Selleck’s superiors did not help much during his preparation. The II Corps was still organizing itself, having expanded from a force of about one division to a four-division corps. Its priority was to build a main defensive line farther south on Bataan, not to bother with a division-level delay at Bataan’s entrance. The II Corps’ failure to provide Selleck with 155mm artillery, and MacArthur’s failure to establish a useful command relationship between Selleck and the Provisional Tank Group, showed all too well that Selleck’s bosses were attending to other matters.

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Both the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 31st Infantry put two rifle companies on line. The reserve 3rd Battalion spent its time digging into reverse slope positions. On the left flank of the regiment, Sergeant Earl F. Walk set his .50-caliber machine gun next to a trail under a clump of bushes and put his two mortars on a hill. The ground was so hard it was like digging in rock. Mighty swings of a pick only broke the earth into pieces of reddish clay no larger than a man’s thumb. A few men poured water from canteens and even urinated on the ground in attempts to soften it. The Americans worked through the hot afternoon and into the evening, chipping shallow foxholes and gun positions out of the unyielding ground.

Although most Americans worked hard, there were exceptions. The 1st Battalion’s B Company, on the right of the regiment’s line, did a poor job. ‘It was like a picnic,’ remembered Private Paul Kerchum. ‘No barbed wire and very few foxholes. Tools were there but nobody enforced digging. There was a definite lack of leadership.’ Two Filipinos carried San Miguel beer nestled in a washtub of ice through the lines and sold the beer for one peso per bottle.

The line was almost fully occupied when the sun rose on January 6, 1942. Unfortunately, Selleck did not have any information about the enemy. All contact with the Japanese had been lost the previous evening. As far as Selleck knew, there might be a regiment heading for him, or maybe two divisions. Although MacArthur’s intelligence had estimated the Japanese Lingayen beach invasion force at 45,000 men, this information did not reach Selleck. His observation posts collected only meager information, and patrols found forward areas eerily empty.

American forward observers in camouflaged positions spotted the Japanese at 10 a.m. Coming down the road was a regiment of infantry soldiers with puttee-wrapped legs carrying long, 10-pound bolt-action Model 38 Arisaka 6.5mm rifles. Spaced through the columns were men toting 20-pound Model 99 light machine guns. These soldiers were part of Colonel Hifumi Imai’s Imai Detachment, which was built around the 1st Formosa Infantry, a company of the 7th Tank Regiment, two battalions of 75mm guns from the 48th Mountain Artillery and eight 150mm howitzers from the 1st Field Heavy Artillery Regiment. The Americans and Japanese were each hauling 24 cannons into the fight, but the Japanese held an advantage in size and range.

Two batteries of 75mm guns from the Philippine Scout 23rd Artillery opened the action at 10:30 a.m., followed by eight 75mm guns of the Scout 88th Artillery. The first rounds squarely hit the road, an admirable reflection of Scout training. The guns immediately changed to rapid volley fire, walked bursting projectiles up and down the road and scattered several Japanese horse-drawn mountain guns with attendant animals, caissons and gear. This was the first time the Japanese had experienced the effects of Scout artillery, and they had obviously been unprepared for it.

The officers in B Battery, 23rd Artillery, yelled fire commands to the five gunners on each piece; the gunners themselves urged each other on in their native dialects. ‘We got hoarse from hollering at those guys,’ recalled Lieutenant William Miller, ‘and we would take turns shouting at them.’ The two officers stood between the Nos. 2 and 3 guns–each gun 50 yards apart–made corrections in elevation and deflection and kept the shells on target. The B Battery commander was perched in a tree and saw his shells fall. He telephoned his officers and reported the destruction of the lead enemy artillery. ‘I saw the wheels go up,’ he yelled as pieces of Japanese guns went flying. The Philippine 71st Artillery joined in, and Selleck’s 24 cannons forced the Japanese to deploy about 2 1/3 miles north of the Layac line. Selleck’s guns fired without any Japanese reply for just under 30 minutes.

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