Ten Years War The flooding of the Yellow River, which
forced the Japanese to give up their advance on the Lunghai Railway, has been followed by the flooding of the Han River, the Hwai River, and the Yangtze, which, the Chinese believe, will effectively hold up the Japanese advance on Hankow. Nevertheless, there has been fighting on the south bank of the Yangtze, where the Japanese have broken through the Chinese lines at Matung. The objective of the Japanese is to obtain control of the boom across the river ; the Chinese claim to be still in control, though they have lost one of the forts on the bank. The effect of the floods has been to increase Chinese confidence ; and the serious dislocation they have caused in Japan's plans has forced her to make an entirely new estimate of the scope and duration of the war. In Tokyo the War Minister, Lieutenant-General Itagaki, has stated that the Japanese must be prepared for ten years of hostilities, and his words are no exaggeration. Japan is no longer fighting a Government or even a people ; as the floods have shown, shd is fighting all the forces of a vast continent, and ten years is not too long for such a task. So far the war has certainly not increased the prestige of the army, its leaders, or the Government in Japan. Beginning with a complete underestimate of the strength of China, they have led Japan into a struggle that must strain all her resources for years to come.
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