Evening star., 1938-07-17

NA/ Lchekov, commander Of the
v y Russian secret police forces in
the Soviet Far East, fed across
the Manchukuoan border recently, fearing
death in Stains latest purge, he focused
attention dramatically on game OF
espionage and competitive military prepa-
ration which has been played for high
stakes between Toxic and Moscow for more
than five years.
For, in the little triangle Of Eastern Asia
lying, roughly, between the Amur River
and the Pacific, the theater is being pre-
pared for war which most military OBJ
servers believe to be inevitable and to
which the present sino-Japanese struggle
would be but a mild prelude.
Perhaps no area in the world is 10
thickly infested with spies as the Soviet
maritime provinces and Northern Man.
chukuo. A week rarely passes without re-
ports IN either the Russian or Japanese
press of the arrest. imprisonment or execu-
ton OF one or more Of these war of1ice
eyes" Indeed, such news has become, in
recent years, so routine that American cor
respondents in Moscow and Toxic fire.
auently ignore it, or, If they cable it at all,
their dispatches are limited to q few SEN
tences. Only when occasionally, the spot
light plays on some high-ranking person.
ality, such as Gen. Lchekov. do the corre-
spondents consider that they have q real
STORY"
japanese Press Makes Charge.
After his escape from Stains wrath
real or fancied-Gen. Lchekov was quoted
by the Japanese press as declaring that the
Kremln was planning q deliberate attack
on Japan rs soon as the Island Empire had
been weakened sufficiently by its Chinese
adventure.
"Stalin," he WAS quoted as saying 'is
trying to divert the attention of the people
from his domestic policy by resort to war"
The expatriot secret police oficial also
was credited with some highly interesting
statistics on Soviet military preparations in
the Far East
THE Far Eastern army" he is said to
have told the Toxic press, has 25o,ooo Of
fcers and men with 20 sharpshooter d.
visions. II the armies Of the Zavaikal dis
trict and OF the commissariat of the interior
formeriy the o. G. P. ~ under my COM
mand are added. the number reaches 40o.-
600 troops and IS sharpshooter divisions
east of Zavaikal Lake alone There are
1000 warplanes concentrated along the
border and more than 80 submarines at
Vladivostock, Naodoka, Olida, ETC."
Statement Must Be Discounted.
In evaluating Gen. Lichekov's statement
that Stain is planning an aggressive war
against Japan, it must be remembered
that he is deserter, self-exiled in the
enemys camp, and, under Soviet law, sub
ject to shooting If captured; also that his
statement was disseminated through the
Japanese oficial news agency. However, .
war along the Amur, whether aggressive
or defensive, long has been regarded as in
evitsble by the Red general staff And
the military statistics which Iichekov cites
check approximately with others this cor
respondent has obtained from neutral
sources.
The vastness of Russia's defense pro-
gram in the Far East-only one small
segment of its defended frontiers-becomes
apparent when its troops there are COM
pared with the total standing armies of
other great powers. For instance. its total
manpower there Is only one-third less
than that of the whole army Of modern
Germany. regarded as the most powerful
in Europe. 1t is larger by $4,000 than
the section of the French Army garrisoned
at home. 1t is nearly twice as large as
Great Britain's standing army and more
than double that OF the United States.
Russian planes in the Far East approxi-
mate the number of first-line ships in the
of 30 equals in number-though not in
tonnage or efhciency-that of most of the
great naval powers. But, rs these undersea
craft are designed primarily for coast de-
fense duty against Japan's vastly superior
surface feet, their confined cruising range
is unimportant.
Statistics Give Sketchy Pictures.
Statistics alone. though, give but .
sketchy picture Of the preparations-mili-
tary, economic and phychological-which
nAucCOW uAS 1nAuS 61IlCC 4Soz luF III
evitable" war for mastery OF the Far East.
First STEP naturally. was the increase
Of military forces III the Far East, and
by the middle of 1892 five war-strength d.
visions of some 250,0oo men were strung
out along the Amur. Airplane factories
began working day and night to strengthen
aviation units there. Wheat stores were
piled up in vladivostok.
These, however, were emergency meas
ures. 1t Is with the long-term methods Of
defense that have been built up constantly
in the intervening years that this article
primarily is concerned. They have not been
spectacular and consequently have received
scant notice in the foreign press, but their
fundamental importance In the event Of
war is fully as important As that Of troop
movements.
One such move has been to ''loyalize" the
Soviet Far East. without publicity, slowly