ENIGMA OF RUSSIA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 247, 18 October 1937, Page 8

ENIGMA OF RUSSIA

FAR EAST CONFLICT INTERVENTION QUESTION STRENGTH OF HER FORCES Soviet Russia, which has macle a pact of non-aggression with China, is the great enigma of the present conflict in the Far East, said the Sydney Morning Herald in a recent article. Will she intervene, and, if so, to what extent and in what manner? Japan has had to watch Russia develop a great military organisation in. the Far East. When the Manchurian affair began in September, 1931, the Soviet Union had only four infantry divisions and two cavalry brigades, or a total of about 50,000 or 60,000 men, on the Soviet Manchurian frontier. These forces have been increased to 15 infantry divisions and two or three cavalry divisions, or a total of 250,000 to 260,000 men. Soviet Russia also maintains in the Far East about 800 or 900 aeroplanes, several hundred tanks and armoured cars, a fleet of river gunboats, and also, it is believed, many submarines. These forces are stationed in three different zones along the border:—(l) The China zone; (2) BlagoveshchenskKhabarovsk; (3) Vladivostok-Kikolsk. At Vladivostok, there are said to be about 100 super-heavy bombers which, in a few hours, could attack the vital parts of Japan and return to their base of operations. Strong Line of Defences Since 1932, Russia has spent nearly £100,000,000 sterling on the construction of defensive works at important parts of the Soviet-Manchukuo border. These defensive works are composed of small but strong forts, 50 to 100 yards apart, and arranged in three fold or fourfold lines. Their number is said to be between 5000 and 6000. From the strategical point of view, these forts are not only important for defence, but also form powerful bases for operations. Russia has also been steadily fortifying Vladivostok, where, according to the Japanese, 50 to 60 submarines are stationed. The great majority of the Russian submarines are small vessels of the coastal type not desired for ocean cruising. They would, however, be formidable enough for operations either in the Baltic or the Sea of Japan. On an average, a new boat has been added to the Pacific flotilla every month. The presence of this powerful force so near to her coastline and its potential ability to harass her vital communications with Manchuria, has caused Japan uneasiness. It coincides with the establishment of large aerodromes for heavy bombers in the Vladivostok region. Russia’s Improved Transport Two great Soviet railway construction schemes are also of great importance to the situation in the Far East. One is the doubling of the transSiberian main line as far eastward as Khabarovsk, the headquarters of the Far Eastern Army on the Amar River. This is regarded as Moscow’s substitute for the loss of the Chinese Eastern Railway. The other is a new line from the rich coalfields of Karaganda to the copper mines of Kanhard, near Lake Balkhash, eventually linking Western Siberia to the Russian territories bordering Chinese Turkestan, a zone of Russian infiltration and a hotbed of international intrigue. When the doubling of the strategic key, Khabarovsk - Vladivostok line, about which the Russians are very reserved, is finished, the Soviet will have repaired the worst damage done to her military communications with the Far East by the loss of the Chinese Eastern Railway.