英軍其實一直沒多水，畢竟駐守馬來半島的英軍多是澳洲，紐西蘭和印度來的殖民地動員兵，但是不可否認這是英國的一次重大失敗，如此眾多的白人士兵被殲滅和投降也是英國的恥辱。

英國的馬來亞混合部隊其實一直缺乏歐洲本土必要的關心，因為馬來亞前面是法國的法屬印度支和美國的殖民地菲律賓，馬六甲海峽雖然位置重要但是一直沒什麼威脅，因此駐守此地的英軍數量不多，裝備也很差畢竟這個地方也是多年沒有戰事，英法美荷早已劃分好勢力範圍。

但是短短數年時間，法國倒了，日本對英美已經起了殺心，沒人想到日本真的鋌而走險襲擊了珍珠港，與此同時山下奉文的部隊以極快的效率準備好了對馬來亞的突襲。

駐守馬來亞的14萬英軍在戰前沒有建立起有效的防線，而日軍已經在海南，越南和泰國建立了前進基地，英國政府沒有從外交和情報上有效的限制日本在東南亞的佈局，而英國軍隊也像無頭蒼蠅，把軍隊一點一點分散的佈置在半島上，在日軍登陸後被逐個擊破。

丘吉爾政府本著先歐後亞的原則，只是向遠東的馬來亞部隊派遣了少數艦隻，派來的威爾士親王號等戰艦缺少防空，而對於馬來亞部隊一直期望的300架以上的先進戰鬥機從未到位。面對日本南下艦隊的航母和路上機場的飛機，英國的水牛式戰機不僅數量不多還年久失修，難以應戰。

面對山下奉文25軍和近衛師團這樣在在中國戰場有豐富野戰經驗的部隊，英華人前線的印度軍和澳軍戰鬥意志和戰鬥素質根本不行，他們甚至拿不出一個坦克團來作戰，而日軍的坦克雖然比不上蘇德，但是在這個小小的半島，山下奉文用200多坦克和腳踏車進行了一次微型閃電戰，為自己拿到了“馬來之虎”的稱號。

從二戰前英國對馬來亞就缺乏重視。

Between the wars, the British military strategy in the Far East was undermined by a lack of attention and funding.

In 1937, Major-General William Dobbie, General Officer Commanding (GOC) Malaya (1935–39), looked at Malaya"s defences and reported that during the monsoon season, from October to March, landings could be made by an enemy on the east coast and bases could be established in Siam (Thailand). He predicted that landings could be made at Songkhla and Pattani in Siam, and Kota Bharu in Malaya。

英國指揮官自己都說英國對馬來亞不重視。。。並且他的預測在後來被證明是對的。。

By 1940, however, the army commander in Malaya, Lieutenant-General Lionel Bond, conceded that a successful defence of Singapore demanded the defence of the whole peninsula。

新加坡的防守關係到整個馬來亞防禦是否成功。。然而我們都知道後來新加坡失手了。。

The defence strategy for Malaya rested on two basic assumptions。

馬來西亞的防禦戰略有兩個假設。。。

first, that there would be sufficient early warning of an attack to allow for reinforcement of British troops, and second, that American help was at hand in case of attack. By late 1941, after Lieutenant-General Arthur E. Percival had taken over as GOC Malaya, it became clear that neither of these assumptions had any real substance.

美國的及時支援以及大量物資儲備。。。

The Japanese forces held a slight advantage in numbers on the ground in northern Malaya, and were significantly superior in close air support, armour, co-ordination, tactics, and experience, with the Japanese units having fought in China.

初期日本軍隊依靠強大的數量優勢， 空中優勢以及制海權，還有豐富的經驗，成功登陸馬來亞。。。

but the Indian troops were easily defeated by the Royal Thai Police and the Japanese 5th Division which had already landed in Pattani Province,

印度軍隊在這場戰役表現不盡人意，被泰軍和日軍輕易擊敗。。。

在空中力量對比，英軍也處於絕對優勢。。。

Prior to the invasion on 8 December there were 75 Allied aircraft stationed in northern Malaya and 83 in Singapore. The only fighter squadron in northern Malaya was No 21 Squadron RAAF that was equipped with 12 Brewster Buffalos.[22] The Japanese had over 459 aircraft available.

