893.00/12–1344
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Chinese Affairs (Vincent)
In connection with the subject matter of Chungking’s Airgram A–102,12 I had a long talk yesterday with Lieutenant Hitch, Assistant Naval Attaché at Chungking, who recently spent a number of months in Chinese Communist territory. Hitch was not only in Yenan but made a trip into Shansi to points near Taiyuan where he saw Communist troops in action.
Hitch was convinced that effective use could be made of the Communist troops provided (1) they were supplied with demolition equipment and Japanese ammunition (the Communist troops are equipped almost entirely with captured Japanese small arms), and (2) they were given some assurance of continued support in the form of recognition of the role they could play in defeating Japan. He explained that the Communist troops were loathe to increase their activities against Japanese troops unless they could be assured of continued support because sporadic attacks brought terrible retribution on the heads of the villagers without commensurate advantages militarily. The Communists are now very short of ammunition and wish to have sufficient supplies to enable them to hold strategic areas which they attack. These areas, he said, would be astride Japanese communication lines.
Hitch also mentioned the aid which the Communist troops could give at almost any point along the north China coast down to Shanghai for American landings. He added, however, that the Communists could afford hinterland protection for no longer than two days unless supplied immediately with ammunition and other military equipment.
He said that his trip left no doubt in his mind that the Communists had the wholehearted support of the Chinese peasants. He also felt that the Communists were sincerely anxious to cooperate with Chungking on a basis which recognized their strength in China. He felt that the Communist leaders were actually more sympathetically inclined toward the United States than Russia. He was not impressed with the muchly heralded “democracy” of the Communists but he was impressed with their popularity and the relative progressiveness of their administration.