Evening star., 1938-05-01

| trst OF series OF fpe articles
| by noted foreign correspondent.
| The 1Driter, since 1924, has Udtched
| history in the making in the capt.
tails >ot Europe and Asia and has
interviewed many OF the world's
leading figures. He is the author
OF Inside Europe" and has con-
| tributed articles on pdrious aspects
| OF Dorld affairs to many magazines.
BY JOHN GUNTHER.
HANKOW, China, April 80 (N.AN.
A. Not everything is totalitarian in
this totalitarian world after all. Here
in China, behind the lines in Hankow,
you have the perplexing and exhilarat-
ing spectacle of Germans and Russians
fighting on the same side.
Ten thousand miles away, Hitler and
Spain, political and theological enc
mics, are swapping at each other;
here in Hankow, the heart of Chinese
resistance against Japan, German ad-
visers and Russian pilots-even though
they don't kiss in public-are cooper
ating.
The German advisers are mostly re-
tired officers of the Reichswehr who
have been in China for some years
as technical assistants to Generals
simo Chang Kai-shek. No one knows
exactly how many are serving China;
best estimates say between 40 and 60
There are also some German non-
military experts. for instance, engi-
neers.
The military Germans, the most
skilled type Of professional officer,
We're originally imported by the gen.
erallssimo as instructors Their first
chief was Col. Max Bauer, who died
OF smallpox, and was in time sue
ceeded by Gen. Won Seeckt, a former
chief Of staff of the Reichswar. At
present their leader is Gen. Baron
Alexander Won Falkenhausen, a tall,
slim officer with thick-lensed pince-
nez, who looks like professor and who
Is one OF the most cool-headed strate-
gists ever produced by the German
high command. Another prominent
German offlcer is Capt Walther
SHINES. who is head of Chang Kai-
shek's bodyguard. Most of the Ger
mans are known as "Ludendorff men:
that Is, they were comrades in arms
or students Of the late Gen. Luden-
dorff, often called the greatest soldier
produced by the World War
| Thu
steeply in Importance in the last few
months. At first, Generalissimo Chang
wanted to fight his war against Japan
in his own way: he listened to the
Germans, but sometimes overruled
them. Every one in Hankow knows
that the Germans wanted Chang to
handle the defense of Shanghai differ
emily, and that did not advise a back
to-the-Wall stand in Marking. Chang
lost Nanking. The Germans were
proved right. Now Chang listens to
them more carefully. Result: The
formidable success of Chinese" strate-
gy in the recent battles above Sucrow,
when crack Japanese troops were sur
rounded and almost annihilated-the
first field defeat of japanese infantry
in history.
Gen. Won. Falkenhausen and his
men are indispensable. A close-knit
elite corps of superbly trained officers
is at Chiang's disposal.
Not only do they assist in matters
OF strategy and tactics; they train Chi
nese troops. No fewer than 500, 900
Chinese soldiers have been reorganized
into 81 new divisions since January l
German instructors did this job, even
| though there were not enough
German officers for one to be attached
to each individual division.
Naturally the Japanese have tried
to exert pressure on Berlin-since
Japan and Germany are allies in the
antl-Comintern pact--to have the
Germans recalled. The japanese are
outraged at having to fight Chinese
divisions trained by Germans. But
members Of the Chinese high COM
mand knew that this would happen;
they confldentially polled the German
staff just before the war, asking each
man what his attitude would be
in the event Of hostilities against
Japan. Any who feared complica-
tions with Berlin and who wanted
to quit were told they might freely
do So Ninety-eight per cent said
that they would stay in China and
remain loyal to their Chinese obli-
cations.
As matter of fact. though the
Germans are stanchly patriotic Ger
mans. believing in strong Germany,
some OF them have reason not to be
too fond Of Hitler personally. They
perform the complex straddle of be-
ing pro-German. but somewhat anti
Nazi The brother of one officer was
shot in the Hitler purge in June. 1884.
Another came to China straight from
German concentration camp.
Germany Sends Munitions.
A curious point is that the German
government, despite its theoretical
friendship with Japan, is not nearly
so anti-Chinese as the japanese would
like 1t to be. For instance, it Is an
open secret that about so per cent of
Chinas munitions come from Ger
many
Recently a German medical mis-
sion arrived in Hankow, dispatched
all the way from Berlin by the Ger
man Red Cross. One member, DR..
Oskar Trautmann, is the son of the
German Ambassador to China. Forty
carloads of German medical supplies,
valued at about 100000, are said to
be enroute to China, donated by Ger
man factories and other organizations.
No wonder the japanese are angry.
| Again, direct contact between Han
kow and Hong Kong, which is vital
to Chinese administration, is possible
only by the airplanes Of the Eurasia
service, which is a partly German
concern and which flies exclusively
German planes with German pilots.
The Eurasia planes make a Hankow-
Hong Kong shuttle five times a week.
| So far the .JapaneSe have not dared