European factories produce most British, French, and Dutch munitions for the Far Eastern war. If the Mediterranean route closes, shipping those supplies around the Cape of Good Hope adds about six weeks to the journey. After roughly three months of fighting, Singapore's stocks may already be falling while emergency dispatches have also drawn down supplies retained in Europe and North Africa. The strategic danger is therefore a gap between battlefield consumption and the arrival of replacement ammunition, not merely a more expensive voyage.
Notable Point · 54:39-55:38
Far Eastern munitions and the Cape delay
A closed Mediterranean adds roughly six weeks to munitions deliveries just as combat and earlier emergency shipments are depleting stocks at Singapore and in Europe.