The Advance on Hankow Fighting in China this week has
again been concentrated on the Japanese advance up the river Yangtze to Hankow. After a desperate resistance, in which the Chinese made a " holy sacrifice " of their men, Kiukiang, 13o miles from Hankow, was reported to have fallen on Tuesday. Command of the river, and of the Poyang Lake make it probable that the Japanese will now be able to take Nanchang. But it is worth noticing that it has taken the Japanese three weeks to advance the 15 miles from Hukow to Kiukiang and that they are still 13o miles from their final objective, Hankow. They have been greatly aided by being able to use communication by water in their advance ; but it is believed that, if they reach Hankow, they will call a halt, as a further advance would involve long and exposed communications which would place them in great danger. Indeed, it is possible that after reaching Hankow they might attempt to open negotiations for an armistice, despite their frequent assertions of refusal to treat with Marshal Chiang Kai-shek's Government. China's strategy remains as before : to resist as stubbornly as possible with the limited means at her command, in the hope of trying to exhaust the impetus of japan's advance, to keep her best troops intact, and to retreat into the interior when defeat is unavoidable. It is the strategy of a long war, and time is on China's side rather than Japan's.
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