Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-07-14
u. 5. Landing 10 Fight
lin China Unnecessary,
ChennauIf Declares
By STEFAN ANDREWS.

N0rtn american newspaper Alliance.
HEADQUARTERS l4TH AIR
FORCE. China (By Air MaiD Maj.
Gen. Claire L. Chennault, COM
manding general of the 14th Air
Force, says 1t is not necessary for
American troops to make land
invasion for the purposes of fighting
In the interior OF China.
In an exclusive, hour-long inter-
view, Gen. Chennault told this re-
porter that Americans can save
countless lives by avoiding land
and by training Chinese
troops to do the job.
AN amphibious operation might
be necessary to open up a port for
but no more than that is
necessary" he said emphatically.
Chinese troops can do the job here
in one year"
(Since this interview, Gen.
Chennault has resigned and will
leave China and the United
States Army
Difference In Strategy.
This is the first time a ranking
American general in China has de-
clared categorically that an inland
penetration by Americans is un-
necessary and the first official in
dication that military men on the
spot are thinking in entirely diff
ferent terms from Washington
strategists on ending the Asiatic
war.
He stressed, however, that the
Chinese troops must be sufficiently
supplied, adequately trained and
fully equipped before a large-scale
counteroffensiye on the Asiatic
mainland can be launched.
1T would be a grave mistake"
he said, mot to save lives and at
the same time let trained Chinese
armies win the battle of Asia. The
Chinese need the victory from the
standpoint of prestige.
If the japanese can say after
the war that the Americans and the
British beat them, and not the Chi
nese, there will never be stability in
postwar Asia"
Cites Chinese held Ports.
The commanding general of the
famous Flying Tigers was of the
opinion that the Chinese forces al
ready held sufficient number of
small ports on the China coast,
which might" be used by the
in supplying the Chinese.
He mentioned. two coastal ports,
occupied by the Chinese, as
two likely supply inlets and pointed
out that there were others all along
the coast that could be taken by the
Chinese without too much trouble
and put into use. He said supplies
might possibly be brought in by ship
and air and then shuttled by air
INTO the interior.
Asked whether Chinese forces can
whip the Japanese on the mainland
without benefit of a supporting
Air Force, Gen. Chennault
said this Is the only department in
which the Chinese would have to
have direct American combat par
"We must use our American Air
Force" he said. The Chinese Air
Force is not large enough for the
air job and it cannot be fully
trained and brought up to strength
for the Duration"
In Accord With Wedemeyer.
Gen. Chennault said he was fully
In accord with 1t. Gen. Albert C.
Wedemeyer's military policies and
fully believed possible the recent
view expressed by Generalissimo
Chiang Kai-shek that 1t is possible
for an equipped Chinese Army to
win the war in one year, He said 1t
would take longer If American COM
bat troops alone were used.
i think the generalissimo Is con-
servatiye when he says one Chinese
soldier Is logistically equivalents to
three Allied soldiers. Actually, 1
think the ratio is about l to 5. We
would need five soldiers to MAIN
tain every front-line American SOL
der in China. That has been my
Tanned, thoughtful, with a face
deeply lined after more than seven
years OF service in China, the gen.
eral pulled slowly on a cigarette
and toyed with box of matches
on his desk as he chatted amiably
on Far East war strategy.
The general, who Is recognized
as the ranking authority on air
war in Asia. got off a neat one in
describing the Japanese Air Force.
We've destroyed most of the jap
Air Force in China" he said re-
hectively, "and the rest are sensi-
tive"
Would Bomb Emperor.
It's only when you remember that
he 14th Air Force hasn't encoun-
cred a Jap fighter in the China Sc
lies since May that you begin to
'ealize how Sensitive" the Jap force
Or what's left of 1t, has become.
I think we're making a grave mis-
AXE In not bombing the Japanese
Emperor. The first thing we should
nave done on the first raid on Tokyo
was to blast the Imperial Palace.
AS long as the Jap militarists can
ell their people that they're dying
Tor the Emperor they will continue
70 fight. We should have taker care
of the Mikado long ago." he said.
The general said he was sticking
TO his prediction of six months ago
that If the Japanese don't fold by
Christmas in an unconditional sur
render" he explained, it will be a
long war. He refused to say how
long.
Britain Changes Clocks
LONDON u,lv "A fHA nrito;,