Fullowing on the flight of their Leaders, Marshal Lu and Gen, Ho!
Feng-lin, the men from Lunghaa retreated on all fronts on Monday, extending from Liuho on the Yangtze River to Minghong on the Huangpu, the entire semi-circle drawing back several miles, Streams of refugee soldiers approached the Settlement boundaries during the early even-and toward morning the ext vestion at Shanghai North sembled European stations prior to armies embarking for Franco. From Liuho masses of men march-toward Lotien and last reports from this point indicated that the road to Chapei was full of ecing infantry. Whether they had. the big guns was not ascertainable at the time of going to press.
'At Chenju Station, six miles from Shanghai, there were 48 carloads of troops who had fled from the front at' Huangtu Nanziang, officerless and without a destination in view. They wanted to getaway from an entrenched me, where they must fight without vals or other officers. Sixteen more wagons went up the line to relieve the congestion to some degree, white semi-official advices state that even the loyal stati master at Huangtu was no longer Jat his post, his military escort ha ing left him,. From Minghong 600 men at 2 pan. evacuated their positions, bringing some of the heavier " guns with them, and marched "on foot to Linghua Junction, from which place n troop escorted them to the railway station at Boundary Road. The Sunjekiang movement began later in the day and the first train to Jcome through on Monday night, leaving Hsingehuang at 9.45. o'clock, arrived at Shanghai about 11 It wax not only in one instance that soldiers left positions in. the Tine, but when the rumour spread to the field of battle, men and officers felt it needless' to continue Operations when their superiors rad deserted them They were a cheerful Tot, glad to get away Crom trouble of the past xix weeks, and save their sergeants no trouble cine orderly and well-behaved, obeyed commands ax though the ".rietest military discipline still cal, curryinge boxes of ant munition and food, Hninge up for inspection and roll and carrying: should, when heavy Fukien pressure foreed the line backwards from thei trenches at Bridge 19, about two miles beyond Hainehao, to a similar fortified spot along the creek flow ing under Bridge 13, where they placed five machine-guns near the railhead and 200 infantry encamped trenches on either side, the flanks Jextendinge to both sides for several miles. Four field uns of 75 fealibre were sunk in pointy on two thirds chind the infantry. The movement wax completed—by 7.210 ings, but strone to say the big une Bred not ingle round. the entire mornings afternoon,—thouyh desultory lutey fire on the flanks could be as far off ax Machuo, where it was stated during the wight: that Lunghua had taken 100 prisoners by means of x surrounding counter attack. A deadly lence henie over the railway the ent Colonel Change, formerly at Liuhoy ait May were in command here, A Flag of Truce AL 283 p.m. on Monday Major Fang. Sze-huang, who had tort Lunghua earlier in the day, and who admitted to a representative of the "North-China Daily New: that his superiors had deeampo), took with bim a messenger waving the white Ja—a_handkerchief on 2 cane—and proceeded to the Fukien lines, 7 17 distant, to arrange for the truce, which had been ale ready rumoured at the rear posts, At 5.5 p.m, the messenger, returning in the dusk, was fired upon by the defending: soldiers, but he came through unscathed with a letter from Gen. Bet Chang, or' whomever might be in charge. Major Fung had been, according to the messenger, detained Gen. Bei and sent back to Gen. Sun Chung-fan, for further interroation. Gen. Bei had, on his own behalf, however, declared in the letter that he would order his own troops to hold their fire if the others would not fire—that is until Inter conferences, As the forces here were nearly'7 i apart, it did not seem likely th® either would open the action.
The commanding officer at headquarters in Hsinchuang received the communication shortly before six o'clock and preparations were made for those at the station to return to Shanghai, and nearly four hours later an engine and two cars left, the soldiers at Bridges 12 and 13 holding their guns. At an
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.