FAR EASTERN WAR

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21550, 1 November 1944, Page 3

FAR EASTERN WAR

JAPAN’S OBJECTIVE INNER ZONE DEFENCE BLOWS AT "CHINA HINGE (10 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 31. The Economist, commenting on the Far Eastern campaign, says tiiat there is one feature which suggests that, though it is generally victorious, the goal of total victory may not be immediately within Allied grasp. The war is going badly in China where the Japanese have recently moved to the offensive and are advancing towards Kweilin, Nanning and the down railway to Canton. There are many motives behind the Japanese drive. One is to compensate for the losses at sea and for tiie shortage of shipping by opening land communications on tiie largest possible scale. But the main reasons are strategic and vitally affect the tola, picture of the Far Eastern campaign. The paper adds that Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten’s campaign, principally in Burma, and .the combined Pacific offensive of Admiral Nimitz and General MacArthur are still two separate actions. The hinge on which one or both turn and which enables them to swing from the reconquest of outlying territory to a direct attack on Japan is China. It is at this hinge that the Japanese are striking now. Core of Japanese Planniifg

The fighting round Kweilin is a salutary reminder that it will take longer to conquer Japan than reconquer Japan’s conquests. This vital distinction is the core of Japanese planning for another war. Tiie citadel of Japan's defence is the inner zone made up of the Japanese mainland, north China, Korea and Manchuria. With this inner zone which the Japanese have purposely planned to withstand a siege, they are driving on to more and more complete mobilisation of their economic resources for war. The chief features of this progress are the ruthless scrapping 0.. the textile industry in favour of war industry, high priority given to aircraft —the production of between 15,000 and 20,000 yearly is claimed — a great increase in the steel output, special attention is given to light metals and ferro-alloys, and the expansion of extractive industries in North China, Manchuria and Korea. From Korea alone, Japan gets 0,000,000 tons of coal yearly, 1,000,000 tons of pig iron, half its tungsten, all its mica and graphite and most of its molybdenum, as well as steel, gold, zinc, lead and magnesia. Inner Zone Population

The Japanese population of this inner zone is 74,000,000, and for workers and second-line troops the Japanese High Command can draw on 23,000,000 inhabitants of Korea and 53,000.000 in Manchuria. The outposts of the Pacific conquests are lightly hem and the pick of the army is concentrated in Manchuria and North China. Weapons at the disposal of the armies are plentiful and stocks are large, but lecnmcally they are completely outclassed by the Allied weapons. Shipbuilding is the greatest bottleneck. However, as the fighting draws back to the inner zone, pressure on shipping relaxes. In the air they are concentrating on fighters. The bombing force is slight. Referring to the tendency of both Britain and America to feel that it is only a matter of time before Japan is defeated, an article says there is no reason to suppose that the Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill and President Roosevelt at Quebec, underestimated the task ahead or found their resources inadequate. It declares that Russian intervention could revolutionise the military situation overnight bv opening the back door into the inner zone, and refers to the significant change of tone in the Russian attitude to Japan.