Empire continually prove that it was hardly  prepared to defend its eastern possessions.  

After many lost battles and desperate rearguard  actions, last week the complete pull out from  

Johor was finally ordered, signifying the fall  of Malaya as the British defenders retreated into  

Singapore to protect their so-called eastern  fortress, called the Gibraltar of the East.  

The situation thus looked bleak for the empire  in which the sun never sets, with the Rising  

Sun looking like it could menacingly replace  their hegemony in the East. But before that, the  

British defenders were determined to offer as much  resistance as they could in Burma and Singapore,  

so the stage was set for one of the most  important battles of the Pacific War.

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Since we've last seen, the American defensive  lines in the Philippines had been completely  

pierced by the determined Japanese soldiers,  forcing the defenders to retreat to some new  

positions on a rearguard line that stretched  between the coastal towns of Orion and Bagac.  

By January 26, the Filipino forces under  Generals Wainwright and Parker had completed  

their withdrawal, dividing their new defensive  line into several sectors . In hot pursuit, the  

Japanese started to hammer the American defensive  positions straight away, with General Nara and  

his 65th Independent Mixed Brigade advancing on  the east and with General Kimura's forces moving  

towards the west . But General Homma had an ace  up his sleeve: a planned naval invasion to bypass  

the American defenses and thus capture the naval  base of Mariveles with the objective of cutting  

off the retreat of the defenders. Two battalions  from the 20th Regiment were thus appointed to  

land in small and isolated inlets and then fight  their way over sharp cliffs and points rising from  

the sea. Back on the evening of January 22, the  landing craft set out from the town of Morong,  

heading towards Caibobo Point south of Bagac.  Unfortunately for the Japanese, the landings  

went awry, facing rough seas, poor weather and the  threat of American PT boats. This caused them to  

misidentify the landing zone, coming ashore  at Quinauan Point and Longoskawayan Point,  

which were further down the coast from where they  expected to land, something that left them very  

isolated but also very close to their target  . Thus, the Battle of the Points had begun. 

On the morning of January 23, American naval  lookouts saw some 300 Japanese soldiers moving  

inland from Longoskawayan Point. A combination  of sailors, marines and soldiers then rushed to  

dislodge the Japanese invaders, but thick jungle  impeded their advance. They eventually managed to  

push back the Japanese, yet they could not  defeat them. The Americans then exerted an  

intense artillery and mortar bombardment over  the Japanese positions, but this could only  

contain their advance for long enough, so General  MacArthur decided to send his trained reserves to  

save the situation . Meanwhile, at Quinauan Point,  600 Japanese soldiers managed to consolidate their  

position in the face of staunch opposition by  American airmen and Filipino constabulary forces.  

For several days, the situation would remain the  same, with both the defenders and the invaders  

trying to reinforce their positions as much  as they could. On the night of January 26,  

Kimura committed his reserve battalion and sent  it from Olongapo to reinforce the Japanese at  

Quinauan Point. But this battalion would also  be subjected to bad weather, landing instead  

north of Quinauan Point at Anyasan Point. In  response, Wainwright sent two battalions of  

Philippine Scouts and some M3 tanks to reinforce  the American defenders; while the remnants of the  

American air force carried out a successful  raid over the fields at Nielson and Nichols. 

While the Battle of the Points played out,  Homma decided to appoint Lieutenant-General  

Morioka Susumu to command the offensive against  Wainwright's western area, reinforcing him with  

two battalions and some support units. Using  night attacks all along the Orion-Bagac Line, the  

Japanese would also manage to make some limited  incursions during these days. But on January 28,  

after two days of heavy fighting and a successful  night assault, Nara would finally manage to breach  

the defensive line in two places at Sector  C . Despite these successes, the Japanese  

would fail to exploit their gains, so their  advance would become bogged down. The next day,  

reinforced by Philippine Scouts and tanks, the  American defenders would also manage to destroy  

the Japanese forces at Longoskawayan Point,  thus removing the closest threat to Mariveles.  

