From what i've read on the Battle of Hong Kong, most give the British little chance of winning because of the overwhelming odds against them and focus on the Battle of Singapore as the battle where the Japanese should have been stopped. Churchill himself saw reinforcing HK as throwing away troops, "good money after bad" because of the odds and the logistics. Britain could not supply HK or give any naval support; the Japanese quickly assumed full air superiority. Japanese troops outnumbered the British 3 to 1.
However, looking at the battle lines in detail, the British had a considerable number of natural lines of defense at their disposal. A defensive line (the Gin Drinkers Line), Devil's Peak ( a commanding mountain position), the channel between Kowloon and HK island, and a natural gorge which separated north and south HK island and which as the only passage through from north to south.
The British seemed to give up these natural redoubts virtually witout a fight. Given that they had years to prepare for the battle, a large populace to help with digging trenches, defensive positions, etc, could they not have fought the Japanese to a stalemate?
Was the battle really a foregone conclusino or a massive blunder? |