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Why were Japanese forces unprepared for the number of prisoners captured on Bataan?
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Bataan Death March
Prisoners during the Bataan Death March, 1942.
Japanese military leaders were unprepared for the number of prisoners captured on the Bataan Peninsula because they had severely underestimated how many Allied troops would surrender. Consequently, they lacked the necessary logistical and material resources to manage the tens of thousands of captives taken into custody following the surrender of Gen. Edward Kingās forces on April 9, 1942.1