ENEMY DRIVE IN CHINA

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 137, 12 June 1942, Page 5

ENEMY DRIVE IN CHINA

BIG ADVANCES MADE

DEFENCE SITUATION MENACED

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.) (Rec. noon.) CHUNGKING, June 11. Three large Japanese columns, pressing east and south-east from Nanchang, have made long strides during the past 24 hours, and are threatening to outflank the Chinese positions along the middle section of the Chckiang-Kiangsi railway. The Chinese situation is increasingly critical. This statement was made by the military spokesman, who added that the Chinese garrison still holds out within Chuhsien, the defenders of which inflicted 20,000 casualties on the Japanese during five days of bloody hand-to-hand fighting. The Central News agency reported that 2000 Japanese were killed in a fierce single battle with Chinese guerrillas in Shantung Province. The Domei news agency claimed that the Japanese land forces had virtually annihilated the main Chinese forces in three major battles in Chekiang Province in the past ten days. THREE HUNDRED DIVISIONS. In London, Mr. George Yen, London director of the Chinese Ministry of Information, stated that over 300 Chinese divisions, totalling 5,000,000 soldiers, were in the field and over 800,000 guerrillas were harassing the Japanese garrisons' lines of communication. Over 600,000 Chinese regulars were operating behind the Japanese lines. China had not suffered smaller losses than the Japanese. To the end of 1941 the Japanese losses were conservatively estimated to exceed 2,000,000 killed and wounded. Lack of air support and heavy armaments often obliged the Chinese to fall back from areas which couldnot be defended with small arms. China in the past two years had relied completely on its own output of small arms,, and was able to produce 100.000 rifles yearly. China was also making trench mortars, light machineguns, and grenades.

Mr. Yeh said it was , wrong to imagine that the Japanese were using inferior troops in China.