The Evening Star THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1943. EYES ON JAPAN.

Evening Star, Issue 24989, 7 October 1943, Page 4

The Evening Star THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1943. EYES ON JAPAN.

Hints of future operations in the Pacific have of late been ourtained off by a screen of warnings of long struggles ahead, and by somewhat nebulous statements such as the one accredited to Field-Marshal Lord Birdwood to the effect that action against the Japanese by the British and American fleets could he expected any day. For over twelve months the Japanese have been held, and in the latter part of that period they have heen forced hack a little. Allied activities have heen largely attritional, and, although important, in comparison with the extent of the prosent Japanese Empire, the gains by Allied forces have been equivalent to the nibble of a rabbit on the outer leaves of a very big lettuce, but they can be taken as a portent of things to come. Japan, when she entered the war, was ambitious —over-ambitious in fact—and sho swallowed too rapidly more than she can digest. Her weakness lies in shipping. She has admitted the need of A),00Q,000 tons to exploit conquered territories, but in pre-war days her total tonnage was only 6,000,000. Every vessel she .loses, in this war places an extra burden on her already sorelystrained resources, and the Allies have acted on this knowledge with successes so considerable as really to eclipse in importance the land gains in the Southwest Pacific. Japan is now making extensive use of barges to supply her furthermost bases, and this cumbersome, ineffectual method of supply indicates clearly the desperate straits to which she has been reduced. (Barges are ideal" targets for aircraft, and during the Japanese attempts to evacuate Kolombangara many have been sent to the bottom with men and materials. Barges may he more easily replaced than other forms of shipping, but every one sunk is a blow against supply lines and a small but by no means negligible additional strain on Japanese shipping resources.

In tho South-west Pacific the trend of events'is looming clear. From New Guinea and the Solomons pincers are being closed on the important base at Rabaul, and on what some correspondents consider the even more important base at Bougainville. Their elimination will open the way for a sea attack on ,Japan's Pearl Harbour—Truk. Any major land attacks against the Japanese must come from India, arid it already has been strongly indicated that Lord Louis Mountbatten intends an amphibious operation against Burma, based on India. The early opening of tho Burma (Road is foreshadowed as a result of such a move, ultimately entailing greater aid to China, which is invaluable as a base for_ air attacks against the Japanese mainland. The reconquest of Burma, psychologically and strategically important, will, however, be but a step towards the defeat of Japan, for it has been said that, owing to the paucity of any sort of land communications in the extensive mountainous and junglo areas, Japanese positions in Malaya, Thailand, and French Indo-China would stiirbe'fairly well protected, thus necessitating further widespread amphibious operations in other quarters. The significance of Lord Louis Mountbatten's appointment as supreme commander in South-east Asia becomes the greater the more one studies' the general situation. 'When the war broke out a Japanese admiral bombastically told the United States that Japan was prepared to lose ten million men, and asked, " What are you prepared to lose? " America would not, of course, be prepared to lose such a number, but she should never he called upon to do so. Enough has been written here to show that Japan's weakness is at sea, and how that weakness has been and is being played upon. If a stage can be reached whereby Japan proper_ is completely blockaded from all outside contact the end may he very much nearer than it appears at present, and flagrant boasta of extravagant losses which the Nipponese aggressor announces he is prepared to accept may become little more than idle chatter. America is building a navy to defeat Japan, and the Americans have proved their worth at sea in the decisive battles of Midway and tho Coral Sea, which gave to that country an indubitable indication of what lies ahead.