INDO-CHINA INVASION

Taranaki Daily News, 26 September 1940, Page 7

INDO-CHINA INVASION

JAPANESE ON NEW FRONT Rec. 12.30 a.m. London, Sept. 25. Tlie Japanese resumed .their attack on Indo-China this morning. Tokio announced that another force from South China was beginning an advance into Indo-China by way of Haiphong. This is the second invasion front, the first having been made over the Kwangsi border. It was officially stated at Hanoi yesterday that the Japanese renewed the Kwangsi border attack in the afternoon with increased intensity after fighting had ceased at noon. French officials said the situation was very grave. There were some minor exchanges of rifle and machine-gun fire yesterday afternoon between French and Japanese in the north of Indo-China, says advice from Haiphong, but otherwise the situation is outwardly quiet. . Haiphong schools have been closed and trains are evacuating civilians. The French and Japanese agreement signed on September 22 has been cancelled. The French claimed to have recaptured Dong Dang. It was reported that the French made a determined stand at Langson. French guns shelled the Japanese from strong fortifications and took heavy toll of the Japanese, whose bodies were piled high along a roadside near Langson. ' The Japanese announced they would launch a major attack to-day, including the bombing of Haiphong from Hainan. Reported to be attempting to persuade General Ando. commanding the Japanese army in South China, to delay the attack, General Nishihara, leader of the Japanese mission at Hanoi, encountered the "Japanese invasion fleet of eight transports, one cruiser and three destroyers en route to Haiphong. He is reported to have asked the fleet commander to defer the attempt at landing.