Jap Efficiency Versus Chinese Bravery

Horowhenua Chronicle, 8 February 1932, Page 7

Jap Efficiency Versus Chinese Bravery

NETWORK t)P TRENCHES BEHIND CHINESE LINES York Times Broadcast. SHANGHAI, Feb. 7. The Chinese stronghold in the .shambles of Chapei, defended by fresh troops from China’s immense reservoir of man power, was attacked early this morning by the heaviest Japanese bombardment it has experienced during the ten days of the Shanghai battle. It was impossible to penetrate to the zone of action, but the heavy rumble from the region of the Japanese headquarters on the northern edge of the International -Settlement indicated that sixinch guns had been set up there to blast the Chinese from their positions about the North station in Chapei, only half-a-mile -away.

There were two significant features about this heavy canjndnading. Hitherto the Japanese guns have been quietened along about midnight, but today they roared on through, flinging out more explosives than they did during the bombardment on Saturday after- . noon and evening. And in preceding artillery actions the lesser arms have been involved, both the Japanese and Chinese "keeping their machine-guns and "riflemen busy, but this morning the whole show belonged to the -Japanese large-bore pieces.

. Echoes of the thunderlike bombardment reverberated throughout Shanghai, dwellings rattling. The International • Settlement was in darkness,, but the sky to the north was lighted ' up at frequent intervals by the burst of the mighty guns. Chinese troops tbat have been in the lines during the last few • days, standing up under heavy ■ bombardment, were relieved -during the night. A correspondent in a ear be'hind the Chinese front, witnessed the relief movement. The Japanese are opposed by the Nineteenth Army, supposedly the best fighting outfit in China, but by Western standards they appeared deficient in training and short of equipment. The Tmost impressive thing about

the troops is their extreme youth. Many of them seem to be no more than 18, but they took their hazardous positions with as much stoicism as any veteran could show. They were armd in all sorts of fashions. Some of them carried antiquated “ long-barrelled pistols and, some had obsolete rides. Only a few of them were equipped with steel helmets and these obviously had been salvaged from the Japanese. The whole countryside to the rear of the Chinese lines - has been covered with an intricate system of trenches. In exposed spots sandbag shelters have been put up. Although roads leading away from the front were jammed with Chinese refugees, a considerable civilian population remained not too far from the lines.