JAP. DRIVE IN HONAN

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 May 1944, Page 6

JAP. DRIVE IN HONAN

CAPITAL ENCIRCLED I CHINESE ARMY TRAPPED LONDON, May 14. Bitter fighting continues m> the outskirts of Honan, capital of Honan Province. The situation is legaraea The' Chinese High Command has admitted that the Japanese have cut (he Lunghai railway about 4(J nines west of Loyang, thus barring tl Chinese line of retreat. This is aa mitted by the Chinese High Command. Other Japanese are reported ‘to have cut the railway hne even further west. . fh t A Chinese communique says tnar bitter fighting raged m the southeast outer defences of Honan on Thursday and Friday. .Casualties were heavy on both sides. JU] enemy broke into Mienchm on Fri day. ‘Bitter fighting is proceeding. “Chinese hopes of holding Honan faded rapidly when the Ja ? a n esa troops, using 200 tanks, reached La point two miles from the city, re ports the Associated Press correspondent in Chungking. The Japanese now appear ready to spring a vast trap threatening several hundred thousand Chinese hemmed in by enemy columns from the Mienchin sector and from points east and south of Honan. The importance of this campaign is emphasised by tne announcement that General bhunroku Hata, Commander-m-Chiei 01 the Japanese forces in Chma, nas arrived on the Honan front.’ In an earlier dispatch, the United Press correspondent at Chungking said that the Japanese, using 6JO tanks and armoured cars, were converging on Honan from four directions after cutting the Lunghai railway west of the city at three points. A Chinese Army spokesman said that 100,000 enemy troops were attempting to destroy all the Chinese forces in western Honan to secure a hold on the Pekin-Hankow railway. One Japanese column had reached a point four miles south of Honan and another had driven west along the Lunghai railway within 19 miles ol other units, striking from the Tengfang area, 35 miles to the south-west. Meanwhile, a furious battle is raging for the road junction at Sunghien, 43 miles south-west of Honan. The Chinese Army spokesman ascribed the swift Japanese advances to the armoured forces, which caught the Chinese by surprise, since they had not been used in that area for a long time. The Allied air forces had destroyed at least 30 tanks and 190 trucks in the last week. A Chinese communique says that the Chinese Air Force extensively attacked objectives on the Honan front with brilliant results, causing more than 500 casualties and destroying 29 Japanese tanks and numerous other vehicles. A Chungking communique says that the I.4th United States Air Force has bombed targets in Burma and western Yunnan. The Burma Road was also bombed. Japanese installations near Lunling were attacked. All the Allied aeroplanes returned.

OPERATIONS IN BURMA. JAP. RESISTANCE STRONGER. "RUGBY, May 13. In northern Burma, west of the Mogaung River, Lieutenant-General Stilwell’s infantry, supported by artillery and tanks and covered by dive-bombers, have penetrated on a two-mile front more than a mile south of Malakawng, on the south bank of the Hwelon River, says a communique. The artillery and aircraft were superior to the enemy’s, and several Japanese anti-tank guns were destroyed. East of the Mogaung River an unsuccessful enemy attack on Manpin, 10 miles north of Arning, cost the Japanese considerable casualties, including two commanders. The Allied forces have surrounded Khatangkawang, four miles north of Manpin. Chinese troops forced a passage across the stream and advanced a mile south of Aucho. In the' Fort. Hertz Valley, a party of Japanese were successfully ambushed south of Waza. Allied troops have penetrated the enemy perimeter defences at Tuangzup. North of the Imphal Plain. Allied patrols inflicted casualties on the enemy in encounters east of Kanglatongbi. There is no change in the Bishenpur sector, where fighting continues. A continuous air offensive against the enemy has been maintained. “Grim Japanese resistance near Bishenpur has slowed down our advance,” says an Indian Army observer in the Imphal sector. “The fighting is fiercest near the village of Rathabum, south of Bishenpur. Our troops have captured the eastern and western edges of the village, but the Japanese are stoutly holding out in other places.” “Troops of the 14th Army holding the Palel road south-east of Imphal have slightly adjusted their positions in face of an all-out Japanese attempt to gain control of the road,” says Reuter’s correspondent at Kandy. “They are hanging grimly to their main positions and have inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese. Strong Japanese resistance is holding up the British advance south of Bishenpur.” FUPvTHER GAINS. RUGBY, May 14. Operations to capture a ridge about one mile south-west of Kohirna continued on Friday, says a South-east Asia communique. Mines were cleared, after which the tanks took an effective part in the destruction of enemy strongpoints. Our patrols maintained contact with the enemy some miles north and northeast of Kohima and closer at hand in the south-east. At Potsenbam, near Bishenpur, our troops completed the occupation of a village with the exception of one enemy strongpoint in the south-east corner. West of Bishenpur, after heavy fighting, we repulsed an attack. South-east of Palel, the Japanese renewed the attack on our positions astride the road. After changing hands, ap important feature remained in our possession. Eight miles from Palel, our troops captured an enemy hill position. Bombers and fighter-bombers continued widespread operations. None is missing.