Malaya's defense suffered from incomplete preparations and the priority given to fighting in Europe and North Africa. Its leadership included capable officers sent east for rest and others judged unsuitable for those active theaters. Japan also possessed the British defensive plan, whose assumptions predated Japanese control of Vietnam and depended on equipment arriving before the war. Airfields awaited aircraft, while disputes with landowners and the governor delayed defensive positions despite available labor and engineers. Japanese forces nevertheless depended on a narrow supply margin. Sinking transports before they unloaded food and artillery ammunition could have slowed the advance and bought time for the defense to stabilize.
Chapter · 43:01-48:16
Why Japanese supply shipping made Force Z's sortie rational
Interdicting Japanese transports offered a real chance to slow the Malayan advance by denying food and artillery ammunition.