WHY THE DOOMED NAZIS FIGHT ON
SEELY, Lt. Comdr. C. S.
Why The Doomed Nazis Fight On By Lt. Comdr. C. S Seely THE Germans are now fighting an utterly hopeless and useless battle. They have nothing but a short respite from retribution to gain by...
...Shift Of Emphasis Since it is now clear that Hitler no longer has an army which can threaten the United Nations, we should shift our war emphasis to the Orient...
...Why do men fight for lost causes...
...High Price Possible The Nazis are proud and bold men, even if made so by fraud and fanaticism...
...Delay in the Orient favors Japan, and good fighting weather in the South, especially in the Philippines, will end this month...
...I believe many of them will never surrender...
...The recent Soviet break with Japan will aid us greatly there, as it will hold in Northern Manchuria many Japanese troops which otherwise could be used against us...
...A relatively small holding force could surround the area and "wait out" the trapped Nazis...
...However, this is of little importance to us, as there would be no need of pitched battles...
...Attrition and air bombing would eventually liquidate them with little loss of Allied lives...
...The opinions and assertions expressed above are the private ones of the writer and are not to be con-I strwd as official or reflecting the vieics of the Navy Department or the naval service at large...
...They have nothing but a short respite from retribution to gain by continuing the struggls but even so other people have fought for very much less reason...
...Such men will not surrender merely because reason and logic dictate such a course...
...Probably because the thought of defeat and surrender is repugnant to proud men...
...In 2,000 years of history only a few Japanese have ever surrendered...
...Because of the intense enervating heat, only a limited amount of infantry fighting will be possible in the Philippines between now and October...
...The Cause of the Confederacy was lost at Gettysburg— and the Southern soldiers, who were fighting against their own best interests, knew it—but the war continued, with great loss of life on both sides, for nearly 2 more years...
...They seldom surrender unless death is the alternative—and many will not even then do so...
...Certainly the Nazis can never again menace Europe...
...They probably will retreat into the mountain fastnesses of Bavaria, Austria, Bohemia, and Italy, and fight on for a long time...
...I can report that determined men there could exact a very high price for their lives—-if the Allies offer pitched battles...
...I have been over much of this rugged area, except the Bavarian part of it, and know the terrain well...
Vol. 9 • April 1945 • No. 16
