As an afterthought he surmised that the communists in their hints of a war with Japan were looking to the inevitable. The Japanese had failed to erect a buffer state in Eastern Siberia and now pinned their hopes to a buffer state in Northern Manchuria; but he does not believe that any buffer will prevent a conflict. When the conflict comes Japan's aim will be to reach Irkutsk. Failure to reach Irkutsk will mean defeat, while if Japan could reach Irkutsk the defeat of the Red army in Asia would be a fact.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.