query: What is scorched earth strategy?
passage: Scorched earth
A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy while it is advancing through or withdrawing from a location. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, for example food sources, water supplies, transportation, communications, industrial resources, and even the locale's people themselves.
passage: Fort Pasir Panjang
Before the British surrendered to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, they destroyed all remaining coastal artillery to prevent any possible usage by the invading Japanese forces. This is known as a scorched-earth policy.