Evening star., 1948-10-24

simo's troops have been fighting less
and less during the past year.
One Big Defeat for Reds
In that period Communist armies
have suffered only one major defeat.
That was seven months ago, when
the Chinghai war lord, Gen. Ma Pu-
feng, moved his Moslem fighters
into Kansu Province and whipped
the Communists southwest Of Ye-
nan. Since then Chinghai officials.
who run semiautonomous prov
ince, have complained their forces
have not received sufficient arms or
transport from the Central Govern
ment.
Nationalist-held cities, on the 9TH
er hand, have fallen with a regular
ity that has seriously weakened pub
lie confidence in the Central Gov
ernment's new currency. Shihchi-
achuang, Loyang, Weihsien, Tsu-
yang, Tsinan they are foreign
names to most Americans.
But to Chinese they are major
cities. including one important pro-
vincial capital. taken by the Com
!munists during the past year.
Military specialists have looked
hard for explanations of the mount.
ing pattern of Nationalist defeat.
Their findings make a gloomy pic
ture. The factor. they say, has
been a serious deterioration Of mo.
rale among Nationalist divisions,
which has made some of them LA
bilities instead of assets.
Problem of Disloyalty
The about-face of Nationalist Gen.
WI Hwa-wen, who, at Tsinan, went
over to the Communists with more
than 5000 of his troops, plus other
units, opened the way for the fall Of
the city. This was only one of
many similar, though smaller, de-
fections. Some Nationalist troops
moving to the front by train are
known to have sabotaged their loco
motives so they would be certain
not to arrive in time for the fight
ing. Officers in Tsingtao were rec
ported disturbed because some Of
their soldiers were hearing from
relatives in Communist territory
that things were not so bad under
the Reds.
The Central Government Defense
Ministry has tried to devise means
for keeping units loyal. But it has
no sure way of knowing how spirited
and trustworthy a division Is until
it begins to fight. Then it Is too
late to replace the outfit If 1t proves
unreliable.
Chiank Kai-shek has, apparently,
had to pick many of his commanders
on the basis Of personal loyalty
rather than military skill. The gen.
eralissimos frequent trips to the
north are seen as part of his efforts
to keep wobbly commanders in line.
Faulty Leadership
Nationalist armies have, obviously,
suffered from faulty direction at the
top. One Central Government off,
cial put it this way:
THE Communists use propaganda
as an adjunct of warfare. The
generalissimo uses warfare as an
adjunct Of saving face"
In the fall Of 1s45 United States
Army officers advised Chang
against throwing his best troops
into Manchuria. They suggested
that he use his forces to console
date his position in China proper
and then think about the north
east.
The advice was largely ignored.
Manchuria has proven a bottomless
pit for Central Government divi-
sions and dollars. The two best
Nationalist armies, the United States
Army-trained new 1st and new 9Th,
now in Mukden, have been watered
down to a fraction of their former
|cadres. The Central Government
has been spending half of its total
budget in Manchuria.
Today the Nationalist position in
Manchuria is militarily "untenable"
The $1,000 troops surrounded in
Changchun have been steadily dis
integrating from starvation. If they
don't escape before cold weather
hits, it is eoubtful they can survive
the winter.
In the Mukden area about 800, 900
Nationalist troops are dependent on
the airlift for much food and am
munition. The Communist attack
on Chinchow has forced freight
planes to fly from the Tientsin and
Peiping airfields, which is three
times the length Of the earlier haul.
The battle for Chinchow cost the
Nationalists large stores Of supplies
destined for the Mukden garrison.
Reds More Powerful
Nationalist insistence upon hold
ing beleaguered cities at all costs
has permitted the Communists to
develop military force which 10
far more powerful than 1t was q year
ago. The Communists no longer are
guerrilla bands rowing the country
side-they have become hard-hit-
ting, disciplined columns capable
Of concentrating masses Of men and
equipment against selected objec-
tives.
In East China, principally in
Shantung Province, French-edu-
Gated Communist Gen. Chen VI
has concentrated the greatest sin
gle military threat to the continued
existence of the Central Government
in the Yangtze Valley. The victor
of Tsinan has 100000 battle-tested
troops poised north of the Lunghai
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