THE NEXT MOVE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 238, 15 November 1940, Page 4

THE NEXT MOVE

THE crushing blow dealt the Italian fleet by units of the Royal Navy has demonstrated to the world the fad; that Great Britain is still in a, position to fulfil her pledges to those she guarantees. One third of the Italian fleet is now inoperative while the damage to other craft will probably render them ineffective for many months to come. The position of the belligerents is now at a most interesting stage, that is, if we can view it apathetically. The Bully of the Balkans has temporally at least, met his deserts at the hands of the hardy Greek mountaineers. The disorderly retreat of the invaders can scarcely be expected to lift the morale of the Italian army, nor will it restore Hitler's confidence in the prowess of his allies. The defeat of the Fascist forces may however furnish the marching order for the twenty Nazi divisions now massed on the southern Rumanian borders. These divisions, made of harder material and infinitely better organised and equipped will take a much stronger defence to withstand. On the other hand however the British fleet after silencing the naval forces of II Duae will have a freer hand in the disposition of its ships and can therefore be expected to play a mucji greater part in blocking the invaders than was possible heretofore. If the German army moves forward it will be imperative that the gallant Greeks be given the maximum help in the minimum space of time. Sea, land and air forces will be needed to withstand the drive to the Sea of Marmora and the Bosporus which opens the way to the heart of Asia and Arabia. In the meantime Molotoff, the Soviet Prime Minister, holds conversations with the Nazi Dictator, 'the same freak set of circumstances governing the meeting as those which .brought about the partitioning of martryed Poland in 1939. Soviet Russia has declared an unofficial truce with Japan and the soldiers of the Mikado are steadily withdrawing from southern China, despite the mortifying 'loss of face' entitled in the process- What is the. meaning of this? Japan has declared that in spite of her allegiance to the Axis powders she will not be a,n active participant in the European struggle unless called upon. Will she. be called upon now, to play the part of a diverting sideshow. A study of the situation reveals that possibility! The Nazi blitzkrieg of Eng land has run its course, settling down now to spasmodic visits by small groups of aircraft. In the Mediterranean, Italy has blundered, her harassed legions streaming back to the coast in their retreat before the Greeks who in their turn have become the invaders of Albania. Is this the time when the third member of the Axis powers will be called upon to act and how? The events of the next few days will tell. '