Evening star., 1938-04-12
The Giant Awakes.

nv oAoAAS n W uNSSe
Not in our time-certainly not since
the allied armies beat back the Germans
desperate drive for victory in the spring
Of 191S-has there been a military event
rivaling in drama and surprise the as
founding feat of the Chinese in bringing
the mighty Japanese war machine to
dead stop in Shantung.
The giant has awakened. The amor
phous mass that only recently was
China-anarchic, disorganized, discord-
ant and defeatist-has been welded into
a unified, militant, patriotic and bel
ligerently effective China. The Far East
is in the presence of something little
short OF miracle, the world an awed
witness of a kaleidoscope change in war
fortunes already destined, no matter
what the outcome, to be of lasting in
huence upon Japan's aspiration to be the
master OF Asia. For the empires troops
are in rout, and their conquest" of
China is suddenly and seriously imperiled
1t is nine months ago today, in July,
1887, that the now celebrated Marco Polo
bridge incident" on the outskirts of
Peiping precipitated what was to flame
into large-scale, if still undeclared Sino-
Japanese war. In Toxic hostilities con-
tinue, for domestic soporihc purposes,
to be described as the North China Incl
dent" though they long since attained
dimensions outstripping the effort which
Japan had to put forth to win either her
war with China in 1894 or the campaign
against Russia ten years later An ex-
pedition which was expected to terminate
VIGOROUSLY in ninety days is now three
quarters Of a year old, notwithstanding
the throwing of close to a million men
onto the mainland and the fabulous ex-
penditure of blood and treasure to over
come a foe who has grown stronger,
more tenacious and progressively battle
worthy with each weeks fighting
Shanghai, Tientsin, Peiping, Nanking,
Tsingtao, are in Japan's hands She
holds whole provinces, embracing hun
dreds OF thousands of square miles OF
territory She has set up new govern
ments which, under the persuasive in
f1uence of bayonets and machine guns,
have foresworn allegiance to Chang Kali
shek's fugitive regime, now based on the
emergency capital of Hankow Yet
China fights on, and how she fights! Who
could-who would have dared to-im-
agine the situation which has prevailed
since last Friday, following the Japanese
retreat from Taierhchwang after dis
astrous defeat in the three month old
battle for the Lung-Hai railway-a sit-
uation which finds Chinese planes bomb
ing and machine cunning Japanese po-
sitions and dropping leaflets calling on
the invader to surrender!
1t all reads like some Oriental Hans
Christian Andersens fairy tale. Yet,
making due allowance for Chinese ex-
uberance, there is unchallenged evidence
that the Japanese army has met a re-
verse of staggering roportions-virtually
the first in its history. The myth of its
invincibility is shattered for all time.
Therein lie the immeasurable implica-
tions inherent in the fact that the en-
pire's forces are halted in their tracks.
They have been baked in their major
strategic effort to conquer the vast front
around Suchow and thus effect union
of the southern armies which conquered
Shanghai and Nanking with the forces
which won last years easy victories in
the north.
There is grim irony in the circumstance
that China is holding, Furnishing and en-
dangering the islanders in the region
flanking Tsinan, for it is the capital of
Shantung, which personifies for the
Chinese what Alsace Lorraine used to
mean for France. If the province which
so long typified Japanese aggression to
the Chinese mind, proves to be the ceme-
terry of the Island Empires great ad-
venture-if Suchow becomes the Water
loo of. Asia-history is likely to record
such climax as classic administration
OF poetic justice.