LENGTH OF WAR

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25001, 18 September 1944, Page 6

LENGTH OF WAR

DIFFERING OPINIONS LAND CAMPAIGN PROBLEMS (Reed. 8.40 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 16 Array men who have been conferring at Quebec on the problem of defeating Japan are not optimistic about an early complete victory. On the contrary, they seem to believe that the war may endure for a very long time, and develop through many phases, says the Quebec correspondent of the New York Times. Naval and air chiefs and staffs do not share this view. They calculate that Japan can be knocked out within a measurable number of years, even months, once the whole weight of the Allied fleets and air forces is turned to the task. They have past successes to point to with satisfaction, but soldiers argue that that is only half the problem, According to information given currency at Quebec, the Japanese Army is now estimated at 113 divisions, of 20,000 men each, distributed as _ follows : South-west Pacific, 22 divisions; Thailand and Burma, 15; China, 3/J; Manchuria, 21£; Japanese mainland, 17 Army officials, particularly the British, with their historic, social and economic interest in India and China, are firmly of the opinion that naval fighting and bombing are not enough to liberate China and Asia from Japanese domination. The war must be continued by land, even if it takes years, until Japanese military power is destroyed. However, this does not conflict with the naval view that the immediate task is to attack the Japanese homeland. That has been agreed by this conference, with the added decision that the a.ttack will be co-ordinated on all existing fronts, particularly in China.