infamy in which the Japanese started the Pacific War.

But at the same time, the Empire of Japan also began simultaneous offensives against

British, Dutch, and American possessions in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Today we are going to cover some of these attacks in mainland Southeast Asia, primarily

focusing on the invasion of Malaya and the British response against the Japanese aggression.

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With the rise of the Japanese threat after the end of World War One, the UK had decided

to establish a main naval base in Singapore during the 20s to defend their colonial possessions

in the Far East.

Singapore was selected due to its strategic importance and because it was the only British

territory to be excluded from the non-fortification clause of the Washington Naval Treaty, and

their intention was to have a strong fleet in here to deter Japan from any act of war.

But this was clearly not enough, as Japanese aggression in the region during the 30s kept

rising and threatening the British colonies.

The outbreak of the Second World War in Europe also limited the capability of the UK to defend

this region, leaving British Malaya, Burma, and Hong Kong alone in case of war with Japan.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill himself believed that the Japanese wouldn't dare to attack

them as early as 1941, so he chose to reinforce the Mediterranean instead.

In case of attack, however, the British plan of defense consisted of delaying the Japanese

advance as long as possible while maintaining control over their fortress at Singapore for

the arrival of reinforcements to save them, even though they actually couldn't afford

to send reinforcements to the Far East, so this plan was very unrealistic.

In Malaya, Commander-in-Chief Robert Brooke-Popham of the British Far East Command had been assigned

the defense of the region, although he knew that without reinforcements they wouldn't

be able to withstand a Japanese attack.

Malayan ground forces were under the command of Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, who

only counted with 31 inexperienced infantry battalions, untrained to fight in jungles

and rubber plantations, which were organized into three divisions and with the Malayan

garrisons totaled some 88600 men.

Airpower was also key for the defense of Malaya, but the British only counted with 14 squadrons

of mostly old aircraft, a small force to cover both strike and reconnaissance roles.

Naval forces were old and small as well, but they would be reinforced by Admiral Tom Phillips'

Force Z, consisting of the battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse along with four destroyers,

mainly intending to deter any act of Japanese aggression.

The British government also believed that Hong Kong couldn't be defended because of

the strong Japanese presence all around it, but Major-General Christopher Maltby thought

that he could at least delay the Japanese advance long enough to be rescued by British

reinforcements, even though there were none available.

He then placed three infantry battalions at the Gin Drinkers Line, a defensive line that

stretched across the Kowloon Peninsula, intending to stop the Japanese advance in the mainland,

while three more battalions with a volunteer corps held Hong Kong Island itself.

On November 11th, 1940, the German raider Atlantis captured the British steamer Automedon

in the Indian Ocean.

The ship was carrying papers meant for Air Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham.

The information was about the weakness of the Singapore base, and in December 1940 the

Germans handed this information over to the Japanese.

Alongside this the Japanese broke the British Army Codes in January 1941, learning details

of the weakened state of the "fortress of Singapore", allowing them to prepare for an

invasion.

As we've already seen, after the embargo enacted by the US, the UK, and the Dutch in

July of 1941, the Japanese had decided to simultaneously invade their possessions in

the East to get their hands on the rich resources they possessed.

It is interesting to note that, as China tied many of their forces, the Japanese could only

employ eleven divisions for these offensives, so speed was really of the essence before

the Allies could reinforce this region.

By late November, preparations for the attacks had already been carried out, and on December

2, the order to “Climb Mount Niitaka” had been sent, setting in motion the start

of the offensives.

For the invasion of Malaya, the Japanese planned to do several naval landings in southern Thailand

and northern Malaya , followed by an advance through the Malayan Peninsula along the western

coastal plain until the final assault against Singapore across the Strait of Johor.

The plan developed by Tsuji Masanobu was very bold, having to traverse 400 miles of jungle

road against a major force that had established formidable defenses in Singapore.

The 25th Army of Lieutenant-General Yamashita Tomoyuki , initially consisting of two divisions

, was appointed to execute this operation, covered by the 2nd Fleet of Admiral Kondō

Nobutake in its role of escorting convoys to Thailand and Malaya.

The landings at Thailand would be critical because the British couldn't defend this

area, giving the Japanese an easy landing point to commence their advance.

Thailand's dictator, Marshal Plaek Phibun, had promised the Japanese to allow them safe

passage for a possible invasion of Malaya, yet at the same time, he was negotiating with

the British and Americans for guarantees, which made the Japanese feel like they couldn't

trust him.

The 15th Army of Lieutenant-General Iida Shōjirō, initially composed of two divisions , also

needed to transit through Thailand, as it had been prepared for an invasion of Burma.

If the Thais didn't allow the Japanese safe passage by December 7, then this army would

invade from Indochina and head straight to the Burmese border.

To counter a possible invasion of Thailand, Brooke-Popham had planned for the 11th Indian

Division to establish positions at Singora and Patani before the Japanese could land,

although this action meant invading a neutral nation.

Since Operation Matador didn't get automatic approval, the plan was essentially dead, but

it would have one major consequence: the 11th would be prevented from completing defensive

positions at Jitra.

And at Hong Kong, the 23rd Army of Lieutenant-General Sakai Takashi, consisting only of one division

, had the task of executing a three-pronged attack against the Gin Drinkers Line, while

Hong Kong Island itself was blockaded and bombarded into submission.

On December 4, troop transports from Hainan Island, escorted by Admiral Kondō's fleet,

started to sail en route to their objectives.

