Show Round Merry By Drew Pearson and Robert S. S A Allen len WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Basic Basic fact to be rem remembered remembered em- em about the increasingly dangerous war situation sitS situation situation sit sit- S is that Hitler has to to win this spring or not at all aU That is why he heis is placing all his chips on a front four-front offensive in which Britain will willbe willbe be the object of attacks from the sea the Pacific Pacific Pacific Pa Pa- the Balkans and Spain What will be the outcome no expert can even guess but here is the he way the swiftly changing war arena shapes up p at present S The Far East Japan probably will not risk war with the United States She is too weak from long years of fighting in China and her navy is not what its it's cracked up to be So when the zero hour comes Japan will probably confine herself to raiding shipping around Singapore which is of vital importance to the British supply stream also to American tin and rubber supplies Japanese feints toward Australia may keep a certain number of British warships out of the Mediterranean disastrous at a time ime when Britain Britain Brit Brit- am ain will need every possible ship What worries Japan most is the large number of U. U S. S submarines bas based d at Manila Manila about about 60 and and the secret maneuvering of a large part of the U. U S. S battle fleet somewhere in the Pa Pa- Whereabouts of these ships purposely is kept vague but they probably could get to Singapore Ore in less than thana a week week and and the Japanese Japanese Japanese Jap Jap- anese know it A strong U. U S S. hand in the Pacific can keep Japan in m check check but but also it carries grave risks of war S t Italy 1 S There is increasing evidence of a cracking axis The conference between Franco and Mussolini Mussolini Mussolini Mus Mus- is one symptom Apparently Hitler knew nothing about this conference in advance nor S did Mussolini u olini know o any anything hinga hing a about the he confer conier- ence between the Yugoslavs and and Hitler H British strategy has been to concentrate all their fire upon Italy as s the weakest member of the axis thus try to pick off their enemies one at a time In this they have come close to succeeding There are definite indications that Italy would accept peace today if 1 it did not net mean the complete end of Mussolini and 2 if it did not mean that Germany would take over Italy The Balkans The weakness of Italy is the main reason for the burst of German speed in Bulgaria and Yu Yugoslavia oslavia aimed toward the conquest of Sa- Sa on the Aegean sea If and when the nazis take nazis take that key port they can spread throughout the Greek isles them as air and submarine bases for disrupting disrupting disrupting dis dis- dis- dis the British navy in the Mediterranean also for blasting Suez At present the nazis have about 1000 planes in Bulgaria against about British planes in Greece With Turkish help the British arid Greeks could stand off the German army for weeks perhaps indefinitely But without either TurkIsh Turkish Turkish Turk Turk- ish or Yugoslav help the Greeks and British are beaten before they start Russia Russia is the key to developments in the Balkans and the Soviets hope that neither the British nor the nazis will win A long drawn out war leaving an aftermath of economic turmoil turmoil turmoil tur tur- moil is Stalin's goal Last fall when Germany considered going through Bulgaria Russia tipped the balance against Hitler and for the British by supporting Bulgaria Now that the British have the edge in inthe inthe inthe the Balkans Russia is tipping the scales toward Hitler I Gibraltar f y yIt t It is difficult to confirm wh what t h happened during during dur dur- ur- ur ing mg Francos Franco's recent but best information mation is that he opposes a tf German move through Spain to take Gibraltar Whenever Hitler Hitler Hit Hit- ler decides to move through Spain however Franco will be helpless to oppose him The North Atlantic For Britain the Atlantic ocean and the Engish English Eng Eng- lish ish channel form the most important front of all also the most dangerous The British isles now are so well fortified that optimism is justified if they have to resist actual invasion However Hitler can win his war without invasion and here is how he cando can cando cando do it The British shipping situation at present is nothing short of desperate Last year the British British Brit Brit- ish lost tons of shipping This year they estimate they will lose tons Reason for these losses is that the British navy is spread so thin in vital areas It has destroyers left but of them are used inthe in inthe inthe the Mediterranean and along the European coast from Norway down to North Africa This chain of destroyers and light cruisers is is necessary to prevent Germany from breaking the blockade Furthermore destroyers have to come into port for refueling repairs and to rest personnel British destroyer crews have seen such gruelling service that men inca of 20 now look 40 years old This apportionment of destroyers leaves only about ten plus a few light cruisers for convoy y work across the North Atlantic Result is that only three or four destroyers accompany a convoy and convoys now consist of around 60 shi ships moving so slowly that it takes' takes two weeks for them to cross German planes are able to fly out locate the position of the slow-moving slow convoy then notify nazi submarines |