Surprise has often been expressed at the seemingly poor showing made by guerilla warfare in north China, and specially as regards the destruction of the railway lines. This would appear to be due partly to the Lack of organizing ability, inherent in the Chinese character,"and partly tothe: Incke of support by the Central Government in the way of explosives ana munitions generally. One of the rea-sore. given why te rallware were! Often "spared by the guerillas is; typical of the whole nature of Sincapanese relations In those, parts.
"As tre Japanese, presumably owing to shortage of man-power, lack suf-/ ficient troops to patrol the lines effec= tively, the little patrol work that done is left to the Chinese levies that! they have trained. As a result, te guerillas enjoy complete freedom communication across the Peiping-Hankow Railway line, for instances, trid thereby access from their monn< jain districts to the central alain of Finpel, and vies versa. They cross and recross the line at will. All they ave to do is to give dus notice of the time and their numbers to the nearest patrol of Chinese levies. And fs the Jatter have not the slightest Intention of risking their skins in Aghting their own countrymen, they. take care to keep at a discreet dis tance during the passage of the Curiously enough, the Japanese military authority seem quite con tent with this state of things, of which they are fully aware. But it will be realized that it is a policy that cuts both ways. If it gives the guerillas a free passage across the Tine, it also guarantees a certain amount of security for the railway, Which could otherwise only be ensured by Increasing enormously the Tapanese forces of occupation.
Process of Attrition these parts the so-called guerillas) either form a direct part of the Eighth Route Army or are a semlindependent unit attached to it. The} chief military idea of the leaders of} that army is, what in the last Great War was called the process of attri-than, 'This, 100, is almost the only way' in which they are able to replenish their supplies of arms, munitions and clothing. " And after some of the un~ successful Japanese invasions, whole arry-loads of arms and munitions have been captured. Whether their claims as to the results of this friction polley are overestimated or not, It is certainly true that a steady' stream of the fatal boxes with ashes, continues to pass northwards over the Peiping-Hankow railway and out by sea to Japan.
"Not many prisoners have been taken anywhere by either side in this war. But a few dozen Japanese prisoners! are to be met with In some of the larger places on the mountain distelets. "Contrary to the Japanese: atrocity stories, they are quite well treated by their captors of the Eighth Route Army, in fact exactly the same tac the ordinary Chinese soldier. Their only. punishment, if so it canbe} called, Is that they are put through 1 course of anti-Imperialism and anti-'Aggression, which is meant to teach them the wickedness of the military. party in Japan, 'When their conversion is considered complete, they are sent back to the 'Japanese' lines, generally in groups ofa dozen or' so, in the hope that they will spread the good news of their good treatment by their Chinese captors and the doctrine of antiaggression among their fellow-soldiers. As the'Japanese often court= martial their own returned prisoners, seems doubtful how far such methods are effective as propaganda. Doubtless a certain amount leaks out about the favourable treatment of Japanese prisoners of war by the Chinese, whereas their own army punishes them on their return, which Morale Sald Poorer Anyhow, in Chinese circles the! view is held that the morale of the Japanese soldier Is nowadays much poorer than it was at the beginning Of the war, and that they surrender much more readily than they used todo. 'This, even if true, may be due as much to the falling-of in the' Quality of the Japanese recruits as to the attempts fo regenerate the Japanese prisoners, of war.
The existence of these large blocks of unconquered territory, running Ambassador Arrives In Chungking Chungking, Jan. 4.
After a brief delay owing to £o% Sir Archibald Kerr, the British Am-Bassadior, and his party anyed ere today by air from Hongkong: "Among those waiting at the airfield to greet the Ambassador were the staff of the British Embassy and Consulate, and representatives of the Chinese Foreign OMe.
Sir Archibald Kerr was accom: panied by Lady Kerr, Mr. P. Brond-Mead, Counsellor of the Embassy, who will remain in Chungking head of the British Diplomatic mission here, and Mr. J. Alexander, his private secretary.
Due to a heavy fog, the plane cir eled above Chunking for nearly two hours before it finally succeeded in landing.
Although the Ambassador's trin ts cone of is routine visits to the capital of the country to which he Is accredited, it 1s attracting consider. able attention, as it has been reported that Sir Archibald Kerr may bring ur the question of the Tientsin silver reserve.
Furthermore, his arrival here coin. cides with the largest gathering of foreign diplomats in Chungking, with the French and Soviet Ambassadors already here and the United States Ambassador cue here shortly.
Other diplomats in Chungking include the" Turkish Minister, the Chilean Charge @'Affaires, and the German, Italian, Belgian and Nether: lands representatives—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.