A column of Type 97 tanks rampage along the Slim River road shooting up Indian and British units, scarcely slowed by road blocks, anti-tank guns and armoured cars and panicking defenders in central Malaya. Three weeks later Japanese 25th Army was preparing to assault across the Johore Strait into Singapore island. Opposed by thinly spread III Indian Corps and Austrian 3rd Division, British strategy had anticipated reinforcements reaching the Singapore fortress before Malaya succumbed, but had underestimated Japan’s ambition and military capability.