Peking, May 29.
While Peking is endeavouring to reconstruct the Cabinet General Wu Pei-fu has steadily gone ahead with his military task. Three Chihli col-urnns are converging against the enemy. On May 25, 10,000 Chibli troops, with two Divisions the strength of which is not known, passed Tangshan going to Luan-chow, while 30,000 soldiers under the command of General Wu Wen-kai in the region of Yungpingfu intend to march to Changli. The third column conservatively estimated at 9,000 mixed troops will march to Chinchow from Jehol later. A telegram says that the Chihli troops are well supplied with artillery and have taken up a position east of the Luan River and that hostilities will probably occur in a few days.
General Chang Tso-lin has shown