With the fall of Singapore, the war in the Far East enters into its second phase. It is evident that the Japanese now have two main objectives: one is to cut the Burma Road, in hopes of thus knocking China out of the war, and the other is to widen the sphere of Japanese control in the Western Pacific, to such an extent that the Allies shall have no air or naval bases within attacking distance of Japan. In order to achieve this plan completely, the Japanese would have to control the whole of the East Indies, the whole of Burma, Northern Australia and probably New Zealand and Hawaii. Could they control all these areas, they would have eliminated the danger of British or American counter-attack for the time being, though even then their safety would depend on keeping Russia out of the war. They are not likely to attain the whole even of these objectives, but they may go some way towards it, and it is clear that their first step must be the conquest of Rangoon and of the big seaports of Java. The battle in Burma is already raging, and the attack on Java is obviously imminent.

We cannot say yet how the battle in Burma will end. The Japanese have advanced, but not very rapidly, and the British have been reinforced both with aeroplanes and with Chinese troops. The supply difficulties which decided the issue in Malaya are less acute in the Burma area. If Rangoon should fall, that is an end not actually of the Burma Road, but of the present route by which supplies can reach the Burma Road from India or from Britain. The capture of Rangoon by the Japanese would not end the campaign in Burma because in this case the direction of the Japanese advance must be northward, and there is no question of the Allied army being driven into the sea.