FALL OF HSUCHOW

Grey River Argus, 21 May 1938, Page 7

FALL OF HSUCHOW

LARGE CHINESE FORCE I With Little Hope of Escape lAust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] SHANGHAI, May 19. ! The Japanese claim to have captured the whole of Hsuchow, except i the southern section. They previously .(occupied the western portion as the result of the downfall of the Chinese | strongpoint Changchuang, four miles !! from the west gate. It is estimated that between 109,000 I and 150,000 Chinese provincials are in i the city, with little nope of escape. : The picturesque city is becoming a vast slaughterhouse. Numerous buildings are shattered and ablaze. The iChinese are now attacking desperate-, I SURRENDERS OF CHINESE. * 1 TOKIO, May 19. Three thousand Chinese surrenderled at Hsuchow, and four thousand at Suhsien, Kucheng ana Wonuishan. CHINESE CLAIM. SHANGHAI, May 19. I ; The Chinese deny that the JapanI ese have completely occupied Hsuichow, the southern portion of which i is stiil in the hands of the defenders, 'whom Japanese are attempting to exi pel from the streets with bombs and , bayonets. CHINESE RETREAT. lAust. & NZ. Cable Assn.] LONDON, May 17. I Tokio reports that tne Chinese front north-east of Hsuchow collapsed after the Japanese entry into the city Japanese crossed the Grand Canal between Hauchuang and Taierchwang, where the Chinese for weeks upheld I the Japanese drive. The Chinese are ( retreating in disorder, permitting aj rapid general advance on Hsuchow. : LUNGHAI RAILWAY LOST. ||

LONDON, May 19

! Hankow reports sanguinary lighting along the Lunghai railway, from ! Hsuchow to Langfeng. Only the Can- ! Lon-Hankow railway is now intact for the Chinese. NO VICTORY CELEBRATION. SHANGHAI, May 19. It is perhaps significant that Japan has banned the victory 'celebrations. AMOY SHOOTINGS. CHINESE ACCUSATION. , [Aust. & N.Z. Gable Assn.] HANKOW, May 19The Japanese, after summoning fifteen hundred members of the Chinese Peace Preservation Corps. Amoy, to report for reorganisation, lined them up on the waterfront, machine-gun-ned them, and threw the bodies into the sea. , AMERICANS HELD BACK. WASHINGTON, May 19. I The United States Ambassador at Tokio has asked the Japanese Government why it refuses to let Americans in China" return to the cities from which they have been driven by the Japanese advance. I Hundreds of Americans are coni centrated at Shanghai, unable to ’ obtain transportation permits from the Japanese authorities.

FAR EAST RELIEF

THANKS TO NEW ZEALAND

WELLINGTON, May 19. A further letter has been received from Dr. Hector Tremewan, one of , lite New Zealand doctors sent to China to assist in the medical work ! there. The letter was written in I Chengchow in the Honan province. . , Dr. Tremewan writes that he is! .--(ill in the lighting zone, that trans-; I port, facilities in the evacuation of I wounded are improving steadily so that they are getting the more seriously wounded within two days as against six and seven days as ad- , ' ised in his previous communication. • He also advises that refugees are still one of the major problems, and that ' air raids continue, but the civilian population are getting more careful : m their movements so that there is not the damage to life and limb as in the past. He states that Madame Chiang Kai-Shek visited Chengchow a few days ago; she was inspecting the front line hospitals and refugee i camps and shook hands with Dr. . Tremewan and spoke of her personal i gratitude to the New Zealand people j for what had been done to assist in ' relieving distress in China. ; The Joint Council of the Order of Ist. John and New Zealand Red Cross I Society has received the following l letter from the League of Red Cross i ,! Societies. Paris, in connection with i the Far East relief appeal:— J "I beg to acknowledge with many j thanks, your letter of February 16, enclosing copy of the report on the 'i results up to date of the Far East apJ peal launched by the Joint Council I of the Order of St. John and the New i Zealand Red Cross Society. These ' results are most gratifying and I i congratulate the New Zealand Red • Cross most warmly on the part it ,i has taken in bringing them about. ■j “We continue to receive extremely '‘distressing accounts of the situation bin China, and I am sure it will be a ! satisfaction to the Red Cross, as well Pas to the Order of St. John and the ■| subscribing public in New Zealand, ) to know that they are contributing to the relief of suffering on a scale i which represents one of the greatest emergencies of modern times, and ■■ helping to demonstrate lhe value of ■j the Red Cross as a service organisa- - tion to people in great distress."