Evening star., 1943-10-15

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about the prog David Lawrence.
ress Of the war in the Pacific than
the words of Gen. MacArthur's
latest communique.
For the name Rabaul will appear
again and again in the headlines
In the coming weeks, and when the
American flag flies over Rabaul, 1t
will be possible truly to say that we
have an important lap on the sea
lanes to Toxic
Our big bombers, when based on
Rabaul, will be in a position to
threaten Truk, which is less than
900 miles from Rabaul. Truk is the
Pearl Harbor of the japanese Navy.
1t is small island and it is in
vulnerable to approach by sea-a
stronghold which the Japanese have
built up over period of years. But
1t is not invunerable from the air.
Cost Japs Millions.
Truk, like Rabaul, cost the Japa-
nese many millions of dollars and
much labor. Now Rahaul is being
destroyed by systematic air attack,
and the worst part of it for the
japanese is that they do not have
the shipping or the materials to re-
pair or rebuild the base. Our big
Navy, moreover, Is just waiting for
the japanese to send an expedition
down to repair the destruction at
Rabaul. That would be one way of
making the Japanese come out and
fight. 1t is an open secret that
the japanese have withdrawn the
bulk of their fleet to the inundated
islands, which are excellent for hid
ing purposes.
But If bases like Truk and Rabaul
are destroyed, Japan will have to
make her choice as between an
effort to re-enforce those bases or a
retreat back to japanese home
waters.
A glance at the map will show
that once the United Nations have
acquired Rabaul the way is open to
a direct attack on Mindanao, in the
Southern Philippines Most of the
Gilbert and Marshall Islands and
the Caroline Islands will be by
passed except for strategic centers.
The Allied forces will move north
and west back toward the Philip
pines from New Guinea, while the
naval forces, assisted by air bonn
bardment, will take Truk and Ger
tain other islands as, for instance,
Wake and perhaps Guam.
Then will come the ma ior naval
battle of the war. Already Toxic
broadcasts are predicting that such
a decisive battle of warships is in
evitable. Unquestionably Toxic OBJ
servers see the shape of events to
come and are not reluctant to pic
ture hopefully to their own people
the very vital consequences of such
an enga cement.
Jap Fate Alone Involved.
The Japanese broadcast goes so
far as to intimate that the fate of
Japan or the United States in the
Pacific will be decided by such q
naval battle. What the japanese
broadcasters probably have not been
told by their own navy is that the
fate Of Japan alone is involved in
such a battle. The size of the
American feet is sue hthat even If
the entire number expected to be
engaged were lost or damaged as
against equal or nearly equal dam
age to the Japanese, the number of
our ships still left for combat would
probably be larger than Americas s
prewar Navy.
What the japanese cannot know
as yet is the strength of the Amer
lean air forces which will be loosed
on japanese bases before long. As
one big movement of sea, air and
land forces moves northwestward
from New Guinea bases toward the
Philippines and the American fleet
moves westward about 1000 or more
miles further north toward the
Pacific bases of the japanese fleet
and as Admiral Lord Louis Mount
batten and the British air, sea and
land forces commence their cam
palgn In Burma, the japanese will
be hard put to it to send shipping
south from the mainland to supply
their own forces with fuel and man
power and weapons. And on top of
all this, the American submarines
are taking huge toll of japanese
shipping-at a monthly rate that
the japanese cannot replace.
The war of attrition against Japan
has begun, and while victory NAV