Epilogue
April 24th 1942
17:00hrs North of Singapore
General Alexander inspected the burnt out Japanese tank, it was small, well built but very lacking in armour. One of the advancing Matilda II's had made short work of it, as it had a pair of child sized anti-tank guns. The stench of decay and numerous flies served as a testament to the effectiveness of first the 25 pounders and then the heavily armoured British tanks. Near where he stood a company of the Japanese Imperial guard had opted to fight to the last when surrounded, it looked like a poor decision in hindsight. He had not believed the stories of the Japanese tenacity in battle until today, it seemed he might need to adjust his approach.
His first localised attack out of Singapore had pushed the Japanese back several miles. Far to the north the 2nd British division and several brigades from the 17th were pushing south from Thailand. There was a long way to go before Malaya was saved, but it now looked like a matter of time. The SOE reported an increasingly anti-Japanese sentiment amongst the occupied areas of Malaya, it seemed the repeated requisitions of food and any other supplies as well as the hard and frequently cruel hand of the Japanese secret police was having an impact. British rule now looked significantly more appealing when compared to the current situation.
The war at sea had produced another favourable outcome, the Battle of Wake Island had cost the Japanese four fleet carriers, whilst the US had come out with only one lost. It was the the US Navy's greatest victory in its brief history, and now the Americans were now pondering how to relieve the Philippines. Tentatively called Operation Watchtower, it called for the opening of a supply route, key to his preferred version was regaining Malaya and securing French Indo-China. There were assorted options, the most likely to work in his view was an air bridge from Vietnam, the sea route was just too risky with the Japanese surface fleet still intact.
Slim's advance was stalled near the Mekong river, logistics was his main enemy now. The Japanese had brought in a further infantry brigade from China whilst simultaneously evacuating some of their senior personnel. Relations between the Vichy French and the Japanese Army were deteriorating from an already low base, in a curious move reflecting the weakness of both parties the Japanese had pulled out of Northern Vietnam and forced the French to do the same in the South.
News from the Philippines remained mixed, as far as his staff could tell the American forces were too weak to evict the Japanese, in turn the Japanese army was not strong enough to make further gains. The Japanese faced a problem in that the Philippine army was getting better trained by the day even if it was not going to see any major improvements in its equipment.
As he returned to his headquarters he passed the old front lines, regular artillery barrages and the use of trenches had left a scene reminiscent of the last war. His field HQ had just moved north of the crossing point onto Singapore, it was his his way of indicating to his men that the direction of the campaign had changed.