Force Z nearly reached vulnerable transports

What might have happened if Force Z had encountered the Japanese invasion force at sea?

The covering force could launch a dangerous torpedo attack, but Force Z reaching the transports might have massacred the invasion shipping.

The exchange examines the point at which Force Z came close to Japanese forces during the Malayan campaign. Fighting the covering warships would expose Prince of Wales, Repulse, and their escorts to a dangerous torpedo attack. The operational prize, however, lay behind that screen in the merchant ships carrying the invasion force. If the British ships could survive or bypass the covering force and reach the transports, heavy guns could devastate lightly protected shipping. The capital-ship encounter was only one part of the interception, because the amphibious operation depended on keeping enemy surface forces away from its transport column.