Show I WEEKLY NEWS MEWS ANALYSIS By By Edward C. C Wayne Russian Army Plan an for or Slowing Blitz Follows Chinas China's Retreating Technique Churchill Hails Soviet as Real ea Ally Extension o of Draftee Service Sought I EDITORS EDITOR'S NOTE When NOTE When opinions are expressed In these columns column they are those inose of or the ine news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper Released by Western Newspaper Union I Ir r OWl 0 I i ir iw A r w I I I y d y 1 6 I q j s y w I 1 Y I j i f I tJ Deeper Into Russia than their companions companions but but unarmed unarmed these these Invading invading in invading in- in Nazi soldiers are marched off oft to a a. Red prison camp after capture Somewhere on the eastern front That headed bald shirt-clad shirt panzer trooper fourth from left in the front line looks out of place among his companions who seem to be shock-headed shock boys BEAR On Defense The Russian Bear no matter what the might say was obviously putting up a hard fight before the advancing German mechanized mechanized mech mech- forces and the British who had taken the quick defeat of Russia Russia Russia Rus Rus- sia as a foregone conclusion were beginning to cheer Churchill who had been through three previous milder stages of hailing hailing hailing hail hail- ing Russia as a companion In arms finally and very bluntly told the house of commons of course Russia Russia Russia Rus Rus- sia is an ally of Britain One of the signs that the Reds' Reds defense defense defense de de- de- de of their homeland was vigorous vigor vigor- ous and not without military merit came from an official admission on the part of Germanys Germany's high command command command com com- mand that the Nazi armies had hurled back a considerable counter counter- a attack tta ck solvers naturally saw in hi this admission proof that the Russian armies were actually fighting fighting fighting fight fight- ing and battling to some purpose in their gradual withdrawal to the Stalin line and perhaps further to the interior Washington observers cautioned I against too much faith in hi an eventual al Russian victory however unless the defenders would be able to withdraw withdraw withdraw with with- draw their armies with much of their equipment intact into that hinterland broadly described as the Urals As in the Battle of France it was conceded that the French would have had a chance of immobilizing the war only if they were willing willingto to give up Paris and other cherished cherished cherished cher cher- cities and move backward with the assault harassing the advancing advancing advancing ad ad- Nazis and softening their blows riding with the punches as the boxing phrase has it This was the technique which enabled enabled enabled en en- to make a year old war of position out of the Japanese blitz of 1937 in China It was the same technique which observers in this country were recommending for Russia There was nothing In dispatches to show that the Reds were not doing doing doing do do- ing just that save that no city of ot vital Importance like Leningrad Moscow or Kiev had yet fallen though Germans claimed they had passed the latter It was impossible In view of conflicting conflicting conflicting con con- claims to determine with even probable accuracy and allowing allowing allowing allow allow- ing for a wide margin of error to figure the price being paid by either side in the Russo-German Russo war If It German claims were to be believed believed believed be be- Russia had left only a fragmentary fragmentary fragmentary frag frag- part of her motorized equipment and her air force If Russia were to be believed Germany was reduced to using canvas tanks and mere boys to operate them But even the German ques admitted Russia still had hundreds hundreds hundreds hun hun- of tanks in action and hundreds hundreds hundreds hun hun- of planes and the Reds' Reds bombing activities were reported from neutral points to be hitting targets tar- tar gels gets far within Rumania and far within Finland The actual facts of the war however however however how how- ever remained continually clouded in mystery despite the fact that correspondents correspondents correspondents cor cor- respondents finally were admitted to Moscow which also installed a wave short radio to give out war news to the United States and other countries HOPKINS To London Harry Hopkins President Roosevelt's Roosevelt's Roosevelt's Roose Roose- velt's trouble shooter and confidant confidant confidant dant was being sent to London again While there was little definite in information information information in- in formation readily available as to the reason for Hopkins' Hopkins second trip to I England it was recalled that only the other day in the house of commons com com- commons mons there had been some bitter statement over the handling of American plane purchases MARSHALL l His Hw Plan Gen George C. C Marshall chief of staff of ot the U. U S. S army urged two two major points before congress congress' senate senate senate sen sen- ate military affairs committee and apparently the President was willing willing willing will will- ing to go along with one but not with the other Point No 1 was that the should be kept in hi uniform longer than a calendar year from the time of ot their induction He wanted this restriction removed by congress from the selective service law Point No 2 was that he wanted the restrictions removed ordering that could serve only in inthe inthe inthe the Western hemisphere The President President President dent apparently was willing to exert exert exert ex ex- ert some White House pressure on congress to get the second provision passed However early polls of senatorial reactions to both points were unfavorable unfavorable unfavorable though a majority of those questioned question l reported themselves undecided undecided undecided un decided and preferring to hear the debate The question had broadly resolved itself into how large an army the U. U S S. S should have and how long it takes to train a soldier General Marshall also made the point that the had been poured into all army units with the result that if they were sent home after a year these units would suffer suffer suf sui- suiI suf- I fer dismemberment JAPAN IOn i iOn On the Verge The sudden resignation of the Japanese Japanese Japanese Jap Jap- anese cabinet together with many dispatches