luna's forces further cutting their numbers down. The surrounded Filipino soldiers fell one-by-one until only a handful were left standing including a severely injured General Antonio Luna.
The Americans ordered the Filipinos to lay down their arms and surrender and told them that further resistance will be met with gunfire. The hot-headed general became furious and initially wanted to fight on, but seeing the state of his men he decided to wave the white flag and ordered the remainder of his men to lay down their weapons.
As the Americans approached, Luna unholstered his revolver and made a speech in front of his men telling them that no matter what happens, even if the First Republic falls today, future generations will remember and glorify them for their courage, bravery, and love for their country.
The General then pointed the gun on his temple.
"Viva La República Filipinas!" was his last words before he pulled the trigger. It would seem that death is much more favorable for the general than being captured by the enemy.
Luna may have been one of the many controversial heroes of the Philippines, but his dedication and final actions in the Philippine-American war continued to influence future generations of Filipinos.
The Americans, and Filipinos alike are shocked by Luna's actions. The Americans took a few seconds to compose themselves before beginning to take the firearms of the surrendering Filipinos and treating the wounded ones before marching them back to Tarlac as prisoners of war.
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A few hours after General Luna left Cabanatuan, Mariano Trias's forces came under fire from forces under General Lawton. The unprepared Filipinos quickly retreated north towards the other side Pampanga river where they will try hastily set-up a defensive line to prevent the Americans from crossing.
Unfortunately, the Americans quickly caught-up with them and started laying down fire killing many of Trias' men most not even making it across the river. Many more of his men were severely injured and captured.
The failed defense led him to retreat and meet up with the forces of General Mariano Llanera, who had been hiding in the jungles of Nueva Ecija close to the border of the province of Isabela. This allowed the Americans to get closer to Aguinaldo's location and gave them high hopes of ending this costly 'Insurrection' once and for all.
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