Pincers & Counter-Pincers

There was a huge unbalance in Axis strategy last week. There were also signs that deadly weights might soon be laid on the scales of war to right it.

The immediate stumbling blocks to Axis domination of the great land mass of Eurasia are Russia, China and the British Empire.

The Axis is in position to squeeze both Russia and the treasure of Britain's Empire, India, from east and west. But last week Germany was at work on Russia's western flank and Japan was at work on India's eastern flank. Japan was not yet attacking Russia's eastern flank, Siberia; Germany was not yet attacking India's western flank, the Middle East. But both were apparently preparing exactly those attacks.

In the Middle East, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who spent last week boxing his own shadow on the sand, seemed to be building up his strength for a real drive on Suez. New concentrations of German troops were in Sicily, Greece, Bulgaria; Hermann Goring was in Italy; something was in the wind.

China's War Minister Ho Ying-chin warned the world (see p. 18) that Japan would probably launch an attack on Russia within a month. In Chungking the official Central Daily News did a little goading: "Russia . . . should take the initiative and strike first, rather than wait to be struck."

Allied Plan? If these double pressures were indeed on the calendar for spring, what could the U.S. and Britain, on the war's periphery, do about them?

They could act with China to put a counter-pincer on the Japanese pincer in the Indies. This would have to be done by building up a striking force in Australia sufficiently strong to work its way up through the Indies and make a juncture with the Chinese; it would be a U.S. and Australian force, and it would not be ready by spring.

The Allies could act with Russia to put a counter-pincer on the German pincer in Europe. This would entail an assault in force on Europe timed to coincide with a major Russian drive. It would depend on the British. Apparently the Germans fear such a move. There have been rumors that Hitler would invade Sweden soon-as a counter-counter pincer on the expected counter-pincer on his pincer. Last week, with no ostensible reason for doing so, the Stockholm correspondent of the New York Times went out of his way to suggest the possibility by denying it: "Swedish and neutral observers here believe that the Germans are sufficiently occupied in Russia not to want to tackle the Swedish Army."

The war, as always, was a race against time. The big question in the race, also as always, was: Have the Allies a plan?

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