FORCES NOW WEAKENED

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 115, 10 February 1944, Page 5

FORCES NOW WEAKENED

(By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Received February 9, 9.30 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Feb. 8. The American naval raid on Paramushiru has bottled Japan s fleet inescapably in the narrow, confined Japanese home waters, say naval experts. The Paramushiru raid was not decisive—it was not intended to be—but it presents the enemy with a vivid new threat to the very heart of his empire and changes the whole strategic picture of the war for the Japanese. It means that Tokio cannot afford to risk sending the fleet to the south or south-east in the hope of catching the Americans offbalance, because they cannot know when an American task force might take advantage of their absence and strike at Japan s central regions with either surface vessels or carrier-borne aircraft. The Japanese defence perimeter must now be considered to be under pressure along a huge arc from Wewak through Rabaul and the Marshall Islands to the northern Kuriles.

The United States’ naval strength is probably twice as great as Japan’s and more than twice as great in terms of modern equipment and ability to deliver fire power efficiently. The Japanese cannot deploy sufficient sea power to defend all possible points of attack, and.must save their fleet until it alone stands between the main islands and invasion. This time might come if American troops land at Paramushiru and begin working down the Kuriles chain, or when we strike northward along the strategic Guam-Bonin Island line in the west and central Pacific.

Both Fleets Safer. Authorities in Washington are confident that the Japanese Fleet will not be risked before some such close attack is made at the heart of the enemy’s interests. This gives the United States fleet great freedom of manoeuvre, but it virtually eliminates the chance of the Japanese Fleet being trapped and destroyed in the immediate future far from home. The “New York Times” says: “The navy’s thrust in the Marshalls has emphasized that the Japanese are unwilling or unable to fight for their outlying possessions. It is almost certain that the Japanese in the South Pacific can be punctured in almost any direction. There is closer co-operation of the various Pacific theatres today than at any other time since the beginning of the war. "Two months ago there was considerable argument as to whether the main drive should be made in the Central Pacific or South Pacific. Since then the successful moves have shown that the Japanese Fleet is unbalanced, the air fleet partially destroyed, and the supply lines weakened by the submarine and air warfare.

“The enemy is in a worse case than was believed. The question now is how to take the fullest advantage of the situation. This evidently is fully realized not only in army, navy and air circles, but also in the highest quarters in Washington. and what will probably happen in the Pacific will be a series of blows from all directions aimed at Japan.”