The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-09-28
ENEMY STRENGTH
DECLARED GREAT
Army Leaders Say That
Combat Might Of Ger
many Increased

Army leaders declared today that
fwhile the German high command
has abandoned expectation of vic
tory, the Nazis' combat strength
is greater than four years ago
and they will wage a desperate,
bloody struggle to stave off out
right defeat.
! Major General George V. Strong,
chief Of military intelligence, told
conference of industrial and la
Dor leaders and newspaper Off
Gals that the Germans now have
three times as many combat di-
visions as they had at the time of
the invasion of Poland. The Allies
main advantage, he declared, lies
chiefly in our ability to produce
weapons.
At the same time, Strong dis
counted the possibility of an early
collapse of Japan and warned that
the japanese power will gr w
steadily as long as they retain vir-
tual control of East Asia. Japa-
nese resources are tremendous and
the morale. Soth at home and in
the army, is excellent, he said.
1t. Gen. Joseph T. McNarney,
deputy chief of staff who asserted
the Germans have given up as
pirations for victory, pictured the
Allies as having the initiative but
| I'd {hof tIo hnoy,incf 81 ri, -
and the greatest losses lie ahead.
The two-day meeting was called
to give the civilian leaders an in
sight into problems that have been
overcome and those that lie ahead.
Robert P. Patterson, undersec-
rotary of war, said in summing
up the first days session, that
Strong's analysis, together w h
off-the-record statements by Gen.
George C. Marshall, chief of staff,
and Gen. H. H. Arnold, chief of
the Army Air Forces, 1et no
doubt tina tour recent victories
have failed to affect in any vital
degree the strength of the enemy"
and "made it plain tina tive have
a long way to go before this war
is won." Patterson added:
'They pointed out that we are
far from the heart Of Germany
or the heart of Japan and that
both Axis nations have bigger ar
mics today than they had at the
start of the war. There is no rea-
son to believe that either is in i'm
minent danger of collapse because
of slack morale or economic strin-
gency. On the contrary, there is
every reason to believe that ex-
actly the opposite is true.
To be Sure OF victory we must
throw everything we have into this
fight and we must not relax our
efforts until the last enemy has
thrown down his arms"
From the reports of intelligence
officers, Strong sized up German
and Japanese strength this way:
The Luftwaffe is bigger than it
was at the outset of the war, de-
| oPiIC iCCSIlt lCoVy 1oSoSo, tiiS 4SoLio
now have 300 army divisions in
Guiding go reorganized or estab-
lished this year; and the labor
force in war industries in Nazi-
conquered territory has grow n
from 100000 to $4,000, 900.
The japanese air force is get
ting larger and better and the Nip
ponese have reservoir of about
4,000,0 1000 men who can be called
up when they're needed.
McNarney, in forecasting still
heavier fighting, declared that it
had taken 10 United States and
British divisions five weeks to whip
the three and a half divisions of
Germans and IL divisions of 1tal-
ians of doubtful combat value"
| Continued ON Page Two; Col. 81