quoting the indefinite diplomatic sources seemed to indicate indicate indicate in in- that Nippon might be on the verge of some important step in world affairs What this might be remained hidden hidden hidden hid hid- den though British statements seemed to hint that Japan might be contemplating a move into Indo- Indo China A secondary guess was that Japan might be planning a token assault assault assault as as- sault on Russia's east coast coast- Siberia perhaps to attempt to close I the port of Vladivostok Vladivostok name name fa famous famous famous fa- fa in hi the Russian Japanese war I at the turn of the century I The quitting cabinet is the one which put Soviet Russia in into o the I Rome-Berlin Rome axis and also strangely strange strange- ly enough into a neutrality accord with Russia I The government was almost exactly exactly exactly ex ex- a year in hi office so It could not be charged with the stalemate te in China In fact it was not organized to do anything about bout the Chinese war There was little that could be said surely about the situation some holding that the cabinet resignation resignation resignation tion meant that Japans Japan's whole foreign foreign foreign for for- eign policy would be reoriented in hi view of the Russian German-Russian war Whether this would mean that the next government would be more pro-German pro or whether Japan was getting ready to withdraw from all European commitments could hardly hardly hardly hard hard- ly be told Certain It was that in Tokyo was was a little group of Nazis who were said to have dominated the last cabinet cabinet cabinet cab cab- inet and to have been urging the strongest possible intimidation of America In n the Pacific in order to occupy the United States so strongly strong strong- ly with the West coast that aid to Britain might be minimized ROOSEVELT Nazi Names The German press in its previous references to this country had been relatively mild On the contrary the papers were now with each other to use strong language about President Roosevelt The President said one paper Is circling like a vulture over the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands Another said Roosevelt has raised gangster- gangster Ism to be a symbol in hi politics I I I I I SYRIA Now British The victory of the British and Free French In Syria being somewhat somewhat somewhat some some- what dwarfed by the news from Russia and the war developments in ip this country seemed to receive only minor mention in the American press though the British were getting getting getting get get- ting more solid satisfaction out of it than had appeared on the eve of the armistice Some of the terms began to come overseas and It was significant that they called for the turning over to the British of or all arms except those belonging to individuals including ships and planes Paris was quick to report that all aU planes and ships had escaped capture capture capture cap cap- ture though this dispatch coming from German-controlled German territory was somewhat discounted Churchill summed up the advantages advantages advantages of the Syrian victory briefly as removing to a greater distance the threat to Suez also the fact that some of the disaster of Crete had been overcome in that the air base on the island of Cyprus now could be protected The Germans heavily heavily heavily ily engaged with Russia however seemed in no hurry to try another air conquest from Crete to Cyprus That the Germans' Germans air position inthe In Inthe inthe the eastern Mediterranean was sufficiently sufficiently sufficiently suf suf- strong was indicated in the sinking sulking of a British small naval vessel of 1200 tons by air fire the survivors reporting that they were attacked by 80 dive bombers at one time Their convoy escaped with supplies destined for tor beleaguered beleaguered beleaguered be be- garrison Most important of the Syrian armistice armistice armistice ar ar- ar- ar terms was the choice to be offered to French residents civilian and military as to whether they would be deported to French territory territory territory terri terri- tory or whether they would join the Free French government under British mandate R. R RAF A. A F. F Business as U Usual The Royal Air force stepping up Its bombing scale steadily reported as one day of business as usual the dropping of 1500 tons of bombs on cities in Germany and occupied countries The British were claiming that these attacks were at least as severe as any Britain had had to withstand during the hey day of the German onslaught from the air and that they would get stronger as time wore on One contrast between the Nazis' Nazis blitz of London and other British objectives and the British attack on Germany and occupied countries was in the photographic evidence Outside of one or two pictures sent out from Germany showing fire tire firefighters firefighters fighters atop buildings in Berlin the country might as well be entirely unscathed as far as picture evidence evidence evidence evi evi- dence would go Whereas the American newspapers newspapers newspapers news news- papers had carried literally thousands thousands thousands thou thou- sands of photographs of raid air effects effects effects ef ef- in England from the digging out of the dead and wounded to the damage that was done to Westminster Westminster Westminster West West- minster Abbey and the tower from which BigBen chimes out the hours The reason was that the British took the pictures of their own damage damage damage dam dam- age and the censors permitted them to be sent out So the United States got a view of what modern war was like The Germans permitted two or three such pictures to get to this country but for more than a year nothing of the kind was shown and andas as the air attacker cant can't get low enough to photograph his own damage dam dam- age age it it didn't look as though any would get out Among the targets were Bremen Cologne and other big centers of rail and steamship traffic And the British assumed that 1500 tons of their bombs would wreak about the same havoc on Bremen as the same weight of German bombs had on London Churchill summed it up when he said that he believed if the British people were permitted to vote on whether bombings of cities would continue or be stopped by both sides they would vote NO NOl I And his audience audience audi audio ence cheered to the echo |