WAR IN CHINA: Eagles in Shansi

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"The men are sick of a war which is never won, eaten with worry for home and family. If they try to desert, Chinese fall on them and kill them. Missionaries in Shansi report that Japanese often steal inside mission compounds to cry, or come to the gates to whimper and beg for little comforts. Superstitions are epidemic. Nearly every dead Japanese soldier has on him a charm, worn in life to ward off death. Often a man draws about himself a magic circle (the round of his life is full; no escape) and puts a bullet in his head. Instead of cremating bodies to be returned home for proper Shinto burial, Army officers cut off heads, cremate them for home burial, and bury the bodies in China, or drop them in rivers or wells. All these things prey on the Japanese will to fight."

Progress. "The Chinese," White concluded, "have advanced during the war from a fourth rate Army to a second rate Army. This is progress. Before the war the Chinese Armies were notorious for the fact that they could run faster and retreat in worse disorder than any known national group of armed men. This was understandable because of the world in which they lived, and the causes for which they were asked to die. Cowardice was common—'kai pa' ('I'm afraid') was heard on every hand. But the present Chinese Army has spirit. It glows. The men are willing to die. They mix and tangle with the Japanese with a burning hate that is good."