Two days later, the Japanese were spotted by British reconnaissance, but Brooke-Popham

wasn't authorized to take any actions yet, only putting his forces on full alert.

At 23:00 on December 7, the Japanese presented an ultimatum to the Thai government, demanding

safe passage and giving them two hours to respond.

As Phibun couldn't be located until late morning, the Thais would be invaded some hours

later.

From Indochina, the Imperial Guards Division and the 55th Division invaded Phra Tabong

unopposed, then continuing northwest towards Aranyaprathet [-eht].

Meanwhile, a regiment of the 5th Division landed at Patani and the rest of the division

landed at Singora , quickly taking the upper hand against the fierce Thai defenders . From

Saigon, elements of the 15th Army would also execute some naval landings across Thailand,

but they would face staunch Thai resistance that would prevent them from making any progress.

At the same time, almost an hour before the attack on Pearl Harbor began, the 18th Division

landed at Kota Bharu with much effort, quickly running into beach defenses held by an Indian

battalion . In response, the defenders employed their artillery and their Hudsons to bombard

the Japanese positions, while the men in the pillboxes pinned down waves of enemy soldiers,

thus inflicting heavy casualties on the invaders.

After heavy combat, the Japanese finally penetrated the center of the Indian line by 03:45, threatening

the valuable airfield nearby.

Concurrently, 17 Japanese bombers attacked Singapore, only causing minor damage to their

airfields and killing 61 persons.

Yet this was a shock to the British command, who didn't believe that their foe had access

to long-range aircraft . Japanese fighters and bombers also started to appear in Kota

Bharu and across the main airfields of northern Malaya, causing havoc on Brooke-Popham's

RAF and proving their air superiority.

In the ensuing confusion, two counterattacks by different Indian battalions were repelled

at Kota Bharu, prompting the British to prematurely destroy their northern airfields to prevent

them from falling into enemy hands, while at night, the defenders, at last, retreated

from the beaches to guard Kota Bharu itself.

And further west, a small Indian force based at the town of Kroh had been earmarked to

execute a mini Operation Matador, codenamed Krohcol, with the objective of occupying the

easily defendable Ledge position on the Patani road.

While confusion reigned at the British headquarters, Operation Krohcol was launched at 15:00.

After crossing the frontier, however, the Indians were met by staunch Thai resistance

from the police based in the town of Betong.

These policemen, led by Major Prayoon Rattanakit, established important roadblocks that managed

to delay the Indian advance for two whole days, while at the same time fighting the

Japanese at Patani.

After several hours of fighting, Japan and Thailand signed an armistice by midday, with

Phibun finally allowing Japan to use his country as a base of operations, although the Thais

would not join the war effort for now.

Unopposed but traversing over bad roads, the Japanese at Patani would also start to advance

to the Ledge position that was some 60 miles away from them, starting a race with the Krohcol

detachment to get there first.

Meanwhile, at Hong Kong, the three columns of the 38th Division commenced their attack,

quickly overrunning British defenses in the New Territories and reaching the Gin Drinkers

Line by late afternoon.

The British colony was also subjected to a heavy air bombardment and a naval blockade

by Vice-Admiral Niimi Masaichi's 2nd China Fleet, although two British destroyers managed

to escape the encirclement at 21:30 to join Force Z at Singapore.

But unbeknownst to them, Admiral Phillips had already sailed from Singapore after dusk,

intending to intercept the Japanese invasion fleet in the South China Sea.

He expected to arrive at Kota Bharu on December 10, and he relied on the surprise factor for

the success of his operation.

The following day started with renewed fighting at Kota Bharu.

As the Japanese pressed on the disorganized defenders, they began to infiltrate around

the British strongpoints, something so worrisome for the British command that on December 10,

the defenders were authorized to abandon Kota Bharu and retreat south of Machang.

At 13:45 on December 9, Force Z was also discovered by Japanese submarines while they traveled

north, so their destruction was now inevitable.

Four hours later, the British spotted Japanese aircraft tailing them, prompting Phillips

to turn west and return to Singapore.

While the British fled to the south, fate would intervene at midnight as Force Z received

erroneous reports that Kuantan was suffering naval landings.

Phillips then decided to investigate this critical location, changing his course to

the southwest.

When he arrived at 08:00, he found no sign of the enemy, so he decided to linger off

Kuantan for an extra 90 minutes.

This would prove fatal, as Japanese bombers and torpedo planes soon fell upon them.

Several attacks were made against the British battleships by midday, with one bomb hit on

Repulse and two torpedo hits on the Prince of Wales that caused considerable damage . A

new attack at 12:20 managed to hit the Repulse with four torpedoes, leaving it unable to

maneuver and exposed to five more hits that caused her to list and finally sink ten minutes

later.

The Prince of Wales continued to resist for the next half hour, but in the end, it began

to sink due to the amount of damage received.

513 men died aboard Repulse, while the Prince of Wales lost 327 sailors.

The rest of their crews were rescued by the destroyers of Force Z, which managed to retreat

to Singapore.

The sinking of the British battleships was a heavy blow to the British Navy, but it was

also a bad omen for the Malayan defenders and for the Chinese still resisting in the

north.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the Japanese commenced their attack across the Gin Drinkers Line

on December 9.

At midday, Sakai's men detected a weak spot on the British line at the Shing Mun Redoubt,

quickly setting out to exploit it.

By December 10, the position had fallen into Japanese hands and the remaining defenders