Evening star., 1942-07-05
THE EPEASANT-BACKBONE OF CH|NA'S ARMY
Take the Chin Strategy Has Held Off Jops Years
By HimM


CHUNGKING.-TheC Chinese peasant
Is the explanation why China still has
an army in the field resisting the Jap
anese after five long years.
A stout warrior in yellowish khaki and
straw sandals, the peasant Is the army.
American officers who know him well
praise him as representing the innate
honesty, purpose and integrity of the
Chinese people" They like his sense
of humor in adversely, his ingenuity
common sense and practical approach to
life, asking for little and enjoying to
the full what he gets"
They admire his capacity to take 1t
on the chin in way we've never seen
any one do anywhere else"
And they see in him the reason why
China has lasted not only five, but 5000
years.
For the last five years he has won
battles, sometimes by strength OF num-
bers, sometimes by strength of spirit.
There is nothing complicated about
his strategy. 1t might, in fact, be called
take it on the chin strategy He
recognized from the first day of battle
on July z, 1887, that the only hope OF
staying in the war until he could get
sufficient help from outside would be to
withdraw.
Rifle Practice in Battle.
In five years of fighting he has shown
the japanese he is not afraid OF them
and he has convinced military observers
that he is as good as any soldier in the
world given equipment, training and
leadership.
In the matter of supplies he can meet
the japanese on their own ground,
travelling light and existing on rice.
But his training has been comph-
Gated by a shortage of equipment, which
has forced him to get his rifle practice
In actual battle, as ammunition IS TOO
precious to be used in practice before.
And once in battle, he has to fight with
the thought always in mind that his
equipment is too precious to be lost.
The so-called Red Spears Militia,
armed with only spears and knives, used
to follow in the wake of the soldiers
entering the fight after picking up the
rifles of the dead and wounded
The peasant is at a disadvantage, too
since he was not born in country
greatly familiar with the mechanical
age, but he has proved himself mentally
alert and has learned to use we'll The
principal weapons against the japanese
artillery, machine guns and rifles.
Mortars Favorite Field Piece.
He has a few howitzer 75s, breakable
into three pieces and carried on pony
back, but his favorite field piece Is th'
mortar-easy to handle and to shoot
He has handful of tanks, but they sci
dom have played an important part ex
cent in occasional instances such as tn
battle of Kunlaw Pass in Southern
Kwangsi when the Chinese 1st Armore
Regiment beat the japanese.
He has one motorized division. N
tanks but very mobile units of men ar
rushed to the front in swift America
trucks TO emerge and fight as ordlnar
infantry. The division distinguished II
self bv its fierce stand at the battle {
Touneoo. Burma, from March l9 l
March 81. when the Chinese Expedition
ary Force came out from Chlnas wa
for the first time III Hloueih 'iio'o''
fight for an outside ally.
Most of the Chinese STANDS nave pee
made with artillery manufactured local
and with machine guns and rlfles. Inc
were so effective in the battle OF lcha1
on the Yangtze in 194l that the o1ncl
Chinese accounts say, the japanese use
gas.
The Chinese are good at hand-to-haf
fighting and for time had the aoVal
tage over the japanese who dislike III
form of fighting and were not tram
for it. At the battle of Taierhchwang
the Tientsin- Marking Railway in Sha
tung Province, one Chinese dlVlsi'
aided by others on the enemy nam
fought for 10 days late In April, l9'
inficting nearly 10000 casualties.
One of the biggest single fights ~