CAMPAIGN IN MANCHURIA

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25276, 30 August 1947, Page 9

CAMPAIGN IN MANCHURIA

Communist Offensive ' Expected Soon NEW NATIONALIST COMMANDER (Rec. 9.30 p.m.) NEW YORK, Aug. 28. General Chu Cheng, the Nationalist chief of staff, is scheduled to leave soon for Manchuria to take over personal command of the nine Government armies which are preparing to withstand the anticipated Communist offensive in September, says the Nanking correspondent of the “New York Times.” The appointment is an indication of how precarious the Government considers its position in Manchuria, which the Central Government is determined to hold. High Chinese military and civilian officials take the view that control of economically rich Manchuria would give the Communists a base from which to attack all North China. They also express the fear that further military sst-backi; would lessen the Government’s prestige, which is already at a low ebb throughout the country. The head of President Truman’s fact-finding mission, Lieutenant-Gen-eral Albert Wedemeyer, and his advisers are known to have paid close attention to the international implications of a Nationalist defeat in Manchuria, because of the possibility of a Cominunist Manchuria, bordered by the Soviet,- facing American-occupied Japan and the American Pacific bases. General Chu Cheng’s job, says the correspondent, is admittedly not going to be easy in Manchuria, where military blunders, extended and broken lines of communication, a shortage of supplies, official corruption, and depreciated troop morale have hampered the Nationalist campaigns. The Communists now hold 85 per cent, of Manchuria. Well-informed neutral sources say that, in spite of reports to the contrary; there is still no evidence that the Communists are being supplied with Russian arms. These sources say the Communists are using Japanese arms acquired during the Russian j occupation of Manchuria, and American weapons captured from the Nationalists. The Government’s broad strategical plan seems to be to attempt to hold on in Manchuria, while conducting an offensive to clear the Peiping-Hankow and Tientsin-Pukow railways in China proper.