CAPTURE OF SHAN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19626, 3 May 1927, Page 6

CAPTURE OF SHAN

DISORDER IN CHINESE AREA ANARCHY AND TERRORISM. USUAL TALE OF TREACHERY. STRAY BULLETS AND SHELLS. [FROM OCT OWN CORRESPONDENT.] SHANGHAI, March 26. The Cantonese started to attack Shanghai on Monday, March 21, and the Native City and Chinese suburbs were captured on the Wednesday. British, American, Dutch, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish troops, together with the Shanghai Volunteer Corps, are guarding the International Settlement of Shanghai, and are preventing all armed Chinese soldiers from entering the concession. The ■whole of the Settlement is completely ringed round with barbed wire entanglements, sand-bag barricades have been erected, and machine guns placed in position at all important points. Five hundred Nationalist troop* in mufti captured the arsenal at Lunghua, south of the foreign concession, early on Monday morning. Admiral Pi Shou- I chsn, who was nominally holding the J place on behalf of the Northerners, went over to the -southern side and has been appointed commander of the 41st Nationalist Army. Concurrently with tho taking of the arsenal sympathetic risings by i civilian bands of armed Chinese broke out in Chapei, tho northern Chines© sab- j nrfa of Shanghai, where the Northern forces were holding the Shanghai North Railway Station. The whole affair was well stage-man-aged. The General Labour Union called a strike and proclaimed a general holi- \ d»y from noon on Monday as a welcome to the Nationalist forces. The strike was effective in all mills, factories, traxni and Chinese post offices, and it is estimated that approximately 120,0D0 Chinese workers obeyed the call of the union. The electric light and power station, waterworks and other essential x services weri» manned by foreigners. With the exception of the post office tho majority of the strikers have sines returned to work. Chinese Police Stations Raided. On Monday afternoon a mob some 200 strong, composed of the " riff-raff" of the district and wearing arm-bands of tho Nationalist Army, started attacking all Chinese police stations in Chapel In the majority of cases the police stations " went over " and hoisted the Southern flag. At one station a brisk engagement took place, several of the' police were killed; the station was finally captured by the mob and burned down. It is estimated that the Cantonese Commander, General Bei-Chung-hsi, now in council at Shanghai, has disarmed during th» past five days some 3000 plain-clothes gunmen and at least twenty self-appointed generalsAnarchy and terrorism have been rampant throughout the whole of the Chapei district. Numerous fires caused by incendiarism and shell fire broke out in Chapei during the fighting, m one fir# alone over 1000 Chinese houses were burned down, while in another case the mob deliberately set fire to and destroyed the principal hre station. The armoured train Jcnown as the "Great Wall" and manned by White Russians belonging to the Shantung Army of General Chang Chung-chang put up a gallant fight against o\erwhelming odds at the Shanghai North railway station in Chapei, just beyond the Settlement boundary. A shot firom their 3in. gun made » direct hit on a building in which a pamber of Cantonese soldiers were stationed, and blew the place to pieces. Horthera Defence Collapses. By noon on Wednesday the Northerners defending the railway station had either been killed, taken prisoners by the Cantonese or interned by the International Defence Force inside tho Settlement boundaries. The fate of the White Russianscaptured on tho armoured train is not known, but it is foared that the Cantonese will show them no mercy. The condition of the railway station beggars description. Coaches and engines have been overturned by shell fire and the (station buildings .wrecked; the whole place reisembles a shamble. Hundreds of bullets and numerous shells fell in the Settlement while the lighting was hottest on Monday afternoon and Tuesday. Two foreign special police were wounded and a Russian was struck in the neck by a bullet, while a score or more of Chinese were injured. On North Sznchuen Road Extension, which is a municipal road controlled and policed by the Settlement authorities, but running through the Chinese suburb of Chapei,' there was literally a barrage of bullets coming from the alleyways on both sides of the road. A shell "dropped on the roof of a foreign residence in the Settlement, but did not. explode, two shells fell in ih* vicinity of the Gordon Road police elation, another shell struck a moving picture building. No one among the civilian population has been reported killed either by stray bullets or shells. A Punjab Soldier Killiid. The first casualty among the foreign defence forces was a Punjabi. Deceased, in company with others, was in tha rear end of a motor-lorry on North Szechuen Road, on his way to his outpost, when Cantonese plain-clothes soldiers fired at the lorry at. a range ,pf about syds., using automatic pistols; a bullet struck the Punjabi in the head and killed him instantaneously. Another Punjabi was struct: in the wrist by a bullet A British patrol on a bridge was fired on by the mob of Communists, which took possession of Chapei and created a reign of terror in the district; fortunately, due to the poor markmanship of the snipers, the outpost on the bridge suffered no injuries. Four British soldiers on patrol duty in tho Northern district were shot at by snipers. Two armoured cars were rushed to the spot, one cor landed in the ditch and for a time the snipers had it all their own way; the machine-gun, however, on the other car quickly got into action and the sniping ceased, the patrols escaping without serious injury. Disorderly Chinese Soldi<srs. At least a dozen Northern soldiers were killed and a score wounded when a detail of Durhams wore forced to fire on an army of about 2000 soldiers who attempted by force of arms to get into the International Settlement from Chapei. The Chinese soldiers rushed the barricades, firing as they advanced, and the Durhams from behind their sandbag barricades were forced to return the fire! For about, aqnarter of an hour the t",vo forces exchanged shots at a ranid pace nnd before long a doren dead arid more thsn a score of wonnderl Cranes? were Iving ontsid© (he barricade. Finding their Pre ineffective, the Chinese soldier? threw down their arms and equipment and entreated to b» allowed to enter the Settlement and seek protection from the Cantonese soldiers ■who were pursuing thorn. About 1500 to 2000 soldiers were disarmed, thoroughly searched and allowed to enter the Settlement. They w»re placed in an internment camp and are now awaiting a steamer to shin there hack to their homes in the " North. Five of the Durhams were injured in the fight*