EFFECT OF CHINESE WAR

Chronicle (Levin), 14 June 1947, Page 3

EFFECT OF CHINESE WAR

SAPPING NATIONAL TROOPS' MORALE NEW YORK, June 12. Cliinoso Government and CommuniHt fcroops liave battled each other into a temporary stalemate on the centrai Shantung front 100 miies' north oi' Ilsuchow, sayS the New- York Times ' correspondent. The -Nationalist offensive aimed at cleariiig the Commuh'ists from the hugc slab of territory east of the Iisuchow-Tsinan. railway and south of the Tsinan-Tsingtad railway came to a halt short of its o'bjective. Nationalist headquarters are non-committal about when the Government troops wilJ restart moving forWard;~ The NationaliStSinow hold .the .railway from Hsuehow north to Tsi'nan aild most of Shantung' west of the failway.i East of the railway Nationalist coiumns pushing noi'thwArds'ffoin^Lifii'diave advanced to positions south •' of .. Megyin, Ishui and Chuhsien atnd ha ve 'been halted by heavy losses>: fsupply ; difiiCiilties, faltering inorale and Gommunists ' guer-; rilla attacks in the r6ar. Thej (Jqmmpnistk' d'estfuctiqA, of ihe. eraclc Govexmmeht-7'4t|h pivisiori.dnd thhcapture oif lmlch! bf itis/Aifierieqibequip-! ment bast of . •Mie^gyifi lhat ' mqiith as: one. of the hig; rpaSons "f ai-f;th.e cess9.ti;o^' of the!* Gove'fnmeiit d'rive. This' uni'f pushed ahead too rapidly and without reconnaissance in a raid attack on what was believed to be the Commnnist heailquarters. It was cut off and surrounded by superior numbers. The Communist victory over this firstrate Government contingent underlined what the Nationalist forces have long been discovering in Shantung — that the Oonnnunists' new Fourth Army is a tough. cunni'ng and elusive foe whose specialty is rending communication lines. The Communist main- fprce in Shantung has not yet been brought to battle although the 'Nationalists have sometimes caught large numbers and inflicted lieavy casualties. The communists seem well if lightiy armed, mostly from equipment captured during last year from Government troops. The inconclusiveness of the warfare in Shantung and the long vista of a continued struggle is affeeting the Nationalist troops ' morale and the tendency to surrender is becoming increasingly noticeable. A Nanking message states that Nationalist forces have recaptured' Peitashan in -Sinkiang Province 50 miles from the Outer Mongolian border, but fighting contiuues, according to tlio Chinese Centrai News Agency. Other Dispatches report that the Outer Mongolian invaders have been repulsed 50 miles inside the Mongolian border bnt airc'raft with Soviet markings continued to bomb Chinese positions at Pietashan. China Legislative Yuan today demanded 'a firmer policy toward Russia as a result of the Mongolian invasion. Meanwhile Chiang Kai-shek has ordered the Minister of National Defence to fly to Tihwa, the capital of Sinkiang, in an attempt to eonsolidate the Chine.se forces. The Associated Press correspondent said that Russian sources in Nanking had confirmed tlie report that the Soviet had trained and equipped a moderp army in Outer Mongolia, ineluding a small but efficient air force. Some forces viewed the 'Mongolian invasion as a manifesthtion that China was in . danger- of losing, Sinkiang Province under Soviet stimulated demands for its. autonomy. . ...