Evening star., 1944-06-02
Chino Coast Defense
Seen os jap Strategy
Chance to Open Burma Road
Declared Fumbled by Allies
BY David Laurence

BY Dapid Laurence
Japan's strategy, which for several
months has been a matter Of consid-
cradle puzzlement to the Allied nations,
has now become rather clear.
The Japanese will fight rear guard
action, but will lose the Netherlands
East Indies within the next 10 months.
But instead of using naval power in
the Southwest Pacific. the Japanese
have apparently decided to hug the
coast Of China and make 1t almost as
difficult for American forces to invade
China as the Germans have made It
difficult for the Allied armies to in
wade Western Europe.
The latest drive by the Japanese in
side China has not been unexpected.
For more than year. military experts
have wondered when the japanese
would start their drive on Running
American air base on the Burma road.
Likewise. it has been anticipated that
the Japanese would try to block of
Southeast China so 1t could not be ac-
quired by the Allies.
The meaning of all this to the Amer
lean people is that the Japanese have
gained considerable time for their new
offensive, and that, while much COM
fort has been derived in the United
States from the splendid successes Of
our Navy in the Pacific, this has been
only one side of the picture. The real
story Of the Japanese-American war
will be told on the plains of China. It
Is from there that first steps to victory
are feasible because only when airplanes
can be based in China in sufficient num-
bers apd with suf1cient fuel to bomb
Japan can any real dent be made on
the Japanese mainland.
Opportunity FumbIed.
The Chinese need supplies and equip
ment. The Allies have had more than
two years in which to open up roads into
China. One way to reach China was
through Burma. The Allies have fum-
bled that opportunity.
Some day, the true story of what has
been going on inside the Allied councils
concerning the Burma campaign will
be told. 1t will not be a pleasant story.
1t will be one in which shifts of plan
occurred and one in which support for
the Burma front from Britain was not
forthcoming as China had every rea-
son to expect it would be.
Now the monsoon season is approach
ing and the Japanese know that Burma
cannot be captured by the Allies. This
means that the time Is particularly
good for new offensive by Japan in
China because reinforcements can come
in only by air from Burma, and this is
a mere trickle.
The discouraging part of the situa-
ton is that the United States Navy has
made such remarkable progress in ap-
preaching Japanese held areas from
the Pacific side, but has had no COM
parable support from the China or
Burma side
The excuse given,>of course, Is that
there was not enough material to 20
around and that the European theater
had to be given first consideration. This
theory has been widely accepted, but
again time will tell whether the Allies
were wise in neglecting the Pacific war
as long as they have. Supplies and
equipment in larger and larger guam
titles have been sent steadily to the
Navy and to Gen. Macarthur in the
Southwest Pacific, but. while this
theater of operation has been progress
ing satisfactorily, much of what has
been accomplished in the approach
from the Pacific side has been nullified
by the lack of corresponding progress
from the China side.
View of Pessimists.
There are some pessimists hereabouts
who think that if Japan puts her mind
to it and concentrates on the Job, she
can possibly knock China out of the
war this year, and that America and
Britain will have to fight the battle
against Japan alone. 1t will take an
enormous amount of manpower to do
the job. Japan has a vast manpower
in China already for defense. Valuable
months that could have been spent in
training a Chinese army for the final
tussle with the Japanese have been
lost because supplies could not be got
ten into China.
The small American and Allied
forces in Burma and China have done
their best with a shoestring. For some
unexplained reason the Japanese have
not organized their offensNes until
now, but their strategy has finally
emerged. They are going to try to
hack up China, fortify the Southeast
China coast, and make it difficult for
the United States to stage an invasion
unless it Is willing to bring millions
of troops from America involving, of
course, many millions of tons of
shipping
The logical approach to China and
hence to the securing of air bases for
bombing Japan is from the Burma
side. The Allies will have to pay dearly
next year when the monsoon season
is over for the valuable time they have
forfeited in failing to recapture Burma
this past winter and spring.