WAR NEARER JAPAN

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 155, 29 December 1944, Page 4

WAR NEARER JAPAN

--While events in the war against Germany seem to indicata now that victory for the Allies may come rather later than was generally expected only a few weeks ago, the prospects in the >war against Japan continue to improve iiboth in Burma and the Pacific.

: Japanese military and naval leaders are undoubted alarm at the steady flow of the tide against the defences of the Pacific and Asiatic Empire won so easily in the first few months of the sweeping offensive that {followed Pearl Harbour, December 7, {1941. Today's news reports a gloomy survey of the war situation before the Japanese Diet by; the Navy Minister, [Admiral Ydhai;, who declared that the Pacific war had'entered- its decisive stage in the Philippines, and admitted fthat American air raids on Japan's j-aircraft industries were aggravating [the situation. It is obvious, from a jglance at the map that control of the Philippines is vital to the maintenance jof Japanese supply routes to and from |the East Indies and the Pacific Islands. jTHe bold strategy of General MacEArthur in seizing Samar, conquering ELeyte, and, recently, landing forces on ' JMmdoro has split; the Philippine Archiipelago in twoif rom east. to .west, giving the Americans virtual control already jof 'the central group of smaller islands .between the two largest islands, Luzon to the,north and .Mindanao to the south. „ From Leyte and Mindoro (American aircraft are within easy range of every part of the Philippines, including the capital, Manila, and its naval-and air base, and also within striking distance of^ Borneo to the south-west and Canton and Hong Kong k.b the north-west. It is through the ' South China Sea. between the Philippines and China and IndO'-China that jthe main Japanese supply route to Singapore and the East Indies, rims.

X Hence.the Japanese High Command Is deeply concerned over the outcome pf the operations directed by General Mac Arthur in the Philippines. Strong naval and-military efforts were'-made to hold Leyte, but. both failed 'disastrously for the Japanese. "/Today a (belated attempt by; a Japanese naval Eorce to shell American positions on •Mindoro is reported to have been repelled by American air squadrons with; loss to. 'the Japanese.' -/ It will rsuit. the ! 'plans of .the American High Command excellently if the Japanese continue to exhaust their military, naval, and air strength in the effort to defend the Philippines, where the native population can assist their liberators by all forms of guerrilla warfare. . £ Simultaneously, the Americans are rtrik'ing at the heart of Japan's aircraft industry in the main island of 'Japan, Honshiu, by air raids of giant 'Super-Fortresses based on Saipan, in the Marianas. These raids are no

.ohger. isolated affairs, with long inter/als between them in which the lamage done can be repaired. They irejearried out almost daily and must j'eiholding up and handicapping, the >uilding of the improved "aeroplanes whereby it was hoped, according to the lews, to counter American air superiority in the Pacific. These raids •, ; . fere also bringing the war directly aome to the Japanese people for the irst time. The net effect of I;he recent - ynerican operations on land, by sea, ind'in the.air, will be to make Japan jieel the real pinch of war in the way finat Hitler's Germany has already felt it ' .-..:...' ■ k The, Allied campaign in Burma, con- * ducted in the main by British Imperial forces, with American and Chinese troops co-operating to the north-east, is "an integral part of the Allied operalions against Japan. For some months ipast it has been going exceedingly well under some of the most trying and difficult conditions for warfare in any part of the world. There are two main objectives. The first is •to recover Northern Burma from the Japanese in order ,to reopen an overland route by jvhich much-needed supplies may be conveyed ■to the Chinese armies, struggling under heavy odds against the far better equipped Japanese troops for control of vital areas in Southern China. Already sufficient ground has been won to cover the extension of the Ledo Road from the Indian province of Assam to a point on the old Burma Road in possession jof the Chinese. Allied forces are already advancing south> down the Irrawaddy towards Mandalay and Lashio, the former Burmal-terminus of [the Burma Road,, connecting with the railway to Rangoon. I^The second objective is to expel the Japanese entirely from Upper and Central Burma, and British Imperial columns, including Indian* and African troops, are working towards Mandalay from the west over the ranges between the Chindwin and Irrawaddy. Incidental to this reconquest of Burma is [the approach to the port of Akyab jthrough. the Arakan country, via the JMayu Peninsula--and the" Keladan Columns .are already; in sight 'of Akyab across the water from the ■jMayu.. Peninsula. ■ It is. at this stage ,;that the British. Fleet ■;npw in the Pacific, under Admiral Fraser, may be expected to exert an influence. The 'next five months of the dry season in ■Burma should see important changes ' for the better in the Allied war in South-east Asia and the Pacific.