Small patrols of combat troops held the enemy forces in check. At 1030 one patrol killed seventeen Japanese north of the Buri airfield, and another killed three of the enemy west of the airstrip. The 1st Battalion of the 187th Glider Infantry was moved from the San Pablo airfield to the Buri area and went into position near the airfield.[27] By 1800 on 6 December, the enemy had been driven off the Buri airfield, though pockets of resistance still remained on the edges of the airstrip. The battalion encountered a portion of the 16th Division east of the strip and destroyed it.[28] Forty of the enemy were known to be dead, and it was believed that as many more had also been killed.
Attack From the Sky
San Pablo Airstrip
The Japanese air transports were scheduled to be over the airfields at 1840 on 6 December, with an escort of fighter aircraft. Fighters were to neutralize the airstrips and, just before the paratroopers jumped, medium bombers were to strafe the Buri, San Pablo, and Bayug airstrips. At the same time light bombers were to hit antiaircraft positions between San Pablo and Dulag and points west. Fifty-one aircraft in all (transports, bombers, and fighters) were assigned to the operation. The transports were allotted as follows: twenty to the Buri airstrip, nine to San Pablo airstrip, six to Bayug airstrip, and two each to the Tacloban and Dulag airstrips. Each transport carried fifteen to twenty men.[29]
SAN PABLO AIRSTRIP as it appeared in 1946.
The Japanese parachutists were well drilled as to their mission. The operation was to be divided into five phases. The first phase was to begin with the jump-off. The men, immediately after landing, were to attack and destroy aircraft on the ground, and one element was to attack the barracks and communications. This phase was to end when the moon rose. In the second phase, ending about 2230, the troops would destroy matériel, ammunition dumps, bridges, and remaining barracks. During the third phase, from 2330 to 0300, the paratroopers were to destroy the remaining aircraft and installations. In the fourth phase, lasting from 0300 to 0600, they were to build defensive positions. In the fifth phase, from 0600 on, preparations were to be made for future operations.
There were to be three assault waves. The first wave would consist of the headquarters unit with approximately 25 men; the signal unit with 7; the 1st Company with 100; the 2d Company with 86; the construction company with 97; and a platoon with 50 men. The second would be composed of 9 men from the headquarters unit; the 3d Company; the Heavy Weapons Company; and the signal unit. The final wave would consist of the remaining troops—about 80 men.[30]
Just before dark, thirty-nine Japanese transports with supporting bombers and fighters roared over the Burauen airfields. Several incendiary bombs fell on the San Pablo strip, setting a gasoline dump afire and burning a liaison plane. Approximately eighteen enemy aircraft were shot down. Parachutists began to descend from the transports. The commander of the 3d Regiment with about 60 of his men dropped on the Buri strip, while between 250 and 300 parachutists landed near the San Pablo strip.[31]