Singapore's fall was a kick in the stomach to Burma. If the Jap can keep to his schedule, his next stops are Sumatra and Java, Rangoon and the Burma Road. Had Singapore's collapse been delayed for perhaps another fortnight, a warmer reception might have been prepared for the Japs in Rangoon.
For Burma's defenders, second only to Douglas MacArthur and the men of Bataan Peninsula in their disregard of overwhelming odds (see p. 26), were really rolling.
True, Martaban had fallen and Japanese troops had made a second crossing of the treacherous Salween River....
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