Located at the southernmost tip of the Malay Peninsula and the eastern end of the Straits of Malacca, across the sea from Sumatra, Singapore Island is the gateway for sea vessels to enter and exit the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and is known as the "Lion City" and "Gibraltar of the East". Since ancient times, Singapore has been an important place for maritime communication and trade, and it is also a battleground for soldiers. Soon after the arrival of Thomas Raffles, a pioneer of British colonialism, in 1819, Singapore became an important colonial base of the British Empire in Southeast Asia. British colonists planted rubber trees in large quantities in the Malay Peninsula and Singapore, making the region a major rubber producer in the world. With the continuous expansion of British power in East Asia, especially after the opening of the Suez Canal in the late 19th century, the number of ships berthed in Singapore's ports increased dramatically, and trade activities became more frequent, and Singapore's strategic position became more important.

After entering the 20th century, with the lightning rise of the Chinese Empire, in order to ensure the interests of the continent ~ continent, Britain began to comprehensively strengthen Singapore's defense.

On the eve of Pearl Harbor, the most powerful fortress group in the Far East had been built on the island of Singapore, which covers an area of only 360 square kilometers: in terms of coastal defense, more than 10 coastal defense batteries guarded the Singapore Strait, and dozens of heavy coastal defense guns with calibers ranging from 6 inches (152 meters) to 13.5 inches (343 meters) were installed, and more than a dozen shore-based heavy torpedo launchers could fire special 24-inch (610 meters) super-powerful torpedoes weighing 10,000 pounds (about 9 tons) and firing a range of 2 yards (about 18 miles). Its shore defense commander, Brigadier General Pat, claims to be "sufficient to defend against any attack from the sea for the next thirty years"; In terms of land defense, dozens of reinforced concrete pillboxes and armored swing batteries have been built around Bukit Timah Hill, the core position of Singapore's urban defense, equipped with a large number of machine guns and rapid-fire guns, known as "invincible barriers"; Air defense. The island has built a concrete standing airfield, two rammed-earth field airfields and several water jetties, which can accommodate 300 land-based aircraft and more than 50 water planes, which can be called an "aviation fortress". In addition, the airport, military port, and various defensive points of this "Gibraltar of the East" have deployed nearly 100 anti-aircraft guns in the interior, including the latest one-pounder (37 mm) anti-aircraft guns, and the density of anti-aircraft fire is far higher than that of the real Gibraltar.

After the Battle of Lingayen, the British-led Quad Combined Fleet collapsed, and most of the remnants retreated to the Indian Ocean, leaving only a few small ships to carry out coastal guard and minelaying tasks, so Vice Admiral Rosenberg's Malayan Front had to take on the heavy responsibility of defending Malaya and Singapore alone.

The Malayan Front has under the jurisdiction of 1 temporary British Brigade (6 British battalions) division (24 battalions) and 1 Australian division (12 battalions), and another 1 British battalion, 1 Indian battalion and a number of temporarily mobilized volunteers, with a total strength of about 70,000 men and about 200 artillery pieces.

The aviation units assigned to this front were quite strong, and the army and naval aviation units stationed in Singapore had a total strength of 150 long before Pearl Harbor. Specifically, it includes: 33 Sopweis camel fighters, Royal Aircraft Factory BE2 army reconnaissance/bomber aircraft, 20 German-Havilland DH2 army attack aircraft (the combat radius can carry 300 kilograms of 14-inch torpedoes when carrying 350 kilograms), and 24 Handleypeti 100 heavy bombers (600 miles of combat radius when carrying 80 kilograms of bombs). It can carry 450 kg 16-inch aviation torpedoes), 22 SCHOTT S2 seaplanes, 14 SCHOTT S184 seaplanes (can carry 300-kilogram 14-inch aviation torpedoes) and 11 Avro trainers. After the Battle of Lingayen, 34 camel fighters, 24 Cuckoo torpedo attack planes, and more than 90 planes of various types were urgently deployed to form the Malayan Air Force with 200 land-based aircraft and the Royal Navy's Asian Fleet Singapore Air Force with 36 water planes.

Lieutenant General Rosenberg's plan was to use the 2nd Indian Division to defend the west coast of Malaya, the Australian Division to defend the east coast of Malaya, and the most combat-ready British Brigade as the general reserve to advance at any time to support.

On the west coast, the center of gravity is the Perak River defense line, and once the enemy forces break through the Perak River defense line, the defenders should fight and retreat, and withdraw as many combat forces as possible to Singapore Island.

On the east coast, the Kuantan Line is the center of gravity. In the event that Kuantan is not secured, the defenders should retreat to Singapore with all their might to preserve their strength.

The overall strategy is to rely on Singapore, a powerful sea, land, and air integration fortress, to block the offensive of the East Asian coalition forces as much as possible, and to hold on to it and wait for reinforcements. with a view to counterattacking.

Yuan Shikai's First South China Sea Group was able to sweep the Malay Peninsula so quickly, which is not unrelated to the strategy of retreating from the island and holding on to Rosenberg Land.

In order to preserve its strength, the Malayan Air Force avoided a head-on confrontation with the 5th Air Group of the Chinese Army Air Force in the initial battle. Preparations were also made in advance for the destruction of a few airfields on the Malay Peninsula, and once the East Asian coalition forces approached, they resolutely carried out total destruction to avoid being used by the enemy -- this trick caused a lot of trouble to the 5th Air Group of the Chinese Army, which did have a large number of troops.

The 5th Air Group originally belonged to the Sixth Army, which was responsible for attacking French Indochina, and its commander, Lieutenant General You Zhan, had under its command 2 fighter wings, 3 reconnaissance and bombing wings, 2 heavy bombardment wings, and 1 independent reconnaissance squadron, totaling 29 squadrons and 329 aircraft, including 48 reconnaissance and liaison planes, 108 fighters, 87 light bombers, 80 heavy bombers, and 6 transport planes. However, when the First South China Sea Group launched the Malayan Offensive as scheduled, the Fifth Air Group was trapped in the inconvenience of the theater infrastructure and was unable to immediately exert its full strength. As a result, when the First South China Sea Group broke through to the southern part of the Malay Peninsula, it almost completely lost its own air support and was "driven crazy by enemy planes."

After learning of the predicament of the First South China Sea Group, the base camp ordered the Mobile Fleet to attack Singapore to destroy the enemy's air force and ensure that the First South China Sea Group completed its strategy on the Malay Peninsula as soon as possible.

On the 41st, the day of the so-called "April Fool's Day" in the West, Lieutenant General Liang Shuming maneuvered to the south of the Anambas Islands, and took advantage of the faint morning light to fly two waves of a total of 196 combat planes at half-hour intervals at a distance of 110,100 miles