The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1937-09-16

gains. 1t has become apparent to
them that they are far better off
under the national Chinese govern
ment than as puppet rulers con-
trolled by Tokyo. They are even
ready and willing to cooperate with
Chang Kai-shek, the Chinese die
tator whom most of them hate and
at whose hands many of them have
felt singing defeat.
1t was only a few months ago that
this truth became apparent to both
japan and China itself. That was
when Chang was kidnapped and held
prisoner for short time.
Japan Sees Time Is Ripe.
Throughout south China the pro-
vincial potentates whom Chang had
bested, who looked upon him in the
light of a usurper, tyrant and trail
tor to the real doctrine of their be-
loved Sun Yat-sen, shouted as in
one voice their furious demands for
his release. Protests came with the
same unison from the northern
provinces, ordinarily inclined to re-
gard Chang as an insolent upstart.
Now Chang knew for the first
time that if war with Japan were
inevitable he could depend upon ma
tionwide support, that internecine
dissension would not crumble his
cause. He began to listen more at
tentively to the demands for a uni
fed front against Japan from the
Chinese communists of the North
west. And Japan's army may have
decided that the occasion must i'm
mediately be made to stamp out
this new Chinese national unity.
All of this sounds like the most
optimistic picture for China in a
long, long time, and probably it is.
But China is yet hardly ready or
able to set back a real Japanese
military invasion on a large scale.
Japan's training and equipment are
among the finest in the world. But
what is even more important, Chi
mas military command is woefully
incompetent. It's strategy of war is
almost entirely rule-book strategy,
and looks pitiful against that of the
Japanese command, trained well
and experienced in the science of
combat.
Against the japanese tremendous
mechanical superiority the Chinese
have a great superiority in num-
bers. Their chief hope seems to lie
in keeping the japanese occupied
over large field of operations for
a long time.
Munitions Supply Problem.
Therein lies Nippon's great vul.
nerability. For these operations cost
vast sums of money. If all of China
were to carry on against them the
sort of guerilla warfare conducted
by the communists of the North
west, Japan would be a poverty
stricken nation ere long. But who
can tell whether the Chinese army
officers have the ability to use so
large an army in this type of war
fare?
One of the principal difficulties in
turning the Chinese army into many
scattered guerilla bands to continu-
ally haraSS the Japanese would be
that of supplying ammunitions and
armament. This would not be much
of a problem if the 143 divisions of
the regular army could succeed in
holding the coastal defenses against
Japan. Inland, China has many
great arsenals capable of turning
out munitions, small arms, machine
guns and trench mortars.
If the Chinese elect to keep on
fighting as they have in the early
weeks of the war, it may be con-
test to see which nation can endure
impoverishment the longest. In that
case, China, on her record, would
appear in fair way to win.
@ Western Newspaper Union.