Strain Showing?

The two prongs which the Japanese had thrust into the breast of China began to wither and recede. China's heart still beat.The Jap appeared to be frustrated.

For weeks during the spring and early summer Japanese armies had pushed along the Hangchow-Nanchang Railway. Their two great objectives had been: 1) a safe supply line by land all the way from Shanghai to their Indo-China bases; 2) destruction of air bases from which U.S. planes could bomb Tokyo. They were near to success when, instead of delivering the last killing blow, they faltered. Last week came reports of their slow withdrawal before desperate Chinese resistance.

Chinese had wrested back 135 miles of the Hangchow-Nanchang Railway, after a two weeks' siege occupied Linchwan. The Japanese burned and destroyed as they slowly retreated, as though they never expected to be back in that country.

Near the seacoast, they evacuated Wenchow. Before the Japs wrested the city from the Chinese more than a month ago, it was one of the only two sizable seaports left to China and, according to Domei, "an important secret Chinese supply base." Over its 10th-Century wall flowed smuggled Japanese goods for Free China, Chinese raw materials for Japan. More vexing to Japan's military leaders, it was only 180 miles from the northern tip of the island of Formosa, a vital troop center and training ground, and 650 miles (feasible bombing distance) from Japan. These were the reasons why the Japs occupied it. Nevertheless, they abandoned it.

The Chinese, looking for subtle reasons for these Japanese moves, turned their eyes to the north. Reports came of new activity along the Siberian border. The Japs, they calculated, intended to turn their backs on China for a while to fight another war. The Chinese also looked to the south. The Japs, they calculated, intended to stab at China's soft underside through Yunnan and Kwangsi Provinces.

There might be a simpler explanation: that the Japanese were actually as frustrated as they appeared. Aided by U.S. Army Air Forces* (TIME, Aug. 24), a Chinese Army was fighting with renewed confidence and vigor. Far to the south the U.S. had wrested bases from the Japs in the Solomons. It might be that extended Japanese lines were beginning to feel the strain, that Japanese strength in some quarters was beginning to weaken. But of this there was no certainty.

* Last week the U.S. augmented its small Far East Air Forces with new officer talent--46-year-old Brigadier General Clayton L. Bissell, World War I ace and one of the youngest of his rank. His command: the Tenth Air Force, which Major General Lewis Brereton headed before being transferred to the Near East. The Tenth, based in India, may operate also in China and Burma, reinforcing the commands of Brigadier General Claire Chennault.

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