Still, two more points were in Japanese hands, and  they would continue to menace MacArthur's plans  

until they were removed. We now turn to Borneo,  where the Japanese forces were continuing to  

consolidate their gains on the island. Since  the fall of Kuching, the remnants of the Punjabi  

battalion that was sent to defend British Borneo  had retreated to the airfield of Singkawang II,  

joining a garrison of 750 Dutch soldiers. There,  Colonel Lane placed his battalion under Dutch  

command for the defense of the airfield, while  the Japanese forces of the Kawaguchi Detachment  

prepared to execute a land-based attack from  the north and a coastal assault from the west. 

On January 24, this attack  finally came into fruition,  

as five Japanese companies crossed the border  and started their advance on Singkawang.  

The following day, they had reached a village  northeast of the airfield, where Colonel Lane  

decided to launch a swift counterattack on January  26. Yet this attack was repulsed, and by night,  

the Japanese had launched a strong assault  that had turned the flanks of the defenders.  

With the battle lost, the Allies started  the evacuation of the Singkawang II airfield  

on January 27, with a VCL light-tank and a  Braat Overvalgen covering their retreat at the  

crossroads between the towns of Ledo and Sanggau,  thus inflicting heavy casualties on the invaders.  

Although the Overvalgen managed to retreat to  Ledo only with pierced tyres, the tank had to  

be abandoned and was later captured by Japanese  soldiers. Yet despite their valiant efforts,  

they could not prevent two Punjabi platoons  from getting surrounded and annihilated.  

By the evening of January 27 though, most of the  defenders would reach Ledo and would establish  

new defensive positions there. Yet at the same  time, Japanese forces would land at Pemangkat,  

capturing several coastal towns to the  south and getting close to Bengkajang,  

thus threatening to surround the Allied forces at  Ledo. This forced the defenders to retreat further  

east to Sanggau and Sintang, then fighting a  series of rearguard actions until January 31,  

when the Allied forces would finally decide  to pull back to the south coast of Borneo,  

where they would start to fight guerrilla warfare. And on the other side of the island,  

the Kume Detachment had crossed the Doendang  River by January 29, getting very close to  

the oilfields of Sanga Sanga. Back on January 24,  some 300 Dutch soldiers under Captain Monteiro had  

started the demolition of such oilfields, leaving  behind 80 men to delay the Japanese advance  

while Monteiro retreated towards the town of  Samarinda. These 80 men were then engaged by  

the Kume Detachment, getting completely pummeled  and retreating in disarray towards Loa Djanan.  

After the fall of Sanga Sanga, Monteiro decided  to raze Samarinda and move his headquarters to Loa  

Djanan by January 31, where he was planning  to execute a long-term delaying action of  

the Japanese advance along the Mahakam River  towards the Samarinda II airfield. But this week  

would also see the launch of a very important  operation within the Dutch East Indies campaign:  

the invasion of Ambon. Ambon Island had always  been the political, economical and military  

center of the Moluccas, so it was natural that  it held strategic importance for the Japanese.  

Two battalions of the 38th Division under  Major-General Ito Takeo were appointed to  

carry out the Ambon Operation, later reinforced  with an additional battalion prior to the start  

of the invasion. The Eastern Detachment  would be supported by an important fleet  

primarily consisting of 2 cruisers and 14  destroyers, led by Rear-Admiral Takagi Takeo. 

The Japanese planned to land on the east  coast of the southern peninsula of Ambon,  

where the Allied defenses were considered weak,  so that the invaders could catch and destroy the  

main force of the defenders and promptly seize  the strategic points of the island. Furthermore,  

Takagi also planned to land a regiment of  SNLF marines to capture the Laha airfield.  

Meanwhile, the Dutch counted with the Molukken  Brigade of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Kapitz,  

totaling some 2600 men; and on December 17, they  had been further reinforced by the Gull Force,  

consisting of around 1100 Australian soldiers  under Lieutenant-Colonel William Scott. They had  

started to suffer heavy bombardment by Japanese  aircraft since January 24, in preparation for the  

invasion to come. Three days later, the Eastern  Detachment departed Davao heading towards Ambon;  

and on January 30, the invasion convoy was  discovered by a Brewster Buffalo bomber, although  

no air attacks were conducted. By nightfall, the  convoy had entered the Hitu-lama anchorage, and  

on the early morning of January 31, the Eastern  Detachment began to land on the shores of Ambon.  

