How the Japanese Were Beaten
An ifluminating account of the war that has been fought in Manipur and Burma, and that remains to be fought before the Japanese will be disposed of, was given by General Slim, commander of the Fourteenth Army, in a Press interview last Tuesday. The British soldiers have had to learn the ways of the seemingly less than human enemy against whom they have been pitted. They have taken their measure. General Slim compared the Japanese soldiers to man-sized ants, who follow their orders without deviation until they are killed. To defeat them it is necessary to exterminate them, for in the last extremity they dig in and fight till all are dead. Our men in Burma learnt all the jungle tricks in which the Japanese were expert, but in addition they had resources denied to the enemy. The campaign was pursued methodically over a vast area with a clearly defined goal—it Was not, as might have appeared from meagre reports, a succession of " confused jungle mêlées." The troops were supplied, according to plan, from the air. The enemy was engaged in Manipur, according to plan, far from their bases, with a difficult line of communication behind them. Full advantage was taken of the Allies' great superiority in the air, and also their superior equip- ment on the ground—though again and again they had to rely on the improviSations of their incomparable engineers. General Slim leaves us in no doubt that there is tough work ahead to finish off the Japanese. It will only be by pursuing the war against Japan with the same intensity as against the Germans that it can be end.:d in a relatively short time.
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