Chapter 33 It is a good plaster that can pull out pus

Parcival was afraid that the military port facilities would fall into the hands of the Japanese army, and proposed to destroy all the military port facilities. Bennett couldn't understand the thinking logic of the British commander-in-chief at all: Since you believe that Yamashita will land on the northeast coast, isn't the military port the largest and best defensive position, why destroy all the military facilities? That's all, what Bennett is eager to do now is to quickly build a position on the northwest coast. Singapore mainly built a powerful fortress on the northeast coast, with more than 30 giant artillery alone, but its rear, that is, the northwest coast area is very weak.

The northwest coast is a marshland covered with tropical vegetation, and the forest covers an area of ​​400 miles.The designer believed that such terrain would make it difficult for the enemy to pass through, so they did not make defenses.This was of course a stupid decision, which turned the northeast fortress into a British-style Maginot Line—all fort guns were facing the sea and had limited turning angles, so they were completely powerless against the northwest direction behind them. After Parcival took office, he also wanted to add fortifications on the northwest coast.But some people objected that if such fortifications were built, it would make Singaporeans feel uneasy.Percival is originally a person who is afraid of trouble and ignores other things if he can. Since he has different opinions, he can't let it go.

Bennett was now in charge of defending the Northwest Shore, but the swamps and forests were too difficult to defend, and he demanded the requisition of the golf course in order to build a machine gun emplacement on it. Parcival put on a bitter face as usual, worried that this would sway the hearts of the people, saying that it would take a meeting of the owners to make a decision, and the owners had until March 1 to meet. By March 1, Singapore may have been lost.Bennett couldn't make a fuss about it, so he had to do it himself first, and count as much as he could build.Due to lack of labor, he asked Parcival to allocate some labor for him.

Parcival said that there were laborers, but the problem was that they couldn't pay that much, and according to the employment standards of the British War Department, they were unwilling to come. So, is it okay to use the army?It is also difficult.Parcival listed a bunch of "difficulties" for Bennett: the relationship between British officers and Indian soldiers is not good, and the relationship between British soldiers and Australian soldiers is not good. Even Indian soldiers, different castes do not see each other Pleasant to the eye, everyone hates everyone, which one do you smoke better?

Bennett doesn't know how to evaluate the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Nothing is difficult and nothing can be done. Then just wait for the Japanese to call. "What for? The incompetence and cowardice of the general made Singapore seem like an abandoned city.It was burning and shattering every day, and the soldiers had no fighting spirit and could only pray that the Japanese army would come from someone else. Unlike Percival, as long as Yamashita succeeds, he can break through any difficulties, and he can do anything. Anyway, being able to pull out pus is a good plaster.

Even so, the mountain was not easy at all.After giving the landing order, he took another look at Singapore. The expression on his face looked very confident and calm, but his stern eyes still revealed some uneasiness and apprehension in his heart. On February 8, 1942, the Japanese army bombarded the oil tanks in the port of Singapore. This was to prevent the burning oil from flowing into the strait and affecting the upcoming amphibious landing. Black smoke covered half of Singapore Island.In response, the British coalition forces also fired back in accordance with the "20-round standard".

Yamashita moved the headquarters to the high tower of the Baru Palace, which overlooks the waterway of Johor, but is also within the range of the artillery fire of the British coalition forces. Yamashita dozed off to the sound of the guns and snored so loudly that the adjutant was afraid of attracting shells from the other side. He dozed off for two hours. After two hours, the snoring down the mountain suddenly stopped. He stood up and stared at the opposite bank from the second floor of the tower. Thirty minutes later, the Japanese artillery positions hidden in the rubber forest launched a concentrated bombardment. A total of 300 guns participated at the same time, and the consumption of ammunition was unlimited.The order issued by Yamashita was "1000 rounds per gun", so the ammunition boxes near each gun position piled up like a mountain.

When 300 cannons fired in unison, the shocking noise cannot be expressed in words.A Japanese military reporter had the impression that it was as if many volcanoes erupted together, shaking the hills and shaking them. In the first round of shelling, 200 rounds of field artillery and 100 rounds of heavy artillery were used.The incessant flash of the cannon burned the sky red, and the flames spread everywhere. The foreshadowing shelling had the expected strike effect, and the machine gun bunkers and fortifications around the causeway of the strait were greatly damaged.The Japanese army immediately launched the first echelon attack. 300 boats, each carrying 40 people, accelerated towards Singapore Island.

