793.94/14181: Telegram
The Consul General at Hankow (Josselyn) to the Secretary of State
Hankow, October 25, 1938—2
p.m.
[Received 4:35 p.m.]
[Received 4:35 p.m.]
12. Spokesman of National Military Council declared this morning that Chinese have decided to withdraw from Wuhan and [the?] move having been prompted by necessity of shifting Chinese forces.
This action he declared is based upon:
- 1.
- Fundamental policy of prolonged warfare and all-front resistance. “The Chinese military authorities do not attach importance to the retention or loss of any particular place but take the whole scope of military operations into consideration. They do not greatly concern themselves regarding the advance or withdrawal of the Chinese forces at one particular moment; instead, every possible effort is to be made to prolong the present war so that in the very process of wearing down the enemy’s strength China’s capacity for resistance may be preserved and strengthened.”
- 2.
- “The real significance of defending the Wuhan area does not lie in the possession of the three cities but in the protection given to the transfer of man power and material resources from Southeast and Central China to China’s northwest and southwest.”
- 3.
- “The Chinese military strategy is based on the principle of retaining the initiative—in order to have freedom of action; they cannot afford to be cornered by the enemy and thus become the passive party in the conflict. After offering resistance the past 6 months on the Yangtze front, having caused the enemy great losses, slowed down the pace of the Japanese advance, and protected the transfer of man power and materials resources to the interior, it is considered unnecessary further to defend the Wuhan area. Otherwise the Chinese would fall into the enemy trap by centering the main body of their forces in the Wuhan area to be annihilated, and that would be contradictory to the policy of prolonged resistance.
- 4.
- “Lastly, one reason why the Chinese authorities do not wish to hold fast to the Wuhan cities is a desire to minimize the peril and suffering which confront foreign residents and women and children who cannot find means to evacuate.”
Josselyn