THE FIRST FRONT
EASTERN ASIA IS TOO BIG FOR JAPAN TO GOBBLE, \
BUT SHE HAS BEEN NIBBLING AWAY AT IT FOR YEARS
JAPANESE PINCERS applied to China have tern
out province after province, have vet to complete
pinch 'on'Chungking, the heart of China.
THE war for Eastern Asia also is a war of transpor
tation.
Russia lost one such war to Japan in 1904 when
Russian regiments that traversed Siberia and Russian
ships that rounded the world were knocked out by
Japanese troops and ships fighting close to home.
In World War II, which cut its teeth with the Man
churian incident in !9?C and got a new start with the
Chinese incident in 1937, China's problem has been to
get the goods.
Her numerous seaports were cut off by the Japa
nese fleet. The railroad line to Indo-China by Japanese
threats. The Burma road by the Japanese army. Air.
plane routes and caravan trails are still dribbling in
shells for the guns of China.
In her position staring across the Sea of Japan at
Tokyo, Russia must think of transportation for her
Siberian armies, just as she must think of transporiation
for her western armies on the European front.
Russia cannot maintain the sea lane from America
to Vladivostok in wartime unless the Japanese fleet
has been beaten down. Her double-track railroad back
to Europe is terribly vulnerable all along the Amur
river. Vladivostok itself dangles like a fruit ripe for the
plucking.
Japan, in its central position, has taken quick advan
tage of all this. She has carved slice after slice of the
East Asian melon and crammed it down while fending
off the angry owners with the other hand. She hasn't
been able to swallow East Asia at a gobble, but she
bes done a lot of nibbling.
UNION IN INDIA is a major objective of the Axis
high strategy. Germany and Japan have tHe same
distance and equally difficult obstacles to overcome.
NEXT WEEK: Global Map- “The Russian Front”