1939-05-30 — Page 2

Page

Page

THE CHINA MAIL, MAY 80, 1989.

LI TSUNG-JEN TALKS

CHINESE TACTICS

ON

JAPANESE LOSE CITIES AS FAST AS THEY GAIN

(From Reuters Special Correspondent)

With The Chinese Forces-Somewhere

In Central China, May 7. Frank, humorous eyes and a firm, wide mouth gave distinction to the features of General Li Tsung-jen, famous Kwangsi commander, whom I had the good fortune to meet at his secret. field headquarters.

;

GOLDEN BARS FOR LITTLE PRINCESS

Princess Margaret and two other little girls in the Bucking- ham Palace Brownies pack have received their “Golden Bars" as second-class Brownies.

The presentations were” made by Fraulein von Herrenschwand, Guider in charge of the Interna". tional Chalet at Adelboden, who

had come to show them a film of the chalet and to teach them some Swiss songs.

as they moved forward on the Wuhan cities and Nanchang.

BRITAIN'S ABILITY TO MEET ATTACK FROM THE AIR

London, To-day.

The Lord Privy Seal, Sir John Anderson, speaking in Scotland yesterday, referred to the magni- ficent response to the National Ser- vice campaign in respect of civil defence requirements.

Over a million volunteers had been enrolled and vast quantities of equipment hundreds of mil- lions of sandbags and fifty million gasmasks ' had been secured.

Slightly under medium height and broad- shouldered, he bears himself with an air of un- When these forces were eva- The country was now in a far wavering coolness and decision, without a trace of cuated to Hupeh, he continued, better position to meet an air at- the Chinese flowed in around tack than a few months ago, and brusqueness and dictatorial authority; and he pos- Nanchang, retook Kaoan and the position was steadily improv- sesses the delicate instinct of putting others at had now encircled Nanchang| ing all the time. their ease immediately.

itself..

less.

Sitting in his sparsely furnished headquarters, the General proceeded to explain to me China's present military situation, with special reference to Northern Hupeh.

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you They have

even less chance of much good news. I can't tell doing so now, and we don't intend you when we shall retake Han- to give them such an opportunity. kow or start a general attack," he began.

SERIES OF, ATTACKS

"We want, and are determined to defeat the Japanese, but we are planning no general attacks, but rather a series of small attacks designed to exhaust the Japanese forces without going beyond our limitations. "The Japanese have so far failed to break the Chinese main force.

...have Your

TRIED

LOSE IN ADVANCING

"It is true that the Japanese can capture cities, but as they advance they lose others in the rear.

"Japanese reinforcements sent to one area weaken another, which we then retake.”

General Li Tsung-jen cited as an instance the Tapieh moun- tains where, before the capture of Hankow, the Japanese occu- pied. many places, losing them

MALTÓNIC

You have!

but have you tried

MALTONIC

with AN EGG)

WITH FGG

with MILK?

WITH MILK

A raw egg well mixed with HALTONIC makes an ideal light breakfast.

Plassant to strengthening.

tako and

with MEAT EXTRACT?" This combination provides the fullast nourishment in a most agregable form.

with SODA 'WATER? A sparkling and palatable

refresher.

WITH MEAT EXTRACT

WITH SODA WATER

MALTONIC

cannot be made -better, but it can be made "different."

For

health energy and enjoyment

drink. MÁLTONIC daily throughout the -year!

EWO MALTONIC

MALTON I

身准 和怡

NON

COHOLIC.

OBTAINABLE AT ALL LEADING DEPARTMENT STORES, COMPRADORE SHOPS :

AND, DRUGGISTS

from Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd.

Tel. 30311.

"If the Japanese stop attacking

We are successful or not," General

British Wire-

us, we try to attack them, whether though the Japanese attacked with Li went on.

no thought for their losses, and the Chinese were eventually forced to withdraw, the Japanese would have to pay a heavy price in casualties for their gains, which would not strengthen their posi- tion, but would merely provide a temporary "victory" for the Japan- ese press..

DRAIN ON STRENGTH

"In order to retain their position people," he said, "they and keep the confidence of their must at- tempt to advance, but such gains as they make are moroly additional drains on their strength, giving 'no' permanent advantage.

General Li uttered an earnest warning regarding the results to "The Japanese have not succeed- the rest of the world if the con- ed in controlling our natural reflict in the Far East were allowed sources or man-power. They are to continue unchecked, and no becoming weaker, while China is measures were taken against the gaining all the time in unity and aggressor. organisation."

RECOLLECTS WARNING

The Japanese forces in China numbered more than 30 divisions,

"At the time of the Mukden General Li continued, but they Incident." he declared, "I warned were spread throughout. the land a party of British diplomats and and were being constantly harass- naval officers in a speech at a ed by both Chinese guerillas and dinner party of the possible results Chinese regular forces, even on

of the attack. Time has proved the outskirts of Shanghai.

the truth of my words. I wonder if any of my listeners remember them now?

"At the present time," he declar- ed, "I am using one third of my troops in the lines. The remainder are receiving further training and are resting behind the lines. This ratio remains constant. Therefore our Army is steadily growing in efficiency, even though our equip. ment is inferior.”

China's resources, he went on, were being drained by the war, and perhaps at the end of the con- flict she would find herself ex hausted, but the Chinese were determined not to be the slaves if Japan, or to make peace at the cost of themselves, their children and their freedom.`

NO VOICE FOR PEACE

"The sufferings and the burden of our people," he declared, "gre unspeakable, but no voice is raised for peace....

"We have lost Hankow, which many thought it was impossible for us to lose, but we are continuing the war with unabated determina- tion."

Reinforcements consisting of four Japanese divisions, GeneralLi said, had arrived on the North Hupeh front.

It was possible that they were intended. to be used in an offen- sive against Siangyang and Fan- cheng towards the north-west, but

"We who are striving to the limit of our capacity can be helped in ways which, though they mean little to others, may be decisive for us.

"We need a little more money, and we need technical assistance to supplement our military de- ficiencies,"

General Li then questioned me on the latest news from Europe. He showed a firm grasp of the political and strategic issues in- volved in the present European

situation.

Like most of his countrymen, he was inclined to speculate on the possibility of another world war, and its effect on the Far Eastern conflict.

He expressed the opinion that Europe was in very great danger, of drifting into such a disaster within the next two years “because Germany's position is becoming steadily more desperate.”

A

**The handling of the Far East- ern situation by the democracies, he thought, would have an impor- tant effect on affairs in Europe.

"I sincerely hope,” General Li concluded, "that we can all find peace, but the democracies · need more far-sighted statesmen than they have at present."