The decisive battle was fought in. the neighbourhood of a market town called Mienfu. The battle was fiercely contested for seven or eight hours: victory unclaimed by either side. Both sides fought desperately fat close quarters within distance of each other. Gen. Hi had pise guns and quick firers. lind no higo guns but hag quick firers. At the close of the day they lay down exhausted, The following day, however, Lim's troops with-Jdrew into the hill fastnesses on the west whither he had come: thus admitting defeat. Hix antagonist made no attempt to pursue him as though fearing the wounded tiger had still a sharp fang, There is a man known as Liu Chitieh, having under hix command a force of between 4,000 and 5,000. He is supposed to be under Lim Fu. Yet marvellous to say he passed his whole force behind the troops on own side, who were fighting for all they were worth and never! hand to support 1 They could, easily have the fortunes of the! day in Lim's favour. Lin is known to be a man who is ever ready to jehange his coat or colours. Yet Gen. Hi counts him his enemy. 1 saw 4,000 of Hi's men to-day gain pursuit of him but with 10 miles between them so that it would be difficult to overtake him. It is reported that each side lost in killed Chengchow, Ho.
1 am in Chengehowfor the Kin-Han and Lung-Hai lines /—and here it would seem I am' remain for some time, The journey from Kaifeng hither, which ordinarily requires two hours, took six hours yesterday. This, Decause the passenger was left standing on sidings to permit seven troop trains to pass. There was no return train to Kaifeng Inst night? there is no morning train to-day nor can the Lung-Hai administration tell the crowd of waiting, shivering Passengers when the service east will be resume:
In my last letter I noted that fighting was taking place south of Loyang and in the Mienchih area. T also suggested that, according to report, Gen. Fan Chung-hsin, or Fan Lancer an hex popular, known, might be transferring.
Pengtien. "Here "in Chengchow nothing definite can be found out, though there are many rumours. (That something has happened around Loyang seems assured, for no passenger trains have gone west of here since Thursday, the 19th me stant, and at present every track in front' of the Chengchow station is filled with troop trains, The rumour that finds greatest currency reports that Loyang has been lost to the Tupan's troops. 1 Rot into conversation with an officer of Sun Yao's third army, of which there are many troops here now, but could only learn that Sun's men had come back from the north, whither many of them had gone week, and would remai here, while Gen, Hu Ching-yi's second army men went on to the vest. Thus our war, which we endly hoped was drawing to an fend, seems to be taking on a new phase,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.