Evening star., 1942-09-23
Insists Ground Troops
Must Win War
Militory Writer Supports
Gen. Leor's Belief in Victory
Through Lond Operations
BU Maj Georoe FieIdiuo Eliot

By Maj. George Fielding Eliot.
1t. Gen. Ben Lears warning that this
war will be won, in the end, by American
ground troops deserves to be taken with
all seriousness by his fellow countrymen
The United States is about to assume the
chief burden of winning this war. That
burden has been borne in turn by Great
Britain and the Soviet Union They will
continue to bear their part of it, but it
is upon our own contributions to victory
that victory will depend, and it is upon
our correct appreciation of the means and
that the length of time it takes us to
attain it will depend
1t is murderous folly for us to de-
lude ourselves with the pleasant as
sumption that there is any "get-rich-
quick" road to that victory. We would
like t. believe that German or Japanese
morale is cracking under the strain of
psychological warfare; we would like to
believe that the enemy's economic struc-
ture is giving way under the pressure of
blockade, above all, we would like to be-
Heve that our enemies can be bombed
into submission, a process in which no.
body on our side would get killed except
few airmen. But these things are SIM
ply not so. Psychological warfare, the
blockade and air attack all play great
parts in the winning of this war and
none can be neglected. but none of them,
nor all of them together, can be de-
cisive.
Man is neither a marine nor a flying
animal. He lives and has his being on
the surface of the earth: from the earth
he draws his sustenance, and there he
has all his possessions, his hopes. his
future. On the surface of the earth
must his great decisions of war and of
peace be taken. 1t has always been so
and always will be-
There is nothing in the experience of
this war which would suggest that any
change in this fundamental rule has
come about. When victories for either
side have been even locally decisive, they
have been victories won on the surface
of the land. The Japanese, for example,
had overwhelming air superiority in
Malaga, but they conquered Singapore
when their armies stormed the city. In
the Southwestern Pacific, we have
bombed the Japanese positions again
and again, but we retook the Solomons
when we landed marines on them with
weapons in their hands. The japanese
have enjoyed complete mastery of the
air over China for years. but they have
never been able to hold foot of Chinese
territory except just so long as they could
keep Japanese soldiers there in actual
physical possession. Whenever and
wherever those soldiers have been COM
PEELED to withdraw, the Chinese have
come back, and japanese air power has
not been able to prevent it.
In Russia. 1t has been the same story.
The Germans have conquered the ter
ritory which they were able to occupy
with ground troops; they are battering
today at Stalingrad with infantry, artil-
lery, armored troops, because that is the
only way to conquer Stalingrad and they
know it. The British have air superiority
in Africa, but they can beat Field Mar
shal Erwin Rommel only by destroying
his army.
1t is time to face these facts squarely,
and to draw from them the lessons they
teach for the future conduct of this war.
We cannot win this war without air
power, but neither. can we win it with
air power alone. 1t is just as absurd for
the air enthusiasts to contend that VIC
tory can be won through air power un-
assisted as it would be for a land-p power
or sea-power enthusiasts to argue that
any victory on the surface of the earth
could be won without the aid of air
power
What is needed for victory in modern
war is teamwork, balanced and CO.
ordinated effort by a balanced and CO.
ordinated fighting force, complete in
every element necessary to success No
football team could hope for a successful
season If its coach gave all his attention
TO his ends and backs and neglected the
solid elements OF his line No baseball
team would win pennant whose entire
attention In training was devoted to
pitching or fielding to the neglect of hit
ting We shall attain our victory when
the enemy's power to resist has been
broken, and when his will to win has
been smashed. We cannot talk him to
death, nor can We starve him out, nor
can we bomb him into submission. Every
hope based on these ideas has proved
illusory. If talk could win, Munich would
have been success for the democratic
powers; if blockade could win, according
to all the experts, Japan would already
be on her knees; if bombing could win,
the swastika would be flying over Malta
at this moment.
Our flag flies on Guadalcanal because
armed soldiers put it there; it will fly
over other enemy territory under the
same conditions. 1t does not matter how
those soldiers may come to enemy terri
tory, whether in ships or in airplanes (as
the Germans did in Crete), or in trains
or trucks or on their own feet; but come
there they must, if they are to conquer.
This is a war which will be won not by
bright hopes nor by anticipations of what
the wars Of the next century may be like;
it will be won with the means now avail
able, which we are prepared to produce
in quantity within the next year, and it
sweat and tears-very largely by our own
blood sweat and transported out with
out stint and with unfaltering resolution