BATTLE OF ASIA: Light of the South

A tank detachment scuttered into the town. A train rumbled across the repaired causeway. A fleet steamed up the harbor to the naval base. Singapore was Japanese.

It was, in fact, no longer Singapore. Imperial Headquarters, with a go-ahead from the Emperor, had renamed the island, its harbor and its city Shonan. Sho was from Showa, which designates the enlightened era of Hirohito. Nan means south. Singapore was now Light of the South.

The light shone dim. Its harbor was like a grotesquely huge rice paddy, so many were the masts sticking up from its brown water. The British bank vaults were...

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