[2] The invasion force was supported by a large fleet from the Imperial Japanese Navy led by Rear Admiral Kyuji Kubo, consisting of the light cruiser Nagara, the destroyers Yamakaze, Suzukaze, Kawakaze, Umikaze, Yukikaze, Tokitsukaze, the seaplane tenders Mizuho and Chitose, two minesweepers, two patrol vessels and seven transports.

[3] Distant cover was provided by Vice Admiral Ibō Takahashi with the aircraft carrier Ryūjō, heavy cruisers Haguro, Myōkō and Nachi and the destroyer Shiokaze.

[1] The Philippine 51st Division sent an engineering battalion south into the Bicol Peninsula to destroy bridges and to prevent railroad equipment from falling into the hands of the Japanese.

The first American counterattack was a strafing attack on 12 December by two fighter aircraft of the Far East Air Force on the newly captured airstrip at Legazpi, killing three Japanese.

General Parker ordered two companies of the 52nd Infantry to make a stand north of Sipocot, as the Bicol Peninsula is very narrow in that area, enabling a small force to considerably delay the Japanese advance.

Tactically, the air fields seized were small, and with the rapid advance of the Japanese into both central and southern Luzon, were soon unnecessary for further operations.