[ Air Hissing ]
She's probably too young to even remember what an American looks like.
Let's hope so. She could set the Nips on our tail.
Are you suggesting that we hold her as a hostage?
No. Just cut her tongue out.
Yeah, well, that sounds reasonable, Sergeant Blood.
Let's knock off the chatter and get this sand straightened out.
[ Man #1 ] This is it.
You don't suppose that's Miguel?
[ Man #1 ] Well, it isn't what I expected.
[ Man #2 ] Maybe Miguel's in that hut over there.
One way or another...
we're gonna have to interrupt a pleasant little scene here.
Burnett, you cover us just in case.
[ Clicks ]
Off to his left.
Yeah, I see it. Looks like a Nip soldier.
Hut! Another one!
Shoot, Lieutenant! Shoot, damn it!
You moved into my line of fire.
- I couldn't get a shot off. - I couldn't help it.
Relax. I'm not gonna hurt you. Let's check out that hut.
- Why didn't Craig fire? - Ask him.
He disappeared.
Let's check inside the hut.
What are we gonna do with 'em?
Maybe we'd better wait until Miguel gets here and let him figure it out.
Why don't we just let 'em go?
Well, they've apparently collaborated on at least one level.
Maybe more.
I don't like it any better than you.
I know. It just seems like, uh-
Lieutenant!
I'm Lieutenant Gary Craig, U.S. Army Military Intelligence.
We have not seen American equipment since 1942.
This is new.
- Very good. - Are you Miguel?
- No. - [ Gunfire ]
We were supposed to meet a man named Miguel here.
I know that. Miguel is dead.
He died after being tortured.
The Japanese torture him?
I tortured him.
I am Paco.
I lead this band of guerrilleros. Come with me.
This man called Miguel said you come on a mission of great importance...
that you would need guerrillero help.
Yes.
So the invasion is finally so near.
I think that's generally known, even by the Japanese.
Tell me, why did you kill this man Miguel?
I have nothing to explain.
I told you a fact.
How did you want me to help you?
After you tell me you've killed an emissary from Manila underground...
how can I trust you?
You cannot trust anybody. Haven't you learned that yet?
I could not trust your Miguel.
I cannot trust you.
Let me tell you, Lieutenant...
I can get answers from you one way or another.
If you have any hope of my helping your precious mission, you will volunteer the answers.
Now...
how did you want me to help you?
I don't respect your threats, Paco.
I understand your position here, but you must understand mine.
War and understanding seldom mix.
Well, that's true. But we're not at war with each other, are we?
This is a map of the Lingayen Gulf coast...
all the way from Dagupan to Ragong.
Now, General Yamashita knows...
that a Luzon invasion is imminent...
and will probably occur either at Lingayen Gulf or Batangas Bay.
And yet he's reduced his beach defenses in this area instead of reinforcing them.
He only has a few gun batteries that we know of.
But also, he's pulled his troops out of there.
This can only mean he's got some sort of a trick up his sleeve.
We've been sent over here to find out what that trick is.
We need your help.
We need the help of guerrillas who know this area.
Also, General MacArthur needs this information as soon as possible.
I do not take orders from General MacArthur...
and I do not take orders from you.
We have lived in the hills for three years only to kill the Japanese...
so don't try to shine your lieutenant's bars in my eyes.
You and your men come with us to our camp.
Saddle up. We're going with them.
Eduardo, Carlos. [ Speaking Filipino ]
- Where are they being taken? - Back to the village.
- What'll you do with them? - It doesn't concern you.
[ Filipino ]
[ Craig ] Let it go, Jersey.
[ Paco ] I'll take this equipment for the time being.
I know you would like to tell the good general everything...
but I don't want radio signals giving the Japanese an advantage in our game of hide and seek.
Why must General Yamashita be so certain the invasion will come at Lingayen?
For the same reason the Japanese used it three years ago.
It's a direct route down the valley to Manila.
- I have a question for you. - Yes?
Why did you go to the place Miguel said was the rendezvous if you felt it was a trap?
I thought I owed it to him to see if he spoke the truth. He seemed sincere.
