27. Nothing About Japan Made the Japanese Exceptionally Suited to Jungle Fighting
Japan has as many tropical jungles as does Britain: zero. The Japanese succeeded in the Malay jungles because their troops were hardened veterans, while their opponents were inexperienced and poorly trained. The Japanese were also adaptable, as illustrated by their commandeering of bicycles to speed up their advance, while British commanders were mediocre or incompetent. British generals, looking at all the greenery of the Malay Peninsula, assumed it was impenetrable jungle, and thus never expected an advance on Singapore from that direction.
