FIERCE ENGAGEMENT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 71, 23 February 1932, Page 8

FIERCE ENGAGEMENT

3.T5 P.M. EDITION

CHINESE ADVANCE. JAPANESE FORCED TO GIVE GROUND. (United Press Association —By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) Received February. 23, 1 p.m. SHANGHAI, Feb. 22. Last night ' there was the fiercest engagement at Chapei since the Japanese first launched their offensive. The Chines© threw the whole of their weight against the Japanese and a bloody battle ensued. The Japanese were forced to give ground and only succeeded checking the Chinese advance just outside the Settlement boundaries. Field guns, howitzers and trench mortars bombarded the Japanese lines incessantly, while Japanese naval' gunners replied shot for shot.

The battle waged for four hours in the darkness, during which the Japanese lines wavered and fell back, but the Japanese returned to the attack as the artillery took a heavy toll of the Chinese attackers. Several fires had started from the Chinese bombardment, and firemen were unable to check them owing to the shelling. OPPOSING FORCES’ CASUALTIES. Received February 23, 1 p.m. SHANGHAI, Feb. 22. It is officially stated that 300 Japanese were killed yesterday, bringing the total to over 1000 since the fighting commenced. The Chinese casualties have not been ascertained, but several thousand undoubtedly have been killed and wounded, since there are over 23,000 wounded in the various hospitals.