The defense of Hong Kong was a lost cause from a tactical standpoint due to Japanese air superiority and control of the sea lanes.

“But yeah, what that means from a tactical standpoint is if you're trying to defend Hong Kong as the British, there's no way you're really going to be able to do it because the the Japanese control all of the mainland areas around there and more importantly in the event of any war, they are going to ”

The decision to send reinforcements to Hong Kong was a wasteful use of manpower given that the colony could not be successfully defended.

“So to me, it's just a waste to to send these troops to Hong Kong that even though yes, we do need to keep a stiff up stiff upper lip and try to help the Chinese out, it's it's a waste of manpower.”