Evening star., 1938-12-25
By James d. White.

Correspondence OF the Associated Press)
PEIPING, North China.-The war in
China is getting to be pretty gloomy
business to the average Japanese soldier
So gloomy, in fact, that he's beginning
to talk about it.
Not very often, you understand, for
there's very strict rule against spilling
your thoughts on war and its various
aspects.
But few Japanese rookies-they're
veterans by now-have dropped remarks
They say things which to the minds of
neutral observers have a more direct
bearing on actual conditions than all the
official announcements stacked up to-
gether.
The plain fact, say veterans of many
battles, is that most of them have little
hope of ever seeing Japan again.
This does not mean that any one ques-
tions the morale, courage and spirit of
the japanese soldier. Far from it,
He has been taught from infancy what
a recent japanese pamphlet said: ITO
die participating in the supreme holy
enterprise of mankind WAR must be
the greatest glory and the height of
eXaltation."
What is more important the japanese
soldier believes it.
No Longer a Picnic.
But the picnic aspects of the war are
gone-definitely
Outside Peiping along Japan's thou
sands of miles of battle fronts and lines
of communications, things are getting
grim.
One veteran who had fought on four
fronts during a year of campaigning
tells that his term of service has been
extended twice. With luck he thought
| he might be able to get home by the
| spring of 1899. but as he was being
shifted to new front to fight guerrillas
he had little hope of ever reaching Japan
except as box of ashes"
With the fall of Canton and Hankow,
China's frontal resistance is supposed to
have ended and with it Japans main
thrusts deeper into China.
Unless peace is declared Cor unde-
clared) unending warfare with sniping,
fast-moving, night fighting guerrilla
units is the principal prospect for the
japanese soldier from here on.
Guerrilla country begins at the Great
Wall and includes everything except the
| principal cities, railways and highways
These are constantly harassed. Hun
manned in train wrecks, which are fire.
quently followed by guerrilla attacks
preferably at night
All railways are now strongly garri-
soned with pillboxes every few hundred
yards. These outposts are frequently
wiped out by hand grenades tossed by
guerrilla snipers.
A Plausible Story.
The Chinese here tell yarn wherein
one japanese column Jared forth int
the mountains west of Peiping to clear
up troublesome guerrilla nest. Moth.
ing has been heard from them since
then except several pairs of human fee
found dangling in Japanese arm!
brogues tied in trees at the foot Of tn,
mountains few mornings later.
| "AiSeiAC1 eAAio pal oASuAdl oGOIy ID VI O'
or not is not important, but it indicate
the type of treatment Japanese can
and do-expect in guerrilla hands.
Reliable foreign reports tell of recen
japanese column of 5000 men cut t.
pieces and decimated by guerrilla unit
in very mountainous country.
Like the japanese themselves, tn
Chinese take few prisoners. They can
afford to drag them around with them
So it's either victory or death for tn
Japanese.
Neutral experts are convinced that a
least 100000 japanese youths have died
either on 1.-THE field of battle or of dis
ease, or put out of commission throug
being wounded, since the war began.
1t is believed that this approximate
equals the number of japanese troop
now in China.
The principal effect of all this ha
been to sober the Japanese soldier u
somewhat, though few armies are gaye
in peacetime than the cheerful Japanes
are even in war.
There is increasing evidence that h
wishes he hadn't, but through Japanes
pride and traditional bravery is deter
mined to see it through if it kills him
and he's inclined to think 1t probabl
will.