The size of the US Military at the outbreak of WWII and the long supply distance were the biggest reasons the Philippines couldn’t be held onto or reinforced. There was a lack of combat ready troops when the war broke out and the US Navy had been devastated at Pearl Harbor.
I think the Philippines is closer than Russia
Note the non-relief of Wake Island, the performance of the ABDA command in Indonesian waters and the torpedo problem our submarines faced.
No way the US Nave of 1941 would have cut through to the Philippines.
Yes.
1,305 nautical miles sailing distance from Nagasaki to Manila.
6,233 nautical miles sailing distance from San Francisco to Manila.
If the invasion fleet and the rescue fleet sailed at the same instant, the invasion fleet could send its transports back for another load, and have the second wave in the Philippines before the first American reinforcements arrived.
If the Americans found out about the invasion as it happened, and had to begin the process of hiring or commandeering transports and tankers, converting them to military use, and getting troops and supplies to the docks, the Japanese would have time to make many trips between Japan and the Philippines. Which is why the Navy was never optimistic about holding them, and why it knew there was zero chance of doing so with the surface fleet sitting on the bottom of Pearl Harbor.