Britain allowed Japan to occupy Hong Kong?
During World War II, in the face of the ambitious southward aggression of Japan, the British Prime Minister ordered that "never give up"! The British commander in Hong Kong arrogantly said: "The Chinese army cannot resist the Japanese army, but the elite British army is not so easy to provoke!" As a result, when the Japanese army really came in, the British troops stationed in Hong Kong only took 18 days to choose to surrender and let the Japanese army occupy Hong Kong.
On December 8, 1941, the same day as pearl harbor, the Japanese attacked the British forces stationed in Hong Kong. On the first day of the battle, the Japanese directly destroyed the British warships docked in the harbor and destroyed the British military airfield of Kai Tak. As a result, under the overwhelming offensive of the Japanese army, it took only one week for the British army to be forced into a street battle. At this time, Churchill once again issued an order not to surrender, not to abandon Hong Kong Island, and to fight the Chinese until the last moment.
But even if the Prime Minister shouted with all his might, the British could not continue the battle, they suffered heavy losses and had long been discouraged. Before the war, the British C Corps originally had 1975 men, but in less than a week of fighting, it lost more than 500 people, and the rest chose to become prisoners of war in the siege. However, a soldier of the C Legion thought of surrendering: "We did not raise our hands to surrender, we just laid down our weapons!" ”
It was in this atmosphere that the Japanese army occupied Hong Kong, which had been operated by the British for nearly a hundred years in only 18 days, which was really humiliating and shameful. And the reason why britain can't save Hong Kong is also very simple!
The reason why the Japanese army occupied Hong Kong in 18 days!
First, the British were too arrogant. On the eve of the Japanese army's attack on Hong Kong, the Anti-Japanese Forces in South China led by the Chinese Communists deliberately ran to Hong Kong to resist the invading Japanese army with the Indian army, and the only requirement was that the British army provide ammunition. As a result, the British army said that they were just scattered soldiers and brave, and they were useless. In addition to the CCP, the Kuomintang also sent people to cooperate, but because the British felt that this move would affect their rule, they refused.
What's more, the British army, which rejected the CCP and the Kuomintang successively, was not prepared to lay troops at all. Only a few thousand of the so-called British troops in Hong Kong were British, and the rest were either Indians or Canadians. In such a patchwork situation, the British troops stationed in Hong Kong gathered more than 10,000 people!
Second, the British had no will to fight. When living a good life, the British army likes to clamor for the ownership of Hong Kong, but once the days are difficult, they do not take Hong Kong seriously. Therefore, under the attack of the Japanese army, these so-called elite British troops, afraid of casualties, did not listen to the words of the leader, and directly laid down their weapons and surrendered.
Later data showed that the British suffered thousands of casualties, but tens of thousands of them were taken prisoner. Takashi Sakai, the commander of the Japanese army who attacked Hong Kong, was very disdainful of the surrender of the British commander in Hong Kong, and bluntly believed that the direct surrender of nearly 80% of the troops was a shame. Then, Takashi Sakai turned around and buried a sacrificial British brigadier general and put a monument to mourn.
Tell me, what will the British army, which has these two blessings, take to fight the Japanese and defend Hong Kong?
British troops in Hong Kong: Chinese the battle to the last minute!
When the British troops in Hong Kong chose to surrender, only Chinese fought hard in Hong Kong. After most of the C Corps was captured, the Chinese guerrillas still did not give up, and began to carry out rescue operations in the Japanese prisoner of war camps, hoping to transfer these battles to the interior and join the ranks of the japanese army. But unfortunately, at the last moment of the rescue, it was discovered by the Japanese army. A soldier named McDonnell said afterwards: "You see, only Chinese have never given up, they have been persevering in the war!" ”
Unfortunately, the strength of the CHINESE communist guerrillas at that time was too weak, and although they could carry out sneak attacks and ambushes, they could not reverse the situation in Hong Kong. Hong Kong, on the other hand, has also ushered in an apocalyptic moment.
Not long after the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, Hong Kong's beautiful campus was directly transformed into a concentration camp, and a large number of British and Canadian soldiers were imprisoned and subjected to inhuman treatment. On December 25 of the same year, the Japanese army opened a massacre of nearly 200 people at St. Stephen's High School in Hong Kong, most of whom were wounded and sick!
Even worse than the plight of these prisoners of war was the Chinese in Hong Kong. They had no nationality to protect themselves, no effective armed forces, and were forced to accept the slaughter of the Japanese. During the day, the Japanese hunted down the streets to arrest Zhuang Ding, and at night, the Japanese bravely broke into residential buildings at night and bullied men and women.
Li Shufen, a former hospital director, wrote in his autobiography that he had treated more than 10,000 rape victims. On the day that the Japanese emperor announced his surrender, the Japanese were still killing and creating the Silver Mine Bay Massacre.
These bloody realities are telling Chinese that only self-improvement is the only way to resist aggression!