In chess, war or the smash-&-grab of totalitarian diplomacy, the essence of strategy is to make a single move serve more than one offensive purpose. Strategically impeccable, therefore, was Japan's move-of-the-week, landing eight Army columns along a 250-mile strip of South China coast between Hong Kong and the Indo-China border. It was intended: 1) to menace one of free China's best supply lines; 2) to help isolate British Hong Kong; 3) to strengthen the position of the large Japanese garrison on Hainan Island just off the coast; 4) to make a nasty...
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