| Show I day y Battle for Philippine Isles Likely to Be Short and Bloody B By J. J M. M Roberts Jr Substituting for DC DeWitt Witt Macken Macken- zie Japanese reports that the reoccupation of the Philippines has begun begun be be- gun fit tit perfectly into the picture of the Pacific war which has been building up for some time Whether the Leyte gull action Is actually a part of oC a general in invasion invasion in- in or merely a preliminary is of little moment Either way it means that within a comparatively short time MacArthur will have kept his promise to return Never before beCore in world history has there been such sueh a n battle as that for tor the Philippines which is actually what the entire Pacific war has amounted to so far Japanese lap Jap anese outposts have been pushed back baek gradually for thousands of ot miles to prepare for lor this action Defense Arc Even Admiral Halseys Halsey's activities activities activities of or the last few days in a comparatively small corner of at the great ocean ocean have been staged on ona ona ona a a scale to stagger the tion lion He has thrown a great arc of at protection between the Philippines Philippines Philippines Philip Philip- pines and Japan destroyed enemy planes and with them the threat of aerial counteraction sunk or damaged ships and smashed many of the bases from which both operated Now history's greatest fleet and greatest floating air force can be placed at the disposal of MacAr MacAr- thur It brings the climax of two long years of fighting a cunning enemy in the jungles of the southwest Pacific with one hand while buildIng buildIng building build- build Ing slowly and bitterly under the handicaps of priorities for tor Europe the striking force for the tIle return to the hallowed fortresses around Manila Blood Bloody Battle t The battle battle will be bloody but we can hope it will not be long The fhe Japanese have never been abl able to entrench themselves firmly firmly firmly firm firm- ly In the central and southern Philippines where native guerillas and even some somo Americans have continued resistance South of Manila the action can be expected expect expect- ed to resemble very closely that on the individual islands which have been made the stepping stones for forthe forthe forthe the return Once recovered as a base for tor further operations against Japan the Philippines will prove the key Jey to the whole Pacific war The re resources resources resources re- re sources of the Indies Sumatra and Malaya on which the Japanese have depended will be largely cut cutoff off |
