Where Early Successes Were Misleading

Manawatu Times, Volume 67, Issue 210, 3 September 1942, Page 5

Where Early Successes Were Misleading

(By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) Received Wednesday, 8.35 p.m. NEW YORK, Sept. 1. “The Japanese are not so strong as their early victories would indicate, ’ declares Mr Josepa Harsch the Christian Science Monitor's noted correspondent wno has Just returned from cover.ng the Pacific war, “but," he adds, “they are sufficiently strong to fight a long, hard war demanding t.ie utmost exertion trom the Allies. "The Allies' defensive strategy plus Tokio's ability to use the same crack troops as spear.ieads for successive drives has given a misleading impression of the size and ability of t.ie Japanese army," Mr Harsch explains. “Actually japan seems to possess a relatively ..mall attacking force of first-line troops, one used the same men in Burma, ..saiay.., tne Philippines and the Netherands East Indies." Mr Harsch makes the following conantions: Firstly: The air battles in the Pacific »re trivial compared with those in Euope as tne Jap does not posses a large ..r force according to modern standards, one also lacks tne ability to make targe„cale replacements. Secondly: The Japanese H.gh Command .nows a surprising mastery of modern .trategy and tactics, but the junior om.ers nave not succeeded in eliminating v.ieir mediaeval outlooK. They are obsessed with a “do or die" determination •ind waste troops on impose. ble tasks. Thirdly: The Japanese nave succeeded at many points by very narrow margins. Fourthly: The Japanese have weakened themselves by dispersing their strength over too many points. “The Japanese are very serious in then intention and effort to take Australia, declared Mr. Otto Touschus, the war correspondent who recently returned from Tokio. He added: “The Japanese always included Australia in their greater co prosperity programme. The Japanese militarists felt that they must conque> Australia and Siberia in order to elimin ate such bases for attack. It seemed tha. the frequent bombings of Darwin indi# cateq that Darwin and North Australia were the Japanese first objective as a base."

Asked wnat likely plan the Japanese had in mind if they succeeded in occupying Australia, Mr. Tolischus said: “Undoubtedly the Japanese one single purpose in all captured countries is to utilise the existing institutions under Japanese top control and for Japanese profit, ultimately transforming them into complete ly Japanese institutions.”

Mr. Toli3chus pointed out, however, that the American occupation of the Solomons had changed the whole cutlook of the Japanese programme regarding Australia.