Following the landing, Ito ordered his men to  push ahead and advance towards the city of Ambon  

across the steep mountains. Thus, a Japanese  battalion quickly took the strong positions  

near Paso and Batugong and then advanced  towards Ambon and Halong by February 1,  

while the rest of the detachment,  aided by air and artillery support,  

overran the Dutch forces on the coast and  advanced directly on Ambon in two columns. 

With most of his defenses designed to repel  attacks from the north and west, Kapitz could  

do nothing to help his desperately-retreating  forces. Furthermore, at noon on January 31,  

the Allied communications were cut, so Kapitz  could not communicate with the 400 Australian  

defenders at Laha, which were being attacked by  SNLF marines. On the early morning of February 1,  

the Japanese would finally consolidate on Paso  and Ito would manage to capture Ambon at last,  

forcing Kapitz and some 800 Dutch soldiers  to surrender at Halong . But the Australians  

kept fighting on, successfully repelling the  Japanese invaders at Laha and on the Nona plateau;  

yet we'll continue to cover their heroic defense  next week. Now, we finally return to Malaya,  

where the British forces were starting to  execute an orderly retreat towards Singapore,  

with the Australians withdrawing down the Trunk  Road and with the 9th Indian Division moving  

down the railway. The retreating Indian forces  from Muar were also withdrawing from Batu Pahat,  

with General Bennett sending the recently-arrived  53rd Brigade to help them. On the early morning of  

January 25, though, the Imperial Guards Division  launched their attack over Batu Pahat, while some  

of their men also began to press a retreating  Australian brigade at Ayer Hitam. Despite the  

strong barrage of the invaders, the defenders  held firm and repelled each of the enemy attacks,  

inflicting heavy casualties on them  and forcing the Japanese to retreat.  

Later that night, their valiant fighting  had given time for the main Australian  

force to withdraw south towards Simpang Rengam. And at the same time, after a hard-fought struggle  

at the Nithsdale Estate, elements of the 9th  Division had pulled out of Kluang towards Sayong  

Halat and Rengam by January 26, continuing their  retreat south through the railway the following  

day. But on that same day, the RAAF launched a  strong attack over Endau, which had been captured  

by the Japanese 18th Division back on January  21 and was receiving reinforcements by sea.  

The British planes failed to cause  severe damage on the two transport ships,  

and in turn they lost 15 planes . Later that  night, two British destroyers under Commander  

William Moran launched a naval raid over Endau,  but they were engaged by a small fleet under  

Rear-Admiral Hashimato Shintaro, losing one  of the destroyers as a result. By January 28,  

the Australian battalion that was covering  the rearguard of Westforce had gotten to  

the Namazie Rubber Estate south of Simpang  Rengam. Yet this position was hardly ideal,  

as the extensive rubber plantations to the east of  the Trunk Road offered the Japanese the chance to  

outflank the positions of the defenders. And  this was exactly what the invaders would do.  

After launching an initial frontal assault against  the Australian defensive lines during the morning,  

the Japanese would then attempt by midday an  outflanking movement to cut the Trunk Road.  

And this was also what Lieutenant-Colonel  Frederick “Black Jack” Galleghan  

was expecting. Launching a strong and  decisive counterattack with armoured cars,  

the Australians inflicted heavy casualties on  the Japanese as its enemy retreated in disorder. 

Only the employment of toxic smoke bombs managed  to save the situation for the defeated invaders,  

causing enormous anguish on the Australian  soldiers that inhaled the gas. In the end though,  

the battle was a huge success for the defenders,  restarting their withdrawal southwards only a  

couple hours later. The following day, they had  gotten to the north of the town of Ayer Bemban,  

where they were again engaged by the fast and  tenacious Japanese soldiers. In the meantime,  

Indian forces got to a roadblock close to  Sengarrang, while the 53rd Brigade advanced  

from Benut to occupy Rengit in an attempt to  help the Indians. Yet the 53rd would be defeated  

at Rengit and would have to retreat, forcing the  Indians to get evacuated by sea towards Singapore.  

With only the depleted 53rd and the 28th  Indian Brigade holding the west coast,  

Percival would have no other choice but to  deploy the still-resting 11th Indian Division,