Kuomintang Troops Driven Out of Kaifeng: Fengtien Hold Apparently Well Consolidated: The Missing 10th Division: Terrible Tale of Massacre by Red Spears From Our Ows Kaifeng, Ho., Mar, 27. they were preparing to come east to Kaifeng. Gen. Lin took his divi-For exactly eight days we hay sion of men to the west to Paisha been under the control of Honan troops of Gen. Chin Yun-ao, but fon the 19th instant. 'Then on the these have now had to retire and 24th instant, Gen, Ma Chi-ti had the Fengtien troops are once more hurriedly to' leave to support him, in possession of the city. The 10th] Jand the city was left to the care sion of Fengtien troops _under of a handful of Yichun troops. On the 25th we heard that both Generals Gen. Vu Chen, which were so dis: tously routed in the capture of Ma and Lin had been defeated in Kaifeng on the 7th instant, are the neighbourhood of Chungmowscattered to the four winds, and hsien, and retiring to Hanchuang as a_unit they have been entirely they had there left the railway and iped out. proceeded south towards Chowkiskow. That morning an aeroplane Bad Generalship from the west had flown over the It is anid that Gen, Vu committed ity dropping posters which declared suicide, and it seems certain that] that Chengchow was in the hands he Is to blame for his defeat, for of Fengtien troops, and that the he had been instructed not to' pro-two generals Chang and Han were ceed too rapidly against Cheng. pursuing the enemy south. chow until the troops from the But Another Story Now north were able to ce-operate with In the afternoon an army medical him at that point.
He had extended an attenuated! officer brought about 100 wounded soldiers of Gen. Lin's division to Hine almost to Chengchow, and then} the C.LM, Hospital, and asked the his communications being' threaten-doctors to take them in, as his edin the rear he had to withdraw staff had received orders to evacuate hastily. The confusion this brought} immediately, and as they could not about provided an opportunity take the wounded along he was which his opponents did not fail to afraid they would be massacred by use, 80 that he was compelled to} the Pengtien troops if the foreigners} Teave much of his equipment behind, would not protect them. and then foreed to make a last stand by the south dyke of Kaifeng, An interesting sidelight on this is} city, where he was. decisively' defeat-that Gen, Lin's mien are notoriously ed in the battle of the night of the Nationalistic, and while here were 16th instant, very outspoken in what they would]
Generals Ma Chi-li and Lin Pei-do to make things hot for the for-then took charge of the city eigners when the local situation had fon the 17th instant, and Gen. Mi feleared up.
Chen-pino, the head of the Yichun, However, the hospital could not who had been made commander of receive them, but the foreign chair-18th Fengtien Army, promptly] man of the Kaifeng Red Cross]
igned his post, though being an!
Society undertook to care for them, man and friendly to the Honan! and they have now all been received jets he was allowed to remain! into one of the temporary hospitals fu the city. of the Society. At dusk of this day! the Commissioner of police, acting The Kuomintang Flag under instructions of the military These Honan troops bore bras-leaders, informed all foreigners that sards of a dark blue ground with Chengchow had been regained from red sun, and they carried a ting the Fengtien troops, and that there of similar colours instead of the need be no further anxiety. five-coloured Chinese flag, while In view of the Chengchow aero-quite one half of them wore metal plane and its posters, and the: Helmets of wash-basin shape, evacuation of the army medical Tt was not long before it became staff, we felt that this information clear that the leaders of the Ho-was incorrect, and given out ay a nan troops were not agreeing. blind. In the morning our surmise Moreover their men were acting in was found to be correct, for all avery high handed manner, and Honan troops had evacuated before their brutality and lack of discipline daylight yesterday, and proceeded completely alienated the sympathies a southerly direction, of the people. Indiseriminate fring} took place in the streets night and Awful Tale of Massacre day, and it was not uncommon when 'The Fengtien troops were expect-one' took exercise in the open to ed to arrive at noon yesterday but hear the whiz of a bullet as it pas did not until dark. But they' ed by overhead. are now here in force, having come'
Handgrenades were in constant] overland from Chengchow as well as evidence and use. A group by train, while other units are com-civilians were looking at some soldiing from the East by way of Kuofers, when one of the latter passed cheng and Lanfeng. The latter are fever a grenade for the civilians to} not Fengtien but Chihli-Shantung examine. He had set the fuse going troops. The first troops to arrive in pure deviltry, and the civilians were the Lith Fengtien Division. who received it had his hand blown] They have been very order! off, and other damage done to him.
'A group of civilians were squatting] forming a on the ground when some soldiers loosely disciplined Honan troops! came by. The later told them to who have just left. stand up, and because one was a Even so the local country: people Hittle slow in doing so a grenade are much perturbed, as investiga-"was thrown at his feet, and he was tions are now being made as to Brought into the hospital in a hor-where the abandoned equips ribly mangled condition. the defeated 10th Fengtien went to, and also what bee Down With Running Dogs the 10,000 men of that Division.
During these few days Nationalist Very few of these men have turned propaganda went forward at full] up, but very gruesome stories are speed. There were political meet-coming to lizkt of cold-blooded ngs of different kinds, while each murder of these men, mostly by day saw new sets of posters exhort-villagers and Red Spear Societies. ug opposition to "imperialism" and Those living along the south bank "militarism," ard to England and of the Yellow River will probably' Japan, and to Chang Tso-lin. These be called to account for their par posters were everywhere yesterday, this horrible massacre. Many, of hut to-day not one is to be seen, the defeated soldiers fled north, as overnight Fengtien took over the binking to cross the Yellow River; city, and this time they mean to ut arriving at the bank. they found keep it. For over three weeks we means of crossing and wandered have daily heard the sound of artil-fo and fro. Having thrown away} ery fire until to-day. {heir rifles they had no means'of few days ago it became common protecting themselves so were at the! imowledge that Fengtien were in merey of the villagers. Sams werd possession of Chengchow, and that beaten to death, but the greater
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.