Open Fire and Land Men at Nanking

Horowhenua Chronicle, 3 February 1932, Page 7

Open Fire and Land Men at Nanking

JAPANESE ATTACK CHINESE CAPITAL. grave consequences of NEW MOVE. San Francisco Press Broadcast. NANKING, Feb. 2. Under the cover of a twohour bombardment of the Lion ynn forts, five miles from Nanking proper, the Japanese today landed bluejackets from their ships in the Yangtse river. The landing parties encountered . detachments of the thirty thousand veteran Chinese troops shipped to Nanking during the last two days, who had set up strong defensive positions behind sand-bag barricades in the waterfront area. For half-an-hour machine-guns spattered. What success the Chinese had in their attempt to repulse the attackers could not immediately be established, nor was it possible to determine the number of casualties. The United States destroyer Simpson, on duty in the Yangtse to protect the two hundred American residents of Nanking, has reported to have lifted its anchor and changed its position to get out of line of Japanese fire. The bombardment, laid down by the cruisers Tsushima and Tenru and the destroyer Hazu, began at eleven-thirty a.m. today. At the first rumble of the guns Chinese living in the Hsiakwan waterfront district swarmed through the gates of the city walls. City officials, although not knowing what might happen next, ordered the power plant to shut off all lights, and traffic was stopped in the streets.

Rickshaws and automobiles gave way to armoured cars and tanks that patrolled the thoroughfares for the rest of the night. Great shafts of light from the Chinese array headquarters circled and criss-crossed in the heavens during the bombardment, while observers searched for possible Japanese airplanes.

The forts of Lion Hill did not reply to the guns of the Japanese warships. It was reported that several direct hits had been scored on them. Chinese accused a Japanese dock patrol of starting the hostilities. They declared the patrol had fired on a Chinese detachment near the waterfront railway station and that immediately thereafter the guns of the ships boomed. It also was reported the guns were brought into action to prevent Chinese National Guard troops from crossing the Yangtse to Nanking. Shortly after one-thirty a.m. the American Consul-General said that he did not intend to evacuate the American residents.

Foreign Consulates generally were shocked at the new turn in events and some of them prepared to move their nationals out of the city. . A total force of seven Japanese ships of war is lying off Nanking. This includes four

cruisers and three destroyers. The cruiser Tenru is armed with five nine-inch guns and the destroyer Hazu has four seveninch guns. The only other foreign vessel in the river aside from the Simpson is a British destroyer. The decision of the Nanking Government to issue a formal declaration of hostilities, which was reached last week before the Government was moved from Nanking to Honanfu, in the interior, was said to have been held in abeyance to see how events at Shanghai developed,.