The Wilmington morning star., 1943-01-04
Interpreting
The War
BY JOHN M. HIGHTOWER


destroying Japan's military might
breaking down her home front
and winning final victory in the
Pacific and east Asia.
This plan for victory is regard
ed by highly placed military au-
thorities as a cheaper method of
winning the war in the Orient than
an island-by-island advance eli
NAKED by bitterly resisted invas-
ion of the Japanese homeland.
There will be some island-bv.
island advancing, of course. but
it will have the primary objective
of wearing down Japanese forces
rather than gaining territory. And
certainly there will be an invasion
of Japan, but probably not until
Japanese resistance is weakened
severely by other measures.
The American-Australian con-
quest of Buma, New Guinea. NAV
be regarded as the successful COM
pleticn of one initial move in full
fillme ent of the blockade and bom-
bardment strategy. Buna, as a for
ward base for General Douglas
MacArthur's southwest Pacific
forces, should serve somewhat the
same purpose as Guadalcanal has
in its role of forward base for Ad
niral William F. Halsey's south
Pacific command.
Guadalcanal, for all it has cost
in American lives, has been a
highly profitable military invest
ment. The Japanese, reluctant as
ever to relinquish any point they
have once held, made it profitable
by throwing prodigal quantities of
ships, planes and troops into the
fight to retake it.
They have lost at Guadalcanal
about five times as many ships,
planes and men as the United
States and this in the face of the
fact that our military might has
been constantly on the increase
while their problems of produc-
ton and replacement are difficult
1t is now almost five months
since the Navy and Marines took
Guadalcanal and no effort has
been made to advance beyond
there. Why? The best answer seems
to be that our strategy primarily
is not to advance but to destroy
the Japanese army, navy and air
forces. So long as we can do that
from Guadalcanal, no great pur-
pose is served by going elsewhere
to accomplish it.
An eventual advance from Quad
alcanal must, of course, be in
the books. The time for that will
be when the Japs no longer go
there in profitable numbers to get
knocked off. And the time will be
determined, too, by the availabili
ty of new aircraft carriers to our
Navy.
By their victory at Buna, Mac
Arthur's forces have won another
point from which great attrition
may be worked on japanese land,
sea and air forces at the very ends
of their long supply lines. Even
if the Japs do not attempt to re-
take Buna as they repeatedly tried
to recapture Guadalcanal, our air
forces from that new base can
bring disaster on their shipping at
Lac and Salamaua about 100 miles
up the coast to the northeast and
can neutralize those two bases for
enemy aerial operations.
Moreover planes from Guadalca-
nal and Buna are now in position
to hammer the enemy base at Ra-
baul, New Britain, from two di-
rections. Since the japanese GER
tainly will not give up strategic Ra-
baul short of imperative necessity,
it seems likely that they will lose
heavily in shipping there, as they
have in fact already done, and at
the same time further overload
their cargo tonnage by moving IN
: supply and troop requirements to
make up for those destroyed
ashore by our aircraft.
If and when it becomes deslr-
abb to do so in order to continue
wearing down Jap land, sea ana ar
power, it seems likely that our
Pacific and Australian commands
will take Rabaul Or any other
strategic places which Will pest
serve the purpose at the time.
As Japanese maritime strengtn
wanes it will become more ana
more difficult for her to supply
even those bases not attacked ana
her production at home Will De
, under an increasingly heavy LOAD
to provide not only for her Paclilc
outposts but also for her armies
in China and Burma where the AZ
, lies are already putting on pres
sure.
Thus it may turn out, as some
American military men contIdeh''
ly expect, that the Japs will nave
to withdraw from some of her con-
auered areas even though not un-
der attack.
Once the process of attrition has
done it's work against Japan, the
final step, short of actual INVASION
probably will be a blockade OF liie
enemy's home islands by combined
British and American naval forces