BLOW AWAITED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20919, 20 October 1942, Page 5

BLOW AWAITED

U.S. FORCES DEPLOY SOLOMONS FRONT JAP. ALL-OUT DRIVE AMERICAN NAVY SILENCE (By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copy right.) (Special Australian Correspondent.) (2.40 pim.) SYDNEY, Oct. 19. The Japanese attacking Gaudalcanar Island are expected to launch new sir and' nayal offensives as soon as their land'forces'are in position, but the fact that the United States Navy has given" definite statements oits observations of enemy operations until Friday indicates that the American forces are now deploying to meet a three-way attack and, if possible. decide the Solomons issue* once and for all. • This opinion is supported by the New York Times’ correspondent in -Washington. who says that although nothing can be announced of the American movements to meet the Japanese threat, observers have been encouraged by the latest communique report that after two days’ silence the United States planes were operating on Guadalcanar on Friday. “So long as the- defenders’ air strength is not 'Seriously, impaired, they, have a great advantage,” soys the correspondent. . The fact that the United States Navy is not likely to have been caught unprepared for the situation “which it must have anticipated and, indeed, desired to bring about,” is stressed by the Sydney Morning Hehald in a leading article. The paper says that effective aid can and will be sent to the besieged United States forces in the , j ' '". Americans Outnumbered ' The New York paper PM declares that the Japanese forces on Guadalcanar, including troops pulled from New Guinea, probably outnumber the reinforced American forces by at least 10 to one. - “Furthermore, the latest reports indicate that the Japanese have command 'of the sea as well as air supremacy,” PM warns. The only cheering notes are the statements of the Secretary of the Navy, Colonel F. Knox, .who expected that the. island could be held and Admiral Nimitz, Comfnander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, who is optimistic, even in face of the enemy out-gunning us to a ’dangerous extent.” The paper says that America is in considerable danger of losing one of the greatest actions' in the Pacific because Japan has temporarily shelved all other activities in this theatre. Not only have they concentrated the greatest naval force they ever risked, probably the full battle fleet, but they also hold overwhelming superiority in other departments. “The Japanese have apparently decided to make a test of their destiny in .the Solomons,” says the New York Herald-Tribune, predicting in an editorial that if Japan is initially repulsed she will keep cpming back with ever stronger forces. Strategic Loss to Japan

“The Japanese feel that, if they cannot recover these bits of territory, they are going to lose their new empirepiece by piece, and might as well know it now. The Japanese are well aware of the strategic loss suffered at Guadalcanar but they are more concerned over the psychological effect on their armed forces if they cannot retake this prize.

“One of Japan’s most precious military assets is the fixed belief that no power on earth • can take territory from them. This faith in Japan’s destiny as a conquering nation which enables a soldier to give his life in the knowledge that it .is buying his Emperor and people- everlasting aggrandisement, must be-kept untarnished at any cost.” The .Herald-Tribune says that if the Americans are thrown out of the Solomons Japanese morale would soar to unprecedented heights. The men commanding Japan’s counter-offensive no doubt feel ,that Japan’s whole future as a world Power is at stake and will take any chances, that such a consideration dictates.