Times
1/9/66
ARMY STRENGTH
IN HONGKONG
AN ADEQUATE FORCE From Our Special Correspondent
HONGKONG, AUG. 31 Lieutenant-General F. W. Festing, Com mander-in-Chief Hongkong, announce at a Press conference to-day that the garrison was being built up according to plan and should soon be completed. Stil to arrive were two battalions of infantry (from The South Staffordshire Regiment and The King's Shropshire Ligh Infantry), a regiment of field artillery, one
Kanchow
KIANGSI
HUNAN
Lochang
Kukong
FUKIEN
Amoy
KWANGTUNG Hingning
Lungmoonyün
CANTON Waichow
watow.
West R.
wabue:
Масао
PHONGKONG:
(8/33)
Miles
50 100
of medium artillery, one of anti-aircraft artillery, and ancillary units. Nearly all these reinforcements were being disposed in new territories under the command of the 40th Division, which would become fully operational from September 1.
The troops were at various stages of training and acclimatization, and during the coming weeks would undergo a vigor- ous training programme designed to weld them into an efficient operational forma- tion. Emphasis was being laid on recon- naissance, so that all troops would know the terrain. Every day groups were going out on patrol.
Lieutenant-General Festing said that in his opinion there were three important respects in which the defence situation to-day differed from what it was in 1941 when the Japanese attacked Hongkong. First, the Japanese had control of the sea; second, they had almost complete control of the air; third, the British then had a small and insufficiently trained garrison instead of an adequate and well- balanced force such as existed to-day.
THIRTY-SIX CAMPS
Commenting on the comparative smallness of the target presented by the concentrated urban areas of Hongkong and Kowloon, he said that this also enabled defenders to achieve mach higher gun density, and the potential target area was surrounded by hills which pro- vided excellent gun and radar sites.
The administrative problems in fitting these reinforcements into the small and already overcrowded colony continued to be severe. Thirty-six camps for large units were already under construction in new territories, some by Army engineers and some by civilian con- tractors. Several new roads were also being built.
Although the fall of Lanchow, in north-west China, was a disaster for the Nationalists, there have been no sensational military de- velopments in south China during the past week. The Communists have been edging for- ward steadily, being delayed, apparently, less by Nationalist opposition than by the terrain and their own administrative difficulties. No large regular formations have yet crossed the Kwangtung provincial frontier, although it is] reported that liaison detachments have linked up at several points with Communist guerrillas inside the province. The nearest large regular Communist formation-the column which has been advancing down the Kan River-is still about 200 miles from Hongkong.
The column advancing down the valley of the Kan River is also making thrusts westwards! in south Kiangsi, obviously designed to cut the Canton-Hankow railway at several points, thereby preventing reinforcements being sent north from Canton to General Pai Chung-hsi's armies. In the coastal sector the Communists are about 40 miles north of Amoy, but it is not clear whether their forces are regulars of guerrillas. The Nationalists are reported to have a garrison of nearly 50,000 men at Amoy
The fall of Lanchow is expected to releas many Communist troops to intensify the drive hitherto not pursued with any great vigour along the main Shensi-Szechuan highway, i the direction of Chungking.