JAPANESE OFFENSIVE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 57, 4 September 1937, Page 9

JAPANESE OFFENSIVE

ALL-DAY ARTILLERY DUEL

EFFECTIVE OPERATIONS BY CHINESE

United Press Association—-By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. (Received September 4, 1 p.m.)

SHANGHAI, September 3,

The Chinese claim to have further delayed the Japanese offensive from Woosung as a result of an all-day artillery duel. The Chinese, from Pootung, shelled five Japanese transports unloading troops and munitions at the eastern end of the Foreign Settlement, and eventually forced the Japanese, after suffering 200 casualties, to move downstream. The Japanese warship Izumo, four destroyers, and a transport, with warplanes flying overhead, replied, and the Chinese retaliated. The warships were not hit, although columns of water were thrown up very close to them. The Japanese shelling failed to silence the Chinese machinegun nests on shore, which continued to sweep the landing-stages. The continuous firing gave Shanghai a day that is not likely to be forgotten. The roar of the bombardment shook the buildings like an earthquake. Numerous buildings were hit, resulting in others being hastily sandbagged. Many blazed all day and were completely burnt out. There were 38 casualties, including two British volunteers stationed at the race club, and a member of the Ulster Rifles, who was wounded by a sniper. Japanese reconnoitring planes which dropped flares in Chapei in order to watch the Chinese movements were heavily peppered by Chinese anti-aircraft guns.