893.00/14267: Telegram
The Consul General at Hankow (Josselyn) to the Secretary of State
[Received 9:37 p.m.]
From a reliable source it is learned that General Chiang Kai Shek is increasingly exasperated with and contemptuous of Government and Kuomintang officials. In the October 10 memorial service he upbraided the attending dignitaries for being failures as officials and even as men and declared that they were wholly unworthy of their positions. The denunciation was unrelieved by any note of encouragement much less commendation.
A non-partisan source stated that the Generalissimo has been discovering ever since the Sian incident and especially during the present crisis that many of his former enemies are serving his and the nation’s interest better than the group surrounding him. Mainly because of peculiarly Chinese ties of personal loyalty he does not disencumber himself of this group. It is generally agreed that despite Chiang’s commitment to prolonged resistance, the faction desiring capitulation and peace is strong and not inarticulate. Chen Li Fu day before yesterday frankly expressed himself as being in favor of the Government coming to terms with the Japanese.
The poor showing made at Sinyang by Hu Tsung Nan and Chinese mechanized units, together with the drives on the Canton-Hankow [Page 321] line southwest of Yangsin and in Kwangtung, have depressed headquarters morale. Indicative of the heavy losses of the Chinese in the northeastern defense of Wuhan, it is reported that about 12,000 wounded a week are arriving here. They are being steadily evacuated after preliminary treatment.
Repeated to Chungking, Peiping.