In 1944, when the Americans had recaptured the Philippines, there was a garrison of Japanese soldiers in the mountains near Manila. One of them gave the following account.
Whenever we made an artillery attack, there would be a response several times greater. So we could not make any effective artillery strike. As a final measure we tried to strike through the enemy line carrying explosives with us.
With difficulty we crossed the river during the night and entered the enemy area, but we were found out and strafed as though by a driving rain. We had to withdraw.
The few Japanese who survived should have helped each other out. Instead there were those who killed their fellow men for their food. Military police would take away soldiers trying to escape, accuse them of antiwar sentiments, and confiscate their food.
一九四四年，美軍奪回菲律賓。馬尼拉附近山上有一隊日本駐軍。以下是其中一人的記述。
我們每次向敵軍開砲，他們就以幾倍的火力還擊。我們的砲擊變得毫無用處，最後一着是攜帶炸藥，前去突破敵軍戰線。
我們乘夜渡河，幾經困難，進入敵陣，卻被發現了。槍火如暴雨般打來，我們唯有撤退。
未有陣亡的日軍，寥寥可數，本應互相扶持，但有些人却為了奪取同袍口糧，把他們殺害。憲兵會把逃兵抓去，說他們反戰，沒收他們的糧食。