Evening star., 1943-05-09

the mountain approaches to west-central
and southern areas of the country.
AS in Russia, Chinese militarists have
traded space for time" taking advan-
tage of the more favorable terrain, when
opportunity came, to enhance the value
of their light and scanty military sup
plies. For several years now, the Chinese
have held the fighting lines in largely
the same provinces and in and around
the same towns and cities; in some cases
they have forced the enemy back ap-
preciable distances.
The battle for China has fallen roughly
into three major zones corresponding to
the three great regional divisions of the
country. Each division is marked by
the course of a great river, and each
presents tough natural problems for an
invader
In the north, the Yellow River still
forms, for hundreds of miles, the bound
ary of japanese penetration from the
north and east. This monster stream
that flows for some $500 miles in gigan-
tic loops and sweeps has long been known
e1'o Wilma D SO1loW UCCduSC VI It's llOOU
and drought disasters In 1898, when
it was forced out of its normal course
against the advancing Japanese, it be-
came the nations benefactor, but not
without heavy toll in civilian life and
property. The swirling waters spread
over the countryside before settling back
in an old abandoned course,
In the central zone, along the Yangtze-
life artery of China, Ichang is the spear
head of the Japanese push toward
Chungking, 500 river miles to the west.
Between the Japanese position and their
military objective stretch the deep, mar
row gorges of a river which ranks as
one of the worlds most difficult and dan
gerous transportation routes.
Even in peacetime, passage of the
Yangtze is beset with problems, requir-
ing the services of trained "trackmen. :"
who. at the risk of life and limb, guide
the boats around treacherous rocks and
eddies and rapids. Moreover, the fertile
and productive region surrounding the
defiant center of Chinese resistance
at Chungking is inclosed by high and
broad mountain ranges that form a
protective wall about the Chinese
capital.
Difficult Campaign Country.
From the southwest (by way of Yum
nam or from the southeast (across the
provinces marked by the course of the
meandering ST Kiang), China's third
regional division is geographic puzzle
and military headache of mountain
crumpled country, with knife-sharp
gorges and interlocking valleys of cold,
windswept plateaus and hot vegetation
smothered jungle lands
Around Canton, near the mouth of the
ST Kiang. fighting long has been raging,
as the japanese attempt to push their
lines northward along the Hankow- Can
ton Railway. Complete possession of
this line would not only link their south
ern forces with those in the north but
would cut of coastal provinces where
American bases already threaten Japan
itself.
Postwar effects OF the japanese inva-
sion on international influence are
already being glimpsed. Great Britain
and the United States have signed
treaties giving up any extraterritorial
rights in China when the occupied zones
shall have been won back from Japan.
Other governments, with such special
rights and claims, such as that of Swe-
den and Vichy, before German occupa-
ton, have indicated similar intentions
Germany had none to abandon, having
lost her extraterritorial rights after the
last war, along with Austria and Bulga-
ria. Russia long ago t192D renounced
hers. Japanese-held Hong Kong (owned
outright by the BRITISH and Portuguese
owned Macau, like French-leased
Kwangchowan, come under other forms
Of international agreement.