Show our japanese foes are proving themselves to be original sly progressive and fanatical fighters sons of nippon educated Edu dated and trained for new type of war now being waged by WALTER SHEAD Vas washington hington correspondent washington when you read that all organized resistance si has ended on leyte samar mindoro or any other 0 of f the thousands of islands in the philippines or the micronesian or melanesian archi in the southwest pacific you will know that general macarthurs Mac Arthurs yanks have met and beaten a well trained well equipped fanatical foe that meets the american soldier on equal terms in almost every fighting quality these sons of nippon are hardened in endurance trained in repression wild and cunning steeped in militarism from early boyhood and brought up under a system of feudalism which has disciplined them into acceptance of the condic lion that to die for their emperor Is the highest duty ol of a good soldier what the japanese soldier lacks and what the american soldier possesses Is resourcefulness and individual initiative when the japs are committed to a plan they always follow it to the end even it if it becomes apparent within a short time after the fighting starts that some plan would be more effective when an officer Is killed the initiative of the entire unit Is impaired unless some other officer of f equal rank appears to take his bis place the system of feudalism which characterizes japanese life would be incomprehensible to most americans his station in society and his every act are fredet predetermined for aim contrary to the common fallacy that japs japp are more stolid than ether persons he is a highly emo k 0 this ibis captured jap 70 mm howitzer bears a model number prior to 1936 1930 Nip pons major weakness Is in its artillery especially in variety construction st and in marksmanship of crew this howitzer was used as a booby trap dional person and this system of feudalism which trains him in repression accounts for his tendency to blowup blow up in tight places italio it also accounts in part for the futile death charges which seem to have become characteristic of the japanese when they are admittedly beaten the lifelong life long repression and the resultant inhibitions also account forthe or the arrogance of the jap soldier in victory and conversely for or his y to fly to pieces in defeat iiara hara kirl Is in no DO way a sign of cowardice on the part of the jap soldier for by this peculiarly painful method of committing suicide he is actually in his bis own mind telling his bis emperor a deml divine personage person aee that he has done all he be can for him and Is now presenting him with his own life the most widely believed popular fallacy concerning the japanese Is that they are an imitative rather than a creative people japanese inventiveness is considerable and is limited only by a scarcity of technically trained manpower and by machine power the army endorses the viewpoint that the jap soldier is a good fighting man and the belief that he is a stupid ini insensate peasant Is according to the war department completely erroneous japanese army reduced the japanese army today numbers approximately men to ro date american troops have almost japanese troops while sustaining about casualties themselves total japa rv Q V k vp I 1 Z jap fighters will tenaciously and fanatically bold on to defensive Posit loft without thought of the cost in life here it was necessary to use a flame thrower on the nips note the GI in the lift foreground with rifle poised to knock off the first one who pops up ne nese a e losses in killed alone since 1937 total approximately more than jap soldiers are now isolated through action of general macarthur and the pacific fleet in island pockets removed from battle relief or rescue the war department part ment says says that the japs are nowhere near the bottom of the barrel in fighting reserves and can equip and train more soldiers without seriously affecting war production manpower reserves this does not include the added millions who might be recruited from subject nations comparison of the average japanese soldier with the average american shows the jap a much smaller man physically he is 5 feet 3 inches tall tail and weighs pounds he can lift pounds with his feet together bringing the weight to his knees to shoulder and then to his back the average american so soldier I 1 is about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs pounds military training raining of the jap soldier begins at the age of eight years along with his regular education if at that time he is mentally and physically fit educationally tio nally the background of the typical japanese professional soldier Is as high as that of the typical ical american fighting man the regular professional jap soldier has had bad ahe equivalent of two years of high school education which equals the median level of the average american soldier in this war able to read and write in japan is per cent of the adult population and between 40 and 50 percent of c all a I 1 japanese soldiers have studied english while between 20 and 25 per cent speak english efficiently the cunning of the J is indicated in their employment 0 of f ruses auses in their operations A few encountered to date include employment of lighted cigarettes firecrackers barking dogs and moving vehicles to lead defenders to believe the main attack would be made use of the english language to confuse our soldiers use of the name of certain individuals and when the person addressed showed himself be was shot use of booby traps on dead allied and japanese troops to detonate when the body was moved placing a dead allied soldier in a conspicuous place with in an automatic weapon covering it thus when allied troops attempted to remove the body they were shot when badly wounded or apparently dead japanese troops have produced hand grenades from their clothing and attempted to kill medical personnel going to their aid use of the white flag of truce to get close to allied troops japanese conscription laws peacetime conscription of japanese calls tor for two years of military service tor for all males between the ages of 17 and 40 except tor for physically unfit and those guilty of tain crimes military training begins with physically able bodied children at the age 0 of eight third grade pupils who get at least two hours of drill weekly army youth louth soldiers 14 and 15 years begin an apprenticeship in military training and when they become of age they are rated by the army as superior privates later they are made into lance corporals and upon graduation from rom school become corporals after six years service the corporal may become a sergeant major and upon ten years service he Is promoted to warrant officer one of the distinguishing characteristics te of the japanese soldier is his hardiness and special patrols starting at t midnight have been known to cover 60 miles by the next afternoon marching constantly without rest periods an entire battalion can march more than 20 miles a day the principle of no retreat is a part of this training g and a small detachment caught in a tight place cannot appeal tor for reinforcements the officer in charge may make a report of his predicament but the matter of insisting upon reinforcement is beyond his prerogatives the unwritten law of the japanese army Is that any soldier captured by the enemy must atone for his disgrace later by committing suicide rigid training of commissioned and noncommissioned officers is carried out at several army schools and although the system is narrow and arbitrary and inflexible in its system of indoctrination it is pro gres sive thorough and modern however its rigidity often ha has a in habited originality in thought and a d ac tion the schools include the mill tary academy six military prepare tory schools and four non commis stoned officers schools the japanese constitution pro vides that the emperor is command er in calef of the army and navy that he determines their tion and that he be declares war makes peace and concludes treaties he is advised by two military coun oils the board of marshals and ad and the supreme militar council to date a major japanese weakness has been in artillery especially in variety concentration and marksmanship weapons over 47 mm captured to date bear model numbers earlier than 1936 japan has had access to german designed weapons for some years and it may be assumed that guns embodying german features may soon be encountered japanese engineers are well equipped and have shown ing ability both in construction and demolition of bridges on the other hand airfields and roads so far encountered have not been up to allied standards in speed of construction or serviceability construction of field fortifications has been highly developed and even at remote points jap engineers have been successful in constructing first class defense positions from material immediately available weight of the ration tor for japanese soldiers as compared with americans Is about two thirds or slightly over four pounds the average ration in active theaters Is about 5 3 pounds and because of supply failure this ration has bas often been reduced to a half or a third of that amount the standard or normal ration consists largely of rice and barley fresh meat and fish fresh vegetables and various condiments and flavorings every american soldier has learned by experience that the japs are hard fanatical fighters and in defensive action will often hold out to the last man they place a low value on human life and do not count the loss in taking an objective our war with the japs has further taught us that the japs know of no such thing as impassable terrain that speed Is one of their cardinal tactical principles they take full advantage of natural cover and understand der stand thoroughly the importance of camouflage one thing however although they believe strongly in sudden offensive action they often attack prematurely and despite their extensive training and confidence in the bayonet they have not been outstanding in close combat |