He seemed sincere. Then why did you kill him?
It is a time of suspicion.
Jersey, point of curiosity.
Are they our friends, or are we their prisoners?
- What difference does it make? - What difference does it make?
Yeah. We're all gonna die anyway.
Tomorrow, next week, 30 years from now.
- Did that little thought ever penetrate your thick skull? - Once, when I was a boy.
But naturally, I dismissed it as being too outrageous.
I'm thinkin' about the radio.
We'll use a rope. [ Speaking Filipino ]
Well, Jersey, old boy, here's your chance to become a funambulist!
- A what? - A funambulist!
Surely you know what it is!
Yeah. It means some kind of an idiot.
In your case perhaps.
But usually it means a tightrope walker.
Burnett, your mind is a grab-bag of trivia.
Bon voyage, Sergeant Courage!
Sergeant Flaming Wild Bill Courage!
[ Giggles ]
Cold rice and camote cannot compare with the Waldorf Astoria.
This is one of our few luxuries- liberated Japanese sake.
Do you get all your supplies from the Japanese?
No. The towns and villages in this area offer us supplies.
You can't come and go in the towns as you please, can you?
Japs can't afford the men to keep a garrison in each town.
We need only to avoid the periodic patrols that come through.
Paco. [ Speaking Filipino ]
You will stay.
Well, what's the story, Lieutenant?
I'm anxious to find out myself.
This man doesn't trust anyone.
That's how he's kept himself and the others alive for three years.
I suppose so. But we don't have time to wait around to let him make up his mind.
And we'll get nowhere if we try to push him.
Tolstoy. Nietzsche. Thomas Aquinas.
Are these books required reading for guerrilla leaders?
Before the war, Paco taught in the school in our village.
Is this before the war too?
He and his wife and their child.
She is dead.
When the Japanese invaded...
the Americans destroyed much of our town with mortar fire.
She and the child were killed.
I think maybe that explains a few things.
The man outside is a messenger from the town near here.
He says the Japanese know you landed on the beach last night.
The kempeitai- secret police- have come to the town and demanded...
that the guerrilla forces you contacted turn you in to them.
Or starting at 6:00, they will execute one child for every hour you remain free.
Mayor...
what kind of men...
are these guerrillas?
What? Oh, why, they're only men, just like everyone else.
You should relax.
Certainly they'll not permit Filipino children to die...
simply to save some Americans.
[ Man ] Mayor! Mayor!
[ Speaking Filipino ]
What was that?
He says the guerrillas have killed the three Americans.
I demand proof! .
The children will die, one by one, unless I have proof.
[ Speaking Filipino ]
[ Filipino ]
He says Paco understands that.
He'll give you proof if you send three men under your surveillance...
to the street approaching the church at 5:00.
He'll give you proof.
[ Speaking Japanese ]
[ Speaking Filipino ]
Captain! You sent a very stubborn sergeant...
who cannot believe a fact when he sees it!
You should have sent a more reasonable man.
[ Speaking Filipino ]
# [ Children Singing In Filipino ]
# [ Singing Continues ]
All right, Captain...
we will return to the river and bring back your bodies!
# [ Singing Continues ]
[ Shouting In Japanese ]
[ Gunfire Continues ]
[ Gunfire Stops ]
The only two still alive- the kempeitai captain and one soldier.
They have been taken to the house of my father.
I have decided we will go with you.
We will leave tomorrow morning.
You will understand, though, at all times, I am still in command.
We go with you...
but I cannot say how far we will help until I see what must be done.
I will risk no more of my men to save American troops.
Because of you...
I have two men dead and one wounded.
As I said, I will not risk any more men to save American troops.
If you understand that, we can start in the morning.
I understand completely.
The captain and the soldier have been locked in the shed.
- Under guard? - Of course.
I'd like to question the prisoners, Paco.
I will question them in the morning.
I'd like to question them now- the sooner the better.
In the morning.
They will stand under guard all night.
If they fall asleep or try to sit down, they will be beaten.
They will be ready for questioning in the morning.
Excuse me for being so poor a host.
I am Aming Pajarillo, mayor of this town.
