** Battle, fought between 8 and 25 December 1941. At the end of the 30s of the 20th century, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression had broken out, and in this context, Britain began to study the plan of defense.

The British soon found that in the face of a resolute Japanese attack,** it would be difficult to hold out for a long time due to the lack of hinterland support.

1. Britain builds a new line of defense

Despite this conclusion, the British pushed for the construction of a new line of defense.

The fortifications began in 1936 and took two years to complete, modeled after the Maginot Line in France. This line of defense consisted of a system of strong fire points connected by paths.

Second, the British garrison in ** began to shrink

In 1940, with the start of World War II and increased attrition in Europe, Britain began to reduce the size of its garrison to free up troops for other use.

After being appointed commander of the British Far East Command, Air Force Commander-in-Chief Brooke requested reinforcements. Even a small increase in the garrison would have significantly slowed down Japan's presence in the war.

Although Brooke did not believe that he could defend indefinitely, a long-term defense would buy time for Britain to prepare for war elsewhere in the Pacific.

3. Britain increased its ** garrison, and the Japanese army began to prepare

In 1941, Prime Minister Churchill agreed to send reinforcements to the Far East. To this end, he accepted the Canadian offer to send two battalions of the Canadian Army and a brigade headquarters to **.

Canadian troops arrived in September 1941**, although some heavy equipment was still missing.

The Canadian Army joined the ** garrison under the command of Major General Malteby. At this time, relations between Britain and Japan began to waver.

The British commanded Major General Malteby, with 14,000 troops; The Japanese commanded Lieutenant General Takahashi Sakai with a force of 52,000 troops.

The Japanese army, having destroyed the few aircraft of the British garrison, quickly gained air superiority over the **. Far behind in numbers, the British commander Malteby chose not to defend the border line, but instead deployed three battalions to the deep line.

Due to the lack of sufficient manpower of the British army to complete the defense of the defensive line, the British defenders were forced to retreat on 10 December.

The British army retreated, and the Japanese broke through quickly. This came as a surprise to the Japanese commander Takahashi Sakai. He had expected it would take at least a month to penetrate the British defenses.

On December 11, Maltebi ordered the British to retreat, retreating from the Kowloon Peninsula to ** Island. On 13 December, the last British troops left the mainland after destroying the port and military installations in Kowloon. In order to defend the island, Malteby reorganized the British army.

The Japanese commander Sakai Takahashi demanded the surrender of the British troops, but the British quickly refused, and two days later, the Japanese began shelling the north shore of ** Island.

On 18 December, Japanese troops began landing on the northeast coast of Taikoo Island. The Japanese defeated the defending British troops and committed the crime of persecuting prisoners of war at Sai Wan Battery.

Over the next two days, the Japanese encountered fierce resistance on their way to the west and south.

The Japanese managed to reach the south coast of the island, effectively dividing the defending British troops in half. Maltebi commanded the defenders in the western part of the island to continue the fight, while the rest of the defenders were surrounded on the Stanley Peninsula.

On Christmas morning, Japanese troops occupied the British field hospital at St. Stephen's College, where the Japanese tortured and persecuted British prisoners of war.

Later in the day, as the British defenders began to crumble and lacked effective resources, the British commander Malteby suggested that Governor, Sir Acheson, should surrender at this time.

After holding out for seventeen days, in view of the huge disparity in strength between the two sides,

Governor Acheson contacted the Japanese and formally surrendered at the Peninsula Hotel. This was the ** surrender that came to be known as "Black Christmas".