並且英國空軍在此次戰役表現的不盡人意，開戰第一天被摧毀60架戰機。。。

On the first day the focus of the Japanese air assault was on the Allied air bases. Mitsubishi Ki-21 Sallys from the 7th Hikodan bombed the airfields at Alor Star, Sungai Petani, and Butterworth. A total of 60 Allied aircraft were lost on the first day primarily on the ground

在Battle of Jitra以後，第11印度步兵師受到重創。。帕西瓦爾自己承認軍隊情況不容樂觀。。。

By the end of the first week in January, the entire northern region of Malaya had been lost to the Japanese.

在開戰第一週，日本攻佔了整個馬來西亞北部。。。

The 11th Indian Division managed to delay the Japanese advance at Kampar for a few days, in which the Japanese suffered severe casualties in terrain that did not allow them to use their tanks or their air superiority to defeat the British.

不過由於惡劣自然環境，而使得英軍有能力延遲日軍的進攻。。。

而且日軍的戰術創新也讓英華人感到驚訝。在Battle of Slim River以後。。一位英國軍官寫道

I am rightly criticised for the location of Brigade Headquarters, and for not using the Field Artillery in an anti-tank role...It is no excuse, but I had never taken part in an exercise embodying a coordinated anti-tank defence or this type of attack. The use of tanks on a road at night was a surprise.

在一個小鎮戰鬥中，英軍摧毀了9兩日軍坦克，算是小勝一場。。儘管這樣日軍還是切斷了英軍從馬來西亞北部撤退的主要道路，迫使他們往深林去。。。最終馬來西亞的英軍撤往新加坡。。

馬來西亞的英軍最後一場戰鬥是在2月14號結束。。The final battle before the surrender was with the Royal Malay Regiment at Bukit Candu on the 14 February.

英軍極其盟友損失。。

In less than two months, the Battle for Malaya had ended in comprehensive defeat for the Commonwealth forces and their retreat from the Malay Peninsula to the fortress of Singapore. Nearly 50,000 Commonwealth troops had been captured or killed during the battle.

145,703 5,703 killed or died of wounds up to 31 January + 7,531 killed or died of wounds 1-16 February[8] 10,000 wounded 130,000 captured

日軍損失。。

9,657 (Including the casualties of Battle of Singapore)

3,507 killed

6,150 wounded

而且戰前英軍就缺少坦克。。。日軍大概有200兩坦克可供使用

日軍軍事裝備

When the Japanese invaded, they had over 200 tanks, consisting of the Type 95 Ha-Go, Type 97 Chi-Ha, Type 89 I-Go and Type 97 Te-Ke.[13] In addition, they had over 500 combat aircraft available.

英軍極其盟友裝備

Commonwealth troops were equipped with the Lanchester 6x4 Armoured Car, Marmon-Herrington Armoured Car, Universal Carrier and only 23 obsolete Mk VIB light tanks (in the 100th Light Tank Squadron of the Indian Army), none of which were sufficiently armed for armoured warfare.[4] They had just over 250 combat aircraft, but half of these were destroyed inside the first few days of combat.

所以從一開始，就註定英軍會輸。。。

我有幸參觀了英軍當年在新加坡的地下指揮所（Battle Box）。裡面有蠟像、當時的部分設施和戰場復原沙盤，以及詳細的講解。

首先，英軍海岸防線的武器都是固定的，朝向海面。當時的英軍認為敵人只能從海上過來，背後的茂密叢林就是天然的屏障。馬來亞的防禦措施也是如此，英軍只能撤離，退守新加坡。

日軍竟然用腳踏車走小路，穿越叢林從背後殺出來，重武器排不上用場，士兵又個個養尊處優全無鬥志。敗也就是必然了。

十多萬英軍抵不過三萬日軍，竟然全軍投降也確是個奇蹟！