The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-19
interpreting
The War
BY ELTON C. FAY
Associated Press No.

The United States win Co. 10y"
numerically out,matched '', ~s l5et
comes to grips with the rn ~nsA it
my of Japan, but armed NAN ,,;a AZ
overwhelming quantity and I' ma. an
ty of firepower. anu quail
Japan is believed to bayo
arms close to 5000 Oo men On1 \;
tho though she has lost at lesS. =! A.
600 in killed and wounded in .; 'aa'
ing the Americans and Br;t til AShs
overall military strengtb '' +.3 9e'
undoubtedly is larger than q " r
two years ago. ~ was
Japan is reported TO bav.
1900, 900 to 1000, 900 men av.; Ion
for military service but n r,I' '
called to duty, with still a AM ~
100000 coming into draft III.
Her normal troop replaces oss
ability, even without tapping tbsa.
reserves, is estimated as 6ig +' ~
250,000 a year. SO /"
| Against this enemy armvjrt.
ing or in reserve, the 1rn;.,
States has a total army of s ,t,'a
100000, Of which an estim., .-,
100000 are deployed in The w..
theaters of war. The Som
should be considered as the FROM,
that could be directed aps;T. s
Japan; the balance represar.,
service and other forces in %,
continental United States OF t5 n,
5000, 900, about $4,000 900 are in II,
European theater with thousars.
of miles and multitude Of logi,
tics problems between them ~.
the japanese army.
Moreover, tn United States {,
reaching down toward the bottom
OF the manpoWer barrel in mn,
tering combat troops.
That is the dark side of the pjc.
ture. The other side is this:
Britain, speaking through Win.
ston Churchill, has said that "ev.
cry man, every ship, and every
aeroplane in the Kings Service
that can be moved to the Pacific
will be sent there That will i'm.
prove the Allied manpower situa.
ton, but it will take time.
And then there is the matter n
firepower
In the case of Japan. there has
been no such argument about the
relative quality of American az.
NOR as has occurred in connec.
ton with German tanks
So far as is known, japanese
tanks do not run much above IS
TONERS, mounting a 47 or 81 mn,
gun. The United States Sherman
medium tank of "a tons, with a rs
nm. gun and the new semi-heavy
TBS Pershing tank, with 90 NM
weapon. far outclass japanese az.
NOR. Because her original can.
paign plans contemplated mainly
jungle or island warfare. Japan
neglected heavy Or even medium
armor, specializing on a quantity
of light tanks, of 7 or s tons, Or
tankettes of barely more than 3
tons.
While Japan possesses las We
have found in our advances heavy
caliber fixed ordnance of coastal
defense type, she is deficient in
mobile ordnance She is believed
to have nothing to match the mo-
bile 8-inch gun used by the Unit
ed States Army. She does have
1855 nm. gun, the same callber as
an American piece. She cannot
match the powerful Wallop Of the
American 240 nm. hoWltzer, but
does have a 105 nm. howitzer OF
the. caliber used by the United
States.
Unlike Germany with her excel
lent SO nm. all-purpoSe gun, Ja'
pan has nothing to challenge Inc
80 nm. American gun mounted on
variety of mobile bases mciuo'
ing tanks and tank destroyeTS.
Japan does have, however, gooo
mortars which her troops USE
skilfully.
In the field of shoulder weapons
the Japanese also lag. Only re-
Gently did they begin TO arm WIN
rifle of approximately 81 can
Der to replace the long-populna!!
| ~ nm. And the still smaller o.
nm. rifle. Ordnance men say 'n'
enemy lacks an automatic WeapoA
comparable with the America @
Garand although he now mas u'
Solothurn machine pistol, some,
what like the As caliber 'greaS
gun" of the Doughboy.
But even IN the lllStdl4teo 81.
the Japanese have compare" W.,
types, they are out-matched nea"
ly in quantity.
American troops going ashore !.
fight the enemy on the AslaI ,
mainland or some of the NOM 5.
islands of Japan will find one u,
advantage in applying mechanlt'-
might. The road nets areh N,,Di
the American truck drivers lou I.
in Europe. Heavy-wheeled Ven-'! IL
can't be used in many cases: 10 :,
though track-laying VeH l. !;
should not be hampereo'
expected that for supply puIPO'ts nv
such as the carrying OF fuel .. u"
tanks, these endless-tread VeH.' oy.
will replace trucks as prime INV
ers.