Sept. 27, The capture of Hankow, a probability which Japanese military plans is regarded as foregone conclusion, represents the end of the fourth phase of the Japanese campaign in China, True, many predictions have gone astray in a conflict which has produced astonishing contradictions of preconceived ideas, and many anticipations have suffered in the process of timely fuldlment, but the ultimate possession of Hankow and its two sister cities, Hanyang and Wuchang, is a matter of little doubt, Even General Chiang Kai-shek himself has no illusions on this score and has prepared his army and his people to be prepared for the worst, although the surrender of these three important ollies in the heart of China will follow only after ithe bitterest resistance as the course of the conflict in recent weeks has shown: The Wuhan group may be a valuable prize for the Japanese, but it will be costly because the full resources of China's armed resistance fare in play against the invader. In their advance up the Yangtze into Central China with a greatly-reinforced army, the Japanese, to quote their own communiques, are making "steady progress" for every inch of territory is being contested with proportionate effort and sacrifices on both sides. The thrust into Honan has brought them to Loshan, a few miles from Sinyang, the city on the Peiping-Hankow Railway about 100 miles north of Hankow, but those few miles to Sinyang are strongly held and Gen, Chiang has concentrated heavy reinforcements, with mechanized units and artillery, to stem their advance. Little progress has been made along the river and on the immediate north bank since the forcing of the latest boom and the advance into East Hupeh which places the Japanese in control of what they prefer to call the most direct route to Hankow. South of the Yangtze, operations of the last week or two are clouded by an obscurity which suggests that the tremendous momentum gathered in the push down the Kiukiang-Nanchang Railway towards Tehan has been dissipated, and probably the nature of the terrain is responsible for this inactivity and, consequently, lack of reports. A new point of pressure, however, {is developing farther to the west in the vicinity of Yangsin where the Japanese are attacking vigorously.
These are the developments of recent days and it is natural to assume that as the Japanese approach their last objective, which is defended by an army 6f 600,000 men in difficult territory specially prepared and exploited for defensive purposes, military opposition goes hand-in-hand with caution and the desire to eliminate any uncertainty in plans of attack, and therefore the slow progress, contrasting with the spectacular dashes in the earlier stages of the campaign, explicable, Once in Hankow, the question of Japan's future intentions arises. In the bombastic and vindictive verbal barrages fired at Gen. Chiang by various of Japan' Teaders, it has been stated that the Japanese will pursue their campaign to Chungking anywhere in China where he chooses (0 establish his headquarters and will not rest until his power {s broken and he is overthrown, These statements, of course, are 0 bbe treated with considerable reserve because in the existing state of uncompromising hostility, plus a rapidly-increasing war bill for the Japanese taxpayer, even it Hankow does fall it means merely another advanced post for Japan and heavier commitments in the additional occupied territory. Even less likely than at any time in the conflict a1 the present prospects for a decisive victor although the extension of Japanese control In China is inevitable, Both sides are feel the strain, A. Chinese Economic Mission Washington is discussing measures to protect the dollar in the expectation of protracted hos-{ilities, Japan, which has already dug heavily into its reserves, is faced with an extraordinlary military expenditure of Y.3,250,000,000 for ithe next fiscal year with a considerably lower trading revenue to provide it. And [both countries are adamant in their asseverations that they will continue to the bitter Straws in the wind are not lacking to indicate other possibilities, It appears evident (Continued on page 531)
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.