Chapter 32 Bao became an inspirational uncle

In terms of establishment, the 25th Army has three divisions. However, due to transportation delays and other reasons, before the official attack on Singapore, only 1/3 of the Guards Division reached the front line. The 18th Division Command And its two infantry regiments are still in Guangzhou, China.In other words, there is only one 5th Division with relatively complete troops.However, this division traversed 1,000 kilometers in 55 days, and the physical exertion exceeded the limit. It is not uncommon for soldiers to doze off while walking, and officers to doze off while talking. As for the British Allied Forces, both the Indian Division and the Australian Division were defeated in the Malaysian battle. Only one battalion of the Indian Army, four battalions of the Australian Army and two machine gun companies were preserved intact.As mentioned above, the British brigade who came to aid was exhausted by the long-distance transportation by sea, and they were originally fighting in the Near East, and they were mainly trained in desert warfare.

However, in terms of numbers, after successive reinforcements, the British Allied Forces had reached 130,000, of which 70,000 were pure combat troops, while the three divisions of the Japanese Army combined had only 30,000. The opponent has sufficient food and ammunition, and is fully capable of fighting the enemy.An Australian newspaper commented optimistically: "Singapore can be held with more cannon than Christmas grapes." Through the experience of fighting in Malaysia, Bennett already knew that Parcival was a person who could only talk empty words and had little fighting passion in his heart. Therefore, he changed his strategy this time and suggested that Parcival implement a protracted war, that is, stick to the city.

Unexpectedly, the other party shook his head again: "No, fighting on the island is not good." Parcival analyzed that Singapore's positions and material storage areas were too scattered, and it was difficult to secure defenses. Once the Japanese army landed, the morale of the army and the people might collapse.His idea was to go one step ahead and destroy the enemy on the beach. Bennett actually meant exactly this, and he immediately said happily: "Your Excellency, that's great, let's let Little Japan have a taste of the spirit of the British Army!" Percival replied: "Yes, plus a little honor The spiciness of the Australian Army!"

The predicament of the last stand seems to have dissipated the unhappiness between the two, and even Parcival has become an inspirational uncle for a rare occasion. This was the last thing Yamashita wanted to see, especially the strategy of the British Allied Forces preparing for a beachhead battle. The 25th Army had limited means of landing.When they landed in Malaysia, there were some sea motor boats. This time, they collected a batch of folding boats for crossing the river. There are 300 boats in total.However, Johor is 1,000 meters away, and it takes an average of one hour to go back and forth. If all the combat troops are crossed, it will take at least 7 to 10 hours.

If the British coalition forces concentrated their firepower on the beach, the first few batches might be dead before the latter batches arrived. Yamashita racked his brains for this, and specially set up a plan to suspect soldiers. The 5th and 18th Divisions were the main force in the landing battle. During the preparation period, these two divisions tried their best to conceal their whereabouts, and even had to prepare every meal at a place more than eight kilometers away from the river bank before transporting it to the troops. .At the same time, the Guards Division was not the main force for landing, but was extremely high-profile. Every night, about 40 empty trucks were dispatched, with headlights on and horns honking, to assemble on the opposite bank of Singapore.

The whole secret is that the 5th and 18th Divisions will land from the northwest bank, which is true, and the Guards Division pretends to land from the northeast bank, which is a fake, which is called "striking from the east to the west, mixing the fake with the real". For this reason, Yamashita also forcibly moved out all the residents in the troop assembly area, stopped the movement of troops during the day, and disabled some radio stations, and set up another radio station to send out various false telegrams.As a result, not only did they confuse their opponents, but even the Japanese military reporters were kept in the dark.Many people rushed to the east to stand by, but they failed to catch up with the first landing on the west.

Don't believe in straightness and straightness, and guard against benevolence and inhumanity.Yamashita tried his best, but failed to deceive the shrewd Bennett, who believed that the Japanese army would only land on the northwest coast. The reason is very simple. The northeast coast is a military port and fortress area. The concrete walls on the shore are so high that even the landing craft cannot touch the shore. How did the Japanese soldiers climb up? But Percival was so naive that he fell for the mountain's tricks. He thought that the Japanese army would come from the northeast coast.Bennett said that there is a concrete wall on the northeast bank, but he said that the northwest bank is still a wet area with kangaroo trees. Isn't it difficult to move?In the fortress area, didn't the Japanese army rush to the fortress?

The two fought again, each refusing to give in, neither of them could convince the other.Percival said yes, yes, maybe the Japanese army might actually land from the northwest bank, so I entrust you to guard the northwest bank. Guarding separately will inevitably weaken the defense force, but it is also a compromise solution to solve the problem when the chief officer's judgment is inaccurate, and Bennett obeyed.But what Parcival said next surprised him.