793.94/8070
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 28.]
Sir: I have the honor to enclose a copy of a report47 written by the Military Attaché, Colonel Joseph W. Stilwell, with regard to Chinese military preparations along the so-called Lung-hai line.
Colonel Stilwell, who recently traveled along this line from Cheng-chow, the intersection of the Lung-hai Railway and the Ping-han Railway, to the coast, states that there is no evidence of military activity of any kind, that conditions seem to indicate either that the Chinese have made elaborate preparations and concealed them more skilfully than any other military power has yet learned to do or that they have made none at all, that, if no preparation has been made, General Chiang Kai-shek either has no intention of waging war against the Japanese or believes he can wage war without preparations, and that the office of the Military Attaché believes that General Chiang has [Page 224] no intention whatever at present of opposing the Japanese along the so-called Lung-hai line.
Respectfully yours,
First Secretary of Embassy
- Not printed.↩