Instead of going to the well-fortified northeast bank, they went directly to the weakly fortified northwest bank.Since they did not receive Percival's order, the British artillery lost the opportunity to provide artillery support in the first place, and even the searchlights were delayed.By the time the searchlights were turned on, it was too late, and the lights could clearly illuminate the approaching landing troops. At 10:40 in the evening, a blue and a red flare were raised on the northwest coast of Singapore respectively, which signaled the successful landing of the 5th and 18th divisions.

If Parcival placed the main force or the British brigade on the northwest bank, the Japanese landing might still be difficult. In fact, only two battalions of the Australian division were assigned to defend here. They had just withdrawn from the front line, and the officers and soldiers were exhausted. Unbearable, the combat effectiveness is greatly reduced, and there is a lack of solid fortifications. How can it withstand the impact of the Japanese awl? The designers of the Singapore fortress thought that the forest could stop the enemy naturally. However, since the Japanese army landed in Malaysia, they have traveled all the way through the forest. They have long been accustomed to fighting in the jungle. The field of fire of the defenders.

In just a few hours, more than 4,000 Japanese soldiers landed and quickly infiltrated through the swampy jungle and gaps in the defenders' defense lines.By dawn, nearly half of the 30,000 troops of the 25th Army had successfully landed in Singapore. Shortly after dawn, groups of Japanese soldiers in steel helmets charged with bayonets in their hands.The defenders' lines began to waver until they eventually collapsed. At this time, it was pouring rain in the sky, and the Australian soldiers panicked. They threw away all the burdens on their bodies, even rifles and bullets. People can take care of these things. Following the 5th and 18th Divisions, the Guards Division also landed on the northwest coast, and the three divisions quickly swarmed towards the center of the island. On the morning of February 10, 1942, Yamashita crossed the Johor Waterway.When crossing the river, stray bullets flew past the boat many times.The adjutant felt that it was not safe, so he persuaded Shanxia to get into the car on the boat. Unexpectedly, Shanxia scolded him for being a bloody sprinkler. The adjutant was flattered on the horse's leg, and with the fat pig's body at the bottom of the mountain, if he got into the car and the boat sank unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to suffocate to death inside? After the command post of the 25th Army moved forward to Singapore Island, Yamashita's top priority was to seize the Bukit Timah Highlands on the south side of the water source.At this time, the artillery had not yet crossed the strait, but he did not want to give the defenders a chance to adjust, so he decided to launch an attack without artillery support.That night, the 5th and 18th divisions rushed directly to the Bukit Tema Heights in a night attack with white blades. Parcival's diametrically opposed battlefield research and judgment led to a series of bad results.He concentrated most of his forces on the northeast bank where no one was attacking, which not only caused the northwest bank to be quickly broken by the Japanese army, but also caused a serious shortage of reserve forces.Even his staff had a premonition that it was only a matter of time before the Japanese army ran rampant across the island. However, when the Japanese army attacked Bukit Tema, the commander-in-chief of the British army rarely conducted an effective command. He transferred two battalions of the British army to the high ground for reinforcements, blocking the two divisions of the Japanese army.It wasn't until the next day that the Guards Division came to help out and took down the high ground. Due to the large losses, the Guards Division showed great animalism, stabbing and hacking along the way, and massacred all the British prisoners.For the Japanese army, this kind of massacre, which seriously violated international law, was nothing more than a common occurrence in the Pacific War. Before the battle for the high ground, Yamashita drew up a letter of persuasion, copied 29 copies, put them into wooden boxes with red and white tapes, and airdropped them to the British coalition positions by reconnaissance planes. Until the evening, there was no reply from the mountain, and Parcival refused to surrender. The British army has its own inherent traditions and pride, and it is not easy to be recruited.Yamashita is very aware of this, otherwise, when Malaysia landed, it would have sent a letter of persuasion. However, now Yamashita really hopes that Parcival can say a word of "surrender".In the book persuading you to surrender, he said that you, Parcival, could not hold on any longer, why didn't you surrender earlier?The truth is, he couldn't stand it anymore.