BATTLE FOR CANTON

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 April 1939, Page 7

BATTLE FOR CANTON

CHINESE ADVANCING JAPANESE HARD PRESSED [BY CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] (Recd. April 18, 1 p.m.). LONDON, April 17. The “Daily Telegraph’s” Hong Kongcorrespondent says that the battle for Canton overshadows all other operations throughout China. The Chinese offensive, which is unprecedentedly well sustained, is irresistibly recovering the outer environments, which the Japanese have held since October. The defenders are hurling lorries full of troops, and. all the available mechanised units, to the outskirts, in order to reinforce the stricken fighters, but these are apparently countermatched by fresh, eager divisions, which are steadily reinforcing the Chinese Commander-in-Chief, General Chang Fakwei, who is forging a passage to Canton, in the hope of encircling the city, from which he is 18 miles distant. He is supported by subsidiary columns, which are repelling the Japanese to the last defences.

MAOTSIN CAPTURED HONG KONG, April 17. The Chinese offensive rolls on along the entire 1500-mile front. The Chinese are steadily closing in on Canton, leaving the only outlet for the Japanese on the Pearl River. The Japanese at present are keeping this outlet clear only by the overwhelming superiority of their naval guns. The Chinese have captured the strategic city of Maotsin on the Yellow River, removing the threat to their communications with Russia. . WITHIN FEW MILES. (Received April 18, noon). HONG KONG, April 17. The Chinese claim that one column is 12 miles from Canton. Another unit, coming from the north, covered sixteen miles in 48 hours, and is now within 19 miles of Canton.

FOREIGN ASSISTANCE. TOKIO, April 17. The War Minister (Mr. Itagaki), in a statement, said: Assistance from foreign Powers is solely responsible for Marshal Chiang Kai-Shek’s stubborn resistance. Japan does not intend deliberately to sever diplomatic relations. The commanders have ordered their troops to do their utmost to protect foreign lives and property, even at the sacrifice of strategic advantages, but the soldiers deplore concrete evidence of foreign assistance to the Chinese.