Chang Kuo Sin reported: “We are given to understand that the island will be taken by the biggest land, sea and air force that has yet been launched against any place within the Russian orbit. They will muster hundreds of fighting planes and thirty warships, plus thousands of troops for this invasion. The warships, of course, include many that went over to the Communists from the Nationalist forces.” The Chinese correspondent was not the only one who watched with alarm the preparations for the invasion of Formosa. From every side came evidence of the size and strength of the forces assembling for the attack. The British, after recognition of the Communist Government, and in order to protect their investments, were forced into the distasteful position of giving them, by court order, ninety airplanes. Worth twenty million dollars, these planes belonged to the airline companies owned by the picturesque American flyer Claire L. Chennault, whose famous “Flying Tiger” raids on the Japanese added brilliant pages to American military history. This high-handed transfer of American-made planes, probably the best in the world outside those in use by the U. S. Air Force, to the Communists by the British was cause for alarm in official circles. The planes will undoubtedly wind up under the direct control of the Kremlin, whether or not they are used for the initial air assault on Formosa. The ground forces were nominally to be under the command of the Mayor of Shanghai, who was said to have marshalled a picked force of one hundred and eighty thousand troops for the invasion. Their training in beach landings and personal combat was supervised by the Russians, and many of their special weapons are said to have been of Soviet make. The Mayor, a pawn of the Russians, was content to leave the military strategy entirely in the hands of his more than helpful allies. Russian engineers were busy at every port from which the invasion might be launched. After forcing those already on the job to resign, they hired shipbuilders and began work on the dockyards, repairing the damage caused by Nationalist bombings. They assembled ships of different sizes and made them ready for invasion day. So we see that the Russians were well occupied in Shanghai. The fact that American troops were withdrawn by the State Department from occupation in South Korea a few months earlier, left that country a more logical target of opportunity to begin their aggressive action. This explains why the Formosa attack was not made as originally scheduled in 1950.