Imperial Valley press., 1942-01-20
Today's
WarMoves
BY Louis r. keemle
of the United Press
War Desk

The battle lor SINGAPORE. miher-
to foueh. mlle by mile down the
marrow Malay peninsula. nov Is
crawIuL r.o>r q Tie island HSeA
anG ~.eus point 10 carly deVeiop-
mem OF tae siege stage.
I; thcu becomes question oI
how lonL 14C island can Ao4c oUl
It's delenses are excellent. II me
resistance of tmy Wake Island ahC
Inc beleaEuered forces OF Cnl'eC
STATE, Ctn Douglas MaCA"iHuF or
mon Isu4e Can Ue taken aS (.
measure Of comparison. strong
SINGAPORE should be able to WIN
stand 4 long siege
However the growing cohll-
dtnce expressed by PRIME Min
is,er Winston Churchill IN LONDON
over the situation il The Far East
did no. refer specifically 10 Sing
apore uSe.f. The position OF sing
apore Is somewhat different from
that IL the Philippines.
DISTANCE SHORTER
In the Philippines. the japanese
are much farther from base. The
,ltacklng forces were entirely sea
and air borne Even so, Manila TEL
in a comparatively short time.
In Malaya. The japanese have al
oycl,and route from Thialand. There
is almost no limit TO the number
Of troops. tanks and guns they car
pour down the peninsula TO mass
an overwhelming force against the
island Inc, 80 haYt gained ali
FIELDS close. 10 Singapore Lane
baseC ulanes. l.5ing oa4y snort dis
tan.t>. ... D.as: Il, ;hC .SI~nA de-
fenees. subject only 10 the strength
O. IN, : ...-L An ,.1a.. ...C DltlA
a..1-al opposing tHem.
PATTERN CLEAR
The pattern of the japanese
campaicn az this stage is clear
Their ne.1 ct attack extends in a
sweeping arc from Luzon in the
Philippines. through Borneo-Celeo-
es to Singapore and up the Malay
peninsula to Borneo. If they car
establish themselves firmly alone
this arc. the China sea will be
closeo. Allied naval operations
there would become more hazard
Gus and Japanese transport opera
tions mace easier
Possession of Singapore woulc
give the japanese command OF the
Malacca Strait. gateway to the In
dian ocean. I would facilitate thelr
advance on their great objective,
the rich Indies. especially Java.
SEEK EARLY DECISION
The japanese strategy is to
throw in everything early in the
game while Japan still has the ad-
vantage in planes. ships and men.
II they succeed, the japanese hope
TO establish themselves so firmly
in Southeast Asia and the Indies
that il Will be q herculean task TO
oislodge hem when the full
strength Of the United nations is
brought to bear. Meanwhile, they
Wo1lG be tOrtLfylng themselves
with tie Indies resources.
There apparently is almost no
limit 10 Japan's ambitions in eX-
tending the field of operations
striking while the iron is hot, as
il were. in all dlrctlons. The lat
est explol; IS the capture Of a base
al Tayoy. IL the long finger OF
lower Burma extending along the
border OF Thauano.
Coupled with the bombing OF
Mandalay and Rangoon, this sug-
gests that the Japanese may be
DIannlng an assault on Burma. II
would be III keeping with Japan's
policy Of speed 10 tackle Burma be-
fore the British. Indian and Chm
ese forces being massed there get
too strong.
Occupation Of Burma would put
the japanese on the Bay Of Ben
gal and the borders Of India. II
would also cut China's line Of sup
ply. Like Singapore, Burma IS a
vital spo. TO hold.