793.94/14898: Telegram
The Chargé in China (Peck) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 17—1:15 p.m.]
268. L. C. Smith, Reuter correspondent, who has just returned from a 6 weeks tour of the area under Yen Hsi Shan’s control which roughly comprises the southwest quarter of Shansi Province, gathered the following impressions:
The people have been well organized and mobilized for resistance along the lines advocated and used by the Chinese Communists but with complete absence of communist influence and political doctrines: their morale is high. Yen Hsi Shan, who maintains his main base [Page 161] in Shensi, has his own army of 9 divisions totaling 80,000 men: in addition he commands 3 central and 3 independent brigades of approximately 20,000 regulars and also formidable forces of irregulars and self-defense corps. Supplies of light arms and ammunition appeared abundant. Guerrilla tactics in which Shansi troops excel are used almost exclusively. Japanese influence is restricted to railway which is kept open to traffic by the stationing of Japanese troops and Chinese mercenaries at block houses which have been constructed at intervals of 2 miles along the railway.
Informant who is believed to be a competent observer came to the conclusion that the Japanese are definitely on the defensive in southwest Shansi for want of troops and that efforts to clear that area as well as other portions of Shansi will prove a long and costly if not impossible task. He stated that the Chinese authorities, who seem to possess an excellent espionage service, told him that Japanese troops now in the province number at least 180,000 but are able to do little more than keep the lines of communication open.
The informant also interviewed leading military officials in Sian who expressed the view that the Japanese would probably attempt to invade Shensi by way of the Han River Valley rather than Shansi but added that they would have to overcome 3 separate army corps (including those of Li Tsung Jen and Hu Tsung Nan) in achieving this objective. Smith stated that the Japanese air raid at Sian on March 7 during which heavy bombs were dropped in the center of the city resulted in 4,000 casualties including 1,000 killed. Cheng Chien, Director of the Generalissimo’s Sian headquarters, and Chiang Ting Wen, Chairman of the Province, narrowly escaped death in this raid, while 3 generals and 55 other officers who were attending a military meeting at the time were killed.
Repeated to Peiping.