Evening star., 1942-02-26
If Burmu Goes

a miracle seemingly can save Ran
goon, the great port-city at the
mouth Of the Irrawaddy River,
through which pass all supplies for
China via the Burma road.
Reports are too conflicting to To-
cate precisely the positions of the
contending forces, though every
thing indicates that the British I'M
perial troops are abandoning the
line OF the Sittang River, which at
best is not a formidable natural
barrier. Once across the Sittang,
the japanese will be in open country
Chungking comedies the loss of
Pegu, which would mean the cutting
of the railway line from Rangoon to
Mandalay. At this season, the rice
crop. has been harvested; so Jap
anese light tanks and other mech
anized equipment can traverse the
paddy fields freely, thus outflank-
ing numerically inferior British
forces holding the roads and other
strategic points. Rangoon lies less
than fifty miles south of Pegu. There
is still railway line running up the
Irrawaddy, and the river itself can
accommodate ships of considerable
size. Up those remaining communi-
cations stores for China repeatedly
are being rushed, though it is doubt
full how much can be got away be-
fore they, too, are cut by the Jap
anese advance. It is unlikely that
Rangoon can stand a siege. Lo-
Gated in fiat delta country, it has no
permanent Notifications to halt an
enemy advance by land.
No reinforcements can reach
Burma from India except by sea,
since there is no connecting high
road or railway. This is because high
mountain ranges reach into the sea,
making land communication almost
impossible. The indications are that
the sea lane has been blocked by
japanese naval units operating in
the Bay Of Bengal If this be true,
the isolated British units in Southern
Burma soon may be trapped and
crushed, like the garrison at Singa-
pore. Faced with this prospect, it is
probable that the bulk of the British
forces have withdrawn northward
toward Mandalay and Upper Burma,
where they would be aided by con-
siderable Chinese forces sent to pro-
tect the Burma road.
1t is to be hoped that these COM
bined British and Chinese forces can
at least fight a prolonged delaying
action to guard the stores for China
heaped up around the railhead at
Lashio, on the extreme northern
frontier of Burma, where the road
into China actually begins. The lin
tied trucking capacity of the Burma
road has rendered Lashio a chronic
bottleneck. Reports indicate that
enough Is waiting there for trans
shipment to supply Chinese needs for
a long time. during which the new
highway into Northern India may be
rushed toward completion.
japanese occupation of Southern
Burma will raise the question of
possible descent upon India. AS al
ready stated, direct land invasion
would be impracticable. The most
immediate danger would be air at
tacks from Burmese bases. AS the
crow flies, the distance between the
Burmese border and Calcutta Is only
about 300 miles. The effect of large
scale bombardments upon that con-
gested, flimsily built city and its in
dustrial establishments would be
highly damaging in every respect. If
Japan has obtained naval control
over the Bay of Bengal, troop land
ings would be possible along the al
most undefended Indian coast. How
ever, those operations presumably
will be deferred until japanese con-
troll of Burma is substantially COM
pleted. Still, the tempo of japanese
strategy is so feverishly daring that
nothing should be taken for granted.