OCR Text |
Show i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i ' FORWARD MARCH By H. S. Sims, Jr. VAST RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE SUPPORTS ANGLO-AMERICAN COMEBACK - NAVY THROTTLED JAPAN The wave of pessimism that swept over the United States in December as the Germans launched launch-ed their surprise counter-offensive has been succeeded by something some-thing like a similar wave of optimism opti-mism as mid-January war developments devel-opments present encouraging news from the various battlefronts on uf distance is to outproduce the enemy and to overwhelm him with mechanical supriority. To keep the long supply line packed and moving to the fronts in Europe and the Far East requires the utmost ut-most production. Any let-up in this country means gaps in the steady flow of munitions and this means unnecessary pauses in pressing the war against the enemy. ene-my. Nazi Collapse Not Impossible . . There is no way to forecast the result of the combination of attacks at-tacks that now encompass Germany. Ger-many. It may be that the Nazis will be able to fight longer than we think and certainly no high official has been willing to predict an early end to the stupendous struggle. At the same time it is worth watching to see just how much the German armies can stand before dissolving under the double-pounding that grinds man power to bits. No easy victory lies ahead. The war will be won only by destroying destroy-ing the will and power of the enemy ene-my to resist. In view of the recent re-cent revelation of Grman aggressiveness aggres-siveness the enemy may have reserves re-serves of unsuspected strength. Nevertheless, the sweep of the Red army towards German strains the Nazi to the utmost and they have no "safe" area from which to secure reinforcements.. The collapse col-lapse may be nearer than any of us believe. V. 8. Power Reaches To China . . . In the Pacific campaign the news that reaches America is as significant as that which comes from Europe. The amazing spectacle spec-tacle of naval aircraft bombing enemy convoys off French Indo-China Indo-China and cities along the eastern coast of China attests the complete com-plete domination of the sea by our air-fleet combination. Japan is an empire with her fate upon the supply lines that connect the home islands with conquered areas that must supply vital resources. This line to the islands of the South Pacific has been broken by the marauding Third fleet, under Admiral Hal- which our fighting men are engaged. en-gaged. The steady forward movement of Allied soldiers as they forced the Germans to give up their Belgian Bel-gian bulge, the announcement of casualty lists indicating that enemy ene-my losses were greater than our own and the resumption of the offensive of-fensive on the German border relegates rel-egates the German thrust to the, status of a big raid rather than a power drive to seek a decisive result. re-sult. Events on the Western front, Important as they are, however, faded into the background of relative rela-tive effect when the Russians launched their long-awaited offensive offen-sive in the east. The Red army scored notable gains, including the capture of Warsaw, and moved forward on a large front, successfully success-fully driving the Germans before them. Millions Of Russians Enrarcd . . . While captious critics of the Soviet in this country continue to find fault with the Russians the fact is that the employment of the full power of Russia, in an effort to score a decision, gives the Nazi high command its greatest great-est headache. The millions of men sey, and unless the Japanese fleet gives battle and wins the coils of the blockade will grow tighter and tighter. Battle On Lauzon Goes Well . . . On the Philippines the campaign cam-paign develops favorably with an unexpected failure on the part of the enemy to desperately defend the route from Lingayen Gulf to Manila. Our soldiers have advanced ad-vanced toward the capital of the islands with only minor opposition, opposi-tion, up to the time of writing, and the Japanese hav, so far, refrained re-frained from inviting a decisive battle. The foe has yielded valuable valua-ble defensive lines without a fight. There is a suspicion that some of the Japanese strength on Luzon Lu-zon was transferred to Leyte. Certainly, Cer-tainly, the aerial and naval control con-trol that we exercise around the islands will prevent the successful success-ful landing of reinforcements. The Japs are in the position that our men occupied in 1942, cut off from home bases and without hope of succor. All they can do is to fight a desperate battle of delay and then will come the inevitable end. engaged in the east mean heavy losses to the enemy at a time when he is under the fullest pressure in the west. The offensive of the Red army, coupled with the Allied campaign in the west, means that for the first time since the war began the Germans are facing powerful foes on two fronts. In addition the Russians are threatening to break out of Hungary and the situation in Italy is not one that permits the Nazis to consider withdrawal of any appreciable number of men. The Nazi position is worse than the picture drawn because of the continuing aerial offensive underway under-way from air bases in England and Italy. The rain of bombs that shatter German plants and installations, instal-lations, added to the superiority of our' tactical air forces, adds to the destructiveness of the war and thereby hastens the day when the industry of the foe will not be sufficient to maintain its armies in the field. Short Supply Routes Help. Nazis . . . The reader should not overlook the advantage that accrues to the Germans because of their shorter supply routes. Tanks and weapons weap-ons of all types made in German plants can be on the battlefields in a matter of days. The Nazis can thus utilize the full power of German industry. On our side it is necessary to ship supplies across the ocean and it is weeks between be-tween manufacture and use of weapons on the field. The only answer to the problem |