Fierce Battle

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 19, 15 October 1937, Page 5

Fierce Battle

— Press Assn.-

CHINESE FIGHT LIKE MADMEN Terrific Artillery and Air Duel _ \ PANIC IN SHANGHAI

(By Telegraph

-Copyright.1

(Eeceived 15, 1,30 p.m.) SHANGHAI, Oct, 14. The Chinese, after a terriiic artillery and airduel, went over the tqp on a long front north of the city with fury ciifficult to credit after long weeks of cxpesure, Mcchftnisecl units hitherto secret charted the Japanese lines, and others, armed with traditional swordg, faugbt Uko madmen. Warplanes and urtillery joined in the battle. The city people, papic-strieken, fled from the .uw-flying planes and shrapnel. • A Japanese bormb shattered a tramcar, and a journalist counted 26 passengers dead. The driver, seeing the diving plapcs, applied the brakes and elanged the bell. A bomb crashed 20 feet ahead and blew the driver to pioces, with the tram. An eye-witnesg states that he saw about 40 killed and 100 wqunded by apaJnese bombers in the south-western area. The Japanese claim that the attack was repulsed, and hundreds of Chinese were killed. The Chinese say that 300 Japanese were killed at oue point only. It is not kuown how many civilians were killed in the city. Many mangled bodies are to . be seen Two outposts at Soochow Creek, manned by United States maripes, were hit by showers of splinters from n bomb. Five Americans were wounded. The Japanese expressed regret, and ordered the airmen to be more careful. The whole of the International Settlement was forced to take cover from flying shrapnel. Tho bombing and shelling was the iiercest yet. Great fires are burning at manv points outside the Settlement. A Chinese counter-offensive. has coro* menced, Japanese planes have gone up after dark for the'rst time to meei the attackers. British and German houses displaying national flags were damaged in to-day's firece fighting at Shanghai by four Japanese planes, which dived and dropped 10 projectiles. There was no casualties. owing to the fact that the houses are on the western outskirts and the residents are in the city. One house was split in two.