Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-01-24
Jap Drive Seen
South Seas Seem Ripe for
New Showdown


The South Seas seem ripe for another
showdown. Things have been compare
lively quiet in the Southwest Pacific
since November when the United States
Navy blasted the Jap navy out of the
Southern Solomons.
There has been lano and aerial &C.
tivity, Gen. MacArthurs men with
bayonets and hand grenades retook
Coma and Buna and are putting the
finishing touches to Jap remnants at
Sanananda on New Guinea.
Heavy and medium bombers have
pounded Jap bases up the New Guinea
coast at Salamaua and Lac, the Jap
operational base at Rabaul and Japs at
Munda, and Marines at Henderson
Field, Guadalcanal, have exchanged ex-
plosive pleasantries.
But for some weeks now there has
been nothing like the big push, the
naymaker punch that apparently neither
side has yet been strong enough to
throw
Bombers Hold Edge.
AS the Japanese failures to hold and
reinforce their stations on GuadalcanaI
have proved, strong defenSeS. especially
In the shape of airfields, big bombs and
bigger bombers, have the edge in island
warfare of the Southwest Pacific. Quad
alcanal was different because there the
Marine landings had the advantage of
complete surprise.
Ihls may be why the Japs have been
shooting for Allied airfields on Milne
Bay, why the Allies have been picking
OH ships and planes at Rabaul, why
Yank pilots at Henderson Field and
japanese aviators at Munda on New
Georgia Island have been slugging it
out in 20omile-wide bombing duel.
If the Allies should abandon a pro-
gram to win back the islands the hard
way, picking them off one by one. for a
program of attrition, then the South
western Pacific drive must come from
the Japs.
Among Allied leaders strong support
is given the attrition misunderstanding
advance Jap island bases off from their
supply bases by naval and aerial action
and starving them out for lack of re-
placements and materiel. This is
slower, more tedious, less spectacular
method than invasion, but much less
costly in manpower
Conform to Pattern.
Because the Japanese conform to their
military pattern and refuse to concede
losses OF territory and men, they NAV be
expected soon to stop sparring and let
go with another giant push.
The1r counterattack pattern, Judging
from their autumn attempts to win back
Guadalcanal, is this: Heavy aerial bomb
ing followed by daredevil dashes by de-
stroyers carrying reinforcements and
supplies, Immediately followed by large
naval concentrations and masses of &C.
cupation troops
Source of the naval strength such at
tacks require is the mysterious Tr1k
Islands, inundated to Japan by the
League OF Nations after World War 7.
Military observers give some credence to
the belief that no white man has seen
or visited Truk in the past 90 wears and
come back to report his observations.
In any case the chances of an enemy
fleet breaking through the treacherous
coral reefs encircling Truk or of forcing
the six channels into the inner islands
is slim.
Nearest Allied air bases are 400 or
more miles away on New Guinea and
Guadalcanal and the route of Truk
through and over thousands of jap
owned, Jap-mandated and Jap-held
Islands and oceans is too dangerous for
direct action
Military observers anticipate any AL
lied action would open up first on New
Guinea in drives on Lac and Salamaua,
while other units push north through
the Solomons. Then the twin drives
would bracket Rabaul last big barrier
other than the Pacifc's vast distances
to frontal assault on the mysteries of
Truk.