Chapter 31 Soldiers are as jealous as women

Yamashita was even more nervous than Parcival. The 25th Army must capture Singapore by February 11, without further delay.This is not just a matter of face, but because it is imperative. During the war, the reputation of a general is closely related to victory or defeat.The smoother Yamashita played in Malaysia, the more famous he became, and gradually he was catching up with other army generals, which made his boss, the commander-in-chief of the Southern Army, Terauchi Toshiichi very unhappy.Si Nei has long had a reputation in the army as "a pot of fire in the open, but a knife in the dark". He was not good at himself, and the staff of the Southern Army began to come out to embarrass Yamashita.

First, in the name of a visit, a group of people rushed to the headquarters of the 25th Army to have a meal, and then left without saying hello.Yamashita had no choice but to ask in his diary: "How virtuous is this generation?" Then, they inexplicably accused the 25th Army and the Navy of being too close.The Chief of Staff of the Southern Army sent a telegram to the Chief of Staff of the 25th Army, telling them to be careful when dealing with the Navy in the future, and intelligence information should not be disclosed to the Navy in advance. The battles of Malaysia and Singapore are amphibious landing operations. How can we not cooperate with the navy, and how can we not share intelligence?Of course, Yamashita could only ignore this inconsequential order.At the insistence of the chief officer, the staff including Tsuji Masanobu also confidently gave the southern army a hard time and refused to listen to that.

The embarrassing temple became angry and decided to take revenge.Without notice, he ordered the third flight group to be moved to another battlefield in advance. As soon as the flying group left, there were still 162 fighter planes left to support the 25th Army.At that time, the command of the air and the sea was completely in the hands of the Japanese army. If it was a simple field battle, so many aircraft could not be said to be too many, but the attack on Singapore was a tough battle, and the aviation force needed to provide sufficient air fire support.Transferring the flight group at this time is tantamount to cutting off an arm of the 25th Army.

It is said that when Yamashita heard the news, he immediately shouted angrily: "In case of unexpected delays (referring to the capture of Singapore), who is responsible?" Yamashita was terribly distressed by his boss's actions, but there was nothing he could do, so he could only forcefully comfort his subordinates: "Okay, we don't rely on the coordination of the air force, and we will attack Singapore independently from now on." When Masanobu Tsuji recalled this experience, he sharply accused the Southern Army of being a jealous wife complex: "Jealousy is often considered a woman's privilege, but among men, some people are no less jealous than women."

He didn't care what the rest of the people talked about when the evil fire in his heart came out. If he had known this, why would you have seven heads and eight guts to provoke me? The stepmother's fist, the sun in the clouds.The temple is not Shanshita's stepmother, but the things he does are even more ruthless than the stepmother.After slapping Yamashita face to face, he continued to put pressure on Yamashita, ordering that Yamashita must start on February 11, and immediately after the Singapore offensive, he would immediately mobilize troops to attack Sumatra and Burma. In addition to air support forces being compressed to a minimum and leaving no room for time, Yamashita faced other difficulties, one of which was insufficient firepower.

Attacking the fort, in addition to infantry, mainly relies on artillery.There are a total of 168 large and medium-caliber artillery pieces under the mountain, including small-caliber artillery pieces, up to 400 pieces.The number of guns is not bad, but there are too few shells for firing. Yamashita estimated that if the entire combat procedure is completed, 1,500 to 2,000 rounds of artillery shells of each caliber will need to be prepared.But judging from the transportation situation, only about 2/3 can be stored on average, and even if there are 2,000 rounds of shells, 800 rounds will be used just to prepare for crossing the river, and it is very likely that they will be used up in two days.

No matter how tight you are, use it when you need it.During the preparation of the infantry, Yamashita aimed at various airports in Singapore and took the lead in shelling. The flight group that had not yet been transferred was also ordered to bomb the airports. Yamashita's intention is very clear, even if he can't make full use of air firepower at that time, he must not let the opponent have this advantage. When the Japanese army fired artillery, the British coalition forces naturally had to fight back.However, Parcival also asked to save shells, limiting that each cannon can only fire 20 rounds per day, and it is not allowed if there are too many.

The artillery of the British Allied Forces added up to more than 600 pieces, more than 1/3 of the Japanese army, but using shells in this way, no matter how many cannons are used, it will not help.The artillery commander was very puzzled, and Parcival explained that he had to save ammunition because he was going to stay in Singapore for three months. What the commander-in-chief of the British army meant was that the gold and silver on board the ship would not be able to fill up the sea of ​​debts. Large-scale artillery battles consume the most shells. If the water is cleared early in the morning, how can we support the three-month defense of the city? war?

According to the order, the artillery was fired after 20 shots, and even the anti-aircraft guns were only allowed to fire sporadically.The results of the artillery battle caused by this can only be one-sided.As of February 5, 1942, three of Singapore's four airfields had been damaged, and most of the latest batch of fighter jets just arrived from Britain had been destroyed on the ground. With such a mentally handicapped opponent, Yamashita really should have laughed three times, but as usual, his odds of winning are actually no better than Percival.