CHINA CONFLICT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20056, 30 September 1939, Page 3

CHINA CONFLICT

CHANGSHA IN FLAMES DRIVE BY JAPANESE MUUfIUKSS l‘,o;\iF'.TX<; CLAIMS REPUDIATED (F.lec. Tel. Copyright—Unifoil Press Assn.) (Reed. Sept. 30. 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 20.

A message from Shanghai states that the .Japanese advance columns are reported to he driving in on the flaming ruins of Changsha, the occupation of which can be expected wi'thin 48 hours.

'The Japanese claimed they had surrounded 500,000 Chinese troops under the direct command or Marshal Chijang Kai-Shek in the mountains north of Changsha.

1 Japanese naval planes are subjecting these troops to a “merciless bombing and machine-gun attacks." The Domei News Agency reports from Tolcio that the Japanese armies moved rapidly on Changsha from the south-west of Pingkiang. which is the key-point of Changsha's defence. The air force bombed Chinese troops retreating south of Changsha. The Chungking correspondent of the New York Times says it is semiofficially stated that the Chinese claimed to have stiffened their resistance and halted the Japanese advancing on Changsha. They repudiate Japanese reports that 500,000 Chinese troops are trapped in North Hunan. It is asserted that they are maintaining the fullest freedom of movement. The Washington correspondent of the United Press of America states that officials made no comment on the suggestion by the Chinese Foreign Minister, Chung Hui, that the U.S.A. was in a position to act as mediator to bring the Sino-Japanese war to an end, because of the informal nature of the proposal. It is believed that the United States will act, if ever, only if Japan directly seeks mediation.