You'll do me the honor of eating with us tonight and being my guests here.
Thank you.
I'm sorry, Lieutenant.
I'm afraid I only have extra food for yourself.
Your men will have to eat with the others.
Please forgive these conditions and accept my invitation.
Do you know a man named Miguel from Manila underground?
He was here some days ago...
trying to be placed in contact with the nearest guerrillero group.
But he had lost his letters of identification.
He had been stopped on the way here.
the Japanese-
It is a reign of terror these past months.
The entire country rests in uncertainty.
20,000 executed in Manila alone.
So this Miguel is dead, yes?
Fear.
We eat each other to survive.
Everything is twisted.
Where will we stay tonight?
Stay home with your father.
He will wonder about you.
I do not live in my father's house.
I live with you.
- # [ Band: Instrumental ] - [ Chattering ]
You know how old this girl is?
Sixteen.
Sixteen years old.
Is that not incredible?
Astounding.
What's the matter?
I'm tired.
Well, it wasn't one of our easier days.
Naw, that's not it.
Just all these people we're sitting with-
I don't know what I'm supposed to feel about 'em.
I don't even know if I feel like feeling anything.
What was it? The fight today?
[ Laughs ]
That whole thing was ridiculous.
It went so close to the way we planned it, I hardly had time to feel the usual fear.
Well, look, we got a little time-out here. Let's enjoy it.
There's music, some booze, girls.
Why don't you talk to that girl next to you? She's a nice girl.
What am I gonna talk to her about?
I hardly recognized you in that dress tonight.
I know.
You look like a different person.
Or maybe it's more that you look like another time...
not now.
Yes, not now.
Would you like to go outside?
How did you wind up with the guerrillas, Maria?
My people hate being conquered.
I am with my people.
I was in love with Paco.
And the war-
The war seems to make everything right.
Besides, the towns aren't so safe.
So I stay in the hills.
But I'm not a hero.
I am only a girl.
Will you excuse me?
We will be up early in the morning, and the march will be long.
Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Wait a minute what?
You're not gonna pass out, are you?
You got something interesting to keep me not passing out?
[Jersey ] I'm telling you about Craig.
[ Burnett ] I know what you're telling me.
I always know what you're telling me.
You know what you are, Jersey?
A cynic.
You're the kind of guy that'd call Mahatma Gandhi a rabble-rouser.
Ah, Burnett, can you concentrate for just two seconds?
I mean, just long enough for me to tell you what I'm trying to tell you.
This Craig...
he's a good soldier- damn good soldier.
But, on Leyte, he started wearing thin...
just like at the rendezvous this morning.
He had a clear shot at this Nip coming at us.
He could have chopped him down 40 feet away, but he froze.
Just froze.
Two of our guys- Spicer and Murphy.
They're good joes, Burnett...
and they'd be here today if he weren't cracking.
And he is cracking. You know that, don't you?
Why, 'cause he started thinking about Japs as human beings?
Is that what you call cracking?
That's the worst kind.
Listen, and don't give me that "human being" jazz.
What's so special about a human being?
It gets born. It stumbles around in life for a while. It dies.
That's all.
So you gotta kill a couple here and there along the way. What difference does it make?
What can I say?
In war, you can always find justification.
Wars are tailor-made for guys like you, Jersey.
Sergeant War.
[ Laughing ]
[ Footsteps Shuffling ]
Interrogating a prisoner is like cooking a goose.
You must know when to take it out of the oven.
We will try the captain, but what we will get will come from the young soldier.
I cannot approve torture, Paco.
Lieutenant, your approval means nothing to me.
I am in command here...
and I'm not chained by the rules of the Geneva Convention.
Well, let me talk to him first.
After that, you can do what you want.
Captain, l- I want some information.
I want to know about the beach defenses at Lingayen...
about the troop movements in that area.
Also anything you can tell me about Yamashita's strategies.
I cannot give you that information, Lieutenant.
Maybe you better know some facts.
We took Leyte and Mindoro in five weeks.
Now the whole Pacific is ours.
After Midway, Coral, Leyte Gulf...
the Imperial Japanese Navy has been completely crushed.
We'll be on Luzon in three weeks.
And we'll be on the island of Japan before the year is out.
I'm not familiar with those facts, Lieutenant...
because they do not exist.
Captain, I want you to reconsider.
If you don't, I cannot guarantee your safety.
I can tell you nothing.
Do you speak English?
- Burnett. - Ho.
I'm gonna ask him a few questions. I want you to translate for me.
I want to know about the beach defenses at Lingayen...
and the troop movements in that area.
[ Speaking Japanese ]
He says he knows nothing, and, if he did, he would tell you nothing.
Are you through?
Yeah, I guess so.
[ Speaking Japanese ]
[ Continues In Japanese ]
[ Speaking Filipino ]
[ Paco Speaking Japanese ]
- [ Continues In Japanese ] - [ Groans Quietly ]
- [ Continues In Japanese ] - [ Groaning Continues ]
[Japanese ]
He's lying.
[Japanese ]
That's all he knows.
We shall find out.
Young soldier?
Get anything?
Yeah, we got somethin', I guess.
I'll let Paco tell you about it. It's his victory.
He was very little help.
He says they're expecting a great invasion...
and that many troops have gone through headed for the Lingayen area.
But he has a friend who writes him saying they're not setting up beach defenses...
but rather building up in the mountains near Baguio.
Did he say how many troops?
No. No, that's all he knew.
- Hardly seems like it's- - [ Gunshots ]
What was that?
They have been executed.
For God sakes, Paco, why?
- The reasons are obvious. - The reasons are not obvious.
They were through with the war. What harm could they do?
It would seem that the issue is closed.
[ Hisses ]
[ Speaking Filipino ]
This is one of those I told you about-
those who pretend to be guerrilleros, but are only bandits.
[ Speaking Filipino ]
Paco! [ Laughing ]
Have the Americans landed? Huh?
Soon. Tell me, Ramundo, why are you so far south?
Conditions.
Why are these Americans here?
- I will ask the questions. - Ask.
Why are you heading south?
the Japanese are moving troops.
Ah. So, that's why the Americans are here-
to find out about the troop movements, eh?
- [ Chuckling ] - What do you know?
[ Laughing ]
- This information is important, yes? - What do you know, Ramundo?
Valuable "informations" have to be bargained for.
Only pirates bargain over their country.
But I'm a good pirate, yes? Huh? [ Laughing ]
You are an offensive pig.
[ Chuckling ]
What does a pig want?
- I want the radio. - Impossible.
I want the radio. Manila underground will pay well for it.
If the information that he has is valuable, and it checks out...
he can have the radio after we're finished with it.
- What if it is not valuable? - I know every move the Japanese make.
These are my mountains. Eh? Eh?
If the information you have is valuable...
you can have the radio after we're finished with it.
- I cannot wait long. - You won't have to wait.
The radio will be mine.
After we send the message. Now, where are the troops?
Where? Everywhere!
They crawl over the mountains like ants over honey.
Guns. Carts. Soldiers.
It is one big fortress. I show you.
There is a road that comes from the river.
It cuts through a steep valley towards Baguio.
Can this information be trusted?
He isn't smart enough to tell that elaborate a lie.
Well, there are many Filipino villages marked here.
If this information is somehow incorrect...
and those villages are not evacuated...
those people will be bombed.
A supply road and a couple of emplacements are not too far off.
Some of the villages are along the way.
The two of us could check them out tonight.
If the information bears out, you could radio in the morning.
Good.
They are gone too long.
They'll be back. Relax.
I'm goin' south.
- I take the radio now. - Not until we send the message.
the Japanese "covers" these hills.
It's too dangerous to wait.
Well, that's your problem.
I gave you the information you wanted.
Well, it's no good until we send it.
You can send it, but you don't trust me.
We have to be sure. We can't take chances.
The information is true. Send the message now.
We wait until Paco and the lieutenant get back.
Maybe they don't come back.
We wait and see.
- I don't like this. - Then head south. No one's holding you.
- We made a bargain. - You remember the conditions of that bargain.
You're gonna have to wait, and that's the end of it.
All right. All right.
You keep the radio. We go.
- Garde? Did you hear that? - Yes.
Have one of your men follow a ways to see that they keep going.
Okay.
[ Gunfire ]
[ Laughing ]
- Maria, are you all right? - Yes.
- Burnett, how about you? - Yeah.
The radio.
Damn!
Well, he got what he wanted, all right.
- What was all the shooting about? - Ramundo left.
But before taking off, he peppered the radio.
What'd you find out?
Ramundo knew what he was talkin' about.
Everything we checked out was exact. Yamashita's plan is pretty obvious now.
- Are you gonna be able to fix this thing? - No chance.
Well, Lieutenant, it seems you've lost your voice.
How far to the nearest guerrilla radio set?
Malolos or San Fernando.
How long would it take us to get there?
A week, 10 days.
Oh, that's no good.
Ramundo pointed out a Jap shortwave station...
about half a day's march from here, right?
- About six hours. - Burnett.
Would it take you long to learn how to operate a Jap shortwave?
No. A radio's a radio.
What's your idea, Lieutenant?
I don't have one.
Maybe if we go over there and look around, we might come up with something.
Anyway, it's our only choice.
All right. We'll go with you.
But as you know, I won't promise support until I see the situation.
That's fair enough.
And we should leave now.
It'll be safer. We'll get there before dawn.
Fine.
Their camp is about a half mile down the river.
Paco and I will go check it out.
- You want us to take this one? - No. I'll do it.
Burnett, you break this message down into code.
It'll be tough to try it by the road.
Let's go check out the approach from the river.
[ Whispering ] Kill him.
The other guard.
His boots. His boots.
Let's go.
I don't understand.
With some of his equipment gone, they'll think it was the work of bandits.
If they suspect the truth, there would be an alert...
and you wouldn't have a chance of getting in.
That is, if you still want to.
I don't know.
Paco, what's it gonna be?
Your lieutenant must make a decision.
Then I will make mine.
Well, we got what we came after, but we haven't sent it back yet.
That's pretty obvious.
We need that radio down there.
We haven't got the stuff to take it by a frontal assault...
so there's only one other way.
If we can get in there before dawn...
there's a good chance we can get to the radio, send a message...
and get out before they know it.
What if they catch us at the radio?
We can use Paco and his men for diversion fire to cover us.
Look, anything can happen. I'm not even sure it's worth a chance.
You could call it quits right now and be justified in doing so.
What do you think, Lieutenant?
I'd like to try it.
I don't know if it's right or wrong.
As a man, I think it's stupid.
As a soldier...
what can I do?
You gonna be able to pull it off?
What do you mean?
You know what I mean.
Once we get in there, that's no place to start comin' apart.
[ No Audible Dialogue ]
- [ Taps Key ] - I think we're ready.
[ Tapping Code ]
[ Speaking Japanese ]
[ Shouting ]
- [ Craig ] Any action yet? - No. Nobody's answering.
Fat's in the fire now. Just keep sending the code.
Identify yourself. No formality.
Don't worry.
[ Speaking Filipino ]
[ Gunfire Continues ]
- [ Gunfire Continues ] - [ Filipino ]
[ Gunfire ]
Can't divert enough of their fire.
They won't get out?
No.
- How is he? - He's hit good.
That's gonna make it tough gettin' outta here.
Doesn't matter. With this kind of heat, we ain't goin' nowhere.
- Did he send the message? - I don't know.
[ Gunfire Continues ]
- Please. - No. You stay.
Okay, Jersey. Paco's givin' us our chance.
Let's move.
[ Gunfire Continues In Distance ]
- Sergeant, he's dead. - I know he's dead, for God's sake.
He was dead before we left the shack.
- Why? - Why? I don't know why.
Why leave him there? That's no place.
I'll take him back where we were by the river...
and put him down there.
I don't know what difference it makes. He doesn't know where he is.
But I know where he is, and that's why I'm takin' him.
It's a good place.
Where are the others?
Back there, dead.
- Paco? - Dead.
- Paco dead too. - What do we do now?
We'll figure somethin'.
English SUB OCR: iMGHo