DANGER POINT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21579, 5 December 1944, Page 3

DANGER POINT

YUNNAN THRUST I i SITUATION IN CHINA THREAT TOLEDO ROAD GO a.m.) NEW YORK, Dec. 4. The Japanese offensive in southern and south-east China has already exploited the weaknesses of the Chinese-American partnership and is testing the basic strategy of American help for China, says the Associated Press’ correspondent in Kunming. It is quite possible that the enemy is aiming for Kweiyang and will also strike for Kunming and Chungking, attempting to offset the prospective opening of the Ledo road. The Americans may be forced to take extraordinary measures to save a tremendous military investment here. The Japanese have already partially neutralised the value of the Ledo road by an offensive against China's southeastern forces, who were ultimately to be equipped with material sent over the Ledo road. It is probable that the equipment and training expended in preparing the Chinese Expeditionary Force for the Burma road offensive would have saved south-east China.

Brigadier-General Frank Dorn, commander of the American force that trained and helped to supply the Chinese Expeditionary' Force, said in a recent interview that he hoped the Ledo road would be open by Christmas. It is questionable, however, whether even a military junction along the road between the Chinese and the Allied forces working in from India will be effected by then.

Apparently a fundamental error in estimating the Chinese military situation was making- the Ledo road the first order' of business. It is now obvious that the American bases in China were never secure. The American programme never got round to preparing the Chinese to protect the bases, 'jhe plans called for the supplying and equipping of such forces from tonnages sent over the road. Consequently the Japanese are now consolidating the virtual land link between Manchuria and IndoChina. The 14th Air Force has lost, bases for highly successful sea sweeps against Japanese shipping, and m addition the opportunity to support a potential American landing on the China coast. Vital 60 Days Ahead

The Japanese will find the going tough if, after the capture of Kweiyang they strike against Kunming. 200 miles south-westward. Terrain better suited for defence than the Kweichow mountains can hardly be found in China. ' The possibility oi a Japanese strike towards Yunnan Horn Indo-China is also an ever-present threat. _ ~ Brigadier-General Dorn says flatly: “It is a danger point. I wish I knew their plans.” . The United Press correspondent in Chungking quotes a well-informed quarter as saying that the next 00 days will determine whether China can be knocked out of the war. Marshal Chiang Kai-Shek has _ been trading space for a time, but is running out of space now and-unless the Chinese hold Kweiyang until the Burma road is reopened, China may be totally defeated. The loss of Kunming would knock out the 14th An Force, which has long been China s most potent single weapon. It would also nullify the long' and costly Burma campaign and open a land supply route from India with Kunming as the terminus. The American stake in the outcome of the Kweiyang battle, also possible Japanese future thrusts, cannot be over-emphasised. Further Chinese military reverses would enable Japan to consolidate and hold the Asiatic mainland, adding a year, and possioly years, to the war.