The Wanganui Chronicle WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1937. IN NORTH CHINA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 249, 20 October 1937, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1937. IN NORTH CHINA

TT would be unwise to assume that because the Chinese have succeeded in cutting off from their base a large section of the Japanese Army operating in North China, that the initiative in that area has passed to the Communists’ Eighth Route Army. In all probability this success will prove to be but temporary. The Chinese will, of course, maintain the pressure against the beleaguered force in the hope of exhausting its strength before the needed reinforcements arrive.

The Japanese High Command will strain every effort to relieve the force which has been cut off, first from pure military considerations, but secondly-—and perhaps of more importance—to avoid loss of face. Loss of face by the Japanese Army would be an adverse factor of importance on the mainland, because it would raise the elan of the Chinese troops; it would be disastrous in Japan itself, for it would reveal something new to the Japanese people concerning their Chinese neighbours, namely, an ability to outwit the Japanese.

The Communist opposition to the Nanking Government has been able to preserve its identity, not only politically, but also in a military sense as well, over a number of years, and the Government has been unable to bring that movement into submission. Nor has it been able to defeat the Communists in the field because the latter are past masters at elusive tactics. When the Communist forces determined to join with the Government in resisting the invaders, a route army was formed, experienced in quick movement, and especially in mountain warfare. It is this army which has lured the Japanese advance beyond its supports, and then slipped in behind and cut in off from its source of supplies.

In a short time it will be possible to judge whether this advantage has been maintained. If it is possible to sustain the present encirclement for a week, then the Japanese Army operating in the north will have suffered a severe reverse.