740.0011 P.W./5–1645: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Hurley) to the Secretary of State
[Received 2:18 p.m.]
780. 1. Following is summary of M[ilitary] A[ttaché’s] report for week ending May 12:
The Japanese drive on the Allied advance air base of Chihkiang came to a standstill. Some advancing columns were halted and in many sections the enemy was withdrawing, seemingly as a result of Chinese counterattacks. Enemy commitments were quite substantial, with some 35 to 40,000 troops reportedly involved.
Chinese press communiqués, consistently optimistic and prone to exaggeration in the past, claim that the enemy offensive had been smashed. If these reports were true, this would indeed be heartening news. However, Japanese troops do not generally conduct large-scale retreats and Chinese reports to the contrary should be treated with reserve.
Slow Japanese progress in western Hunan might be variously explained. The last drive in this theater was that conducted over 5 months ago into southern China. During these 5 months Chinese forces have been reorganized and regrouped and have been given additional equipment. Some 9 battalions of the remnants of the MRS task-force and Merrill’s Marauders are instructing and otherwise giving realistic aid to Chinese forces in this theater. Another factor is the terrain in western Hunan. Whereas former enemy campaigns were generally fought on comparatively level land, which enabled the [Page 105] enemy to disregard lines of communication to a certain extent and to move across country, the mountainous region to the east of Chihkiang restricts Japanese maneuvers to available roads and facilitates effective tactical use of air power by the defending forces. The 14th Air Force has flown successfully many such missions and the Chinese ground troops are now reportedly cooperating satisfactorily for the first time. Furthermore, the civilian refugee problem in western Hunan had not become as serious as in other campaigns. It must be kept in mind, however, that Japanese strength in Hunan, both in reserves and forward troops, is thought to be large enough for them to carry the campaign to a successful conclusion. The present enemy reverses do not indicate that the threat to Chihkiang has been averted.
The importance of developments in North China continued to be stressed by Chinese intelligence which was of the opinion that the enemy was engaged north of the Yellow River in a large-scale movement of troops in order to (1) prepare a front against a possible American action against the Chinese mainland and (2) defense against a possible Soviet drive into Inner Mongolia and Manchuria. In South China as well there was evidence of considerable troop movements, especially in Hainan and Kwangtung where the enemy seemed to be engaged in defensive operations.
As indicated above, the main activities of the CACW and the 14th Air Force were directed toward the support of the Chinese defenders of Chihkiang. Bombing of Japanese supply lines continued with little enemy air opposition. End of M[ilitary] A[ttaché’s] weekly summary.
2. Chinese sources reporting to the MA indicate that during the past 2 weeks about 100,000 Japanese have passed through Kweilin for Hengyang and the north, and that the Japanese civilian population of Canton has been ordered to evacuate to Formosa via Swatow and Amoy. Should this be confirmed it would of course constitute a very significant development possibly presaging a shortening of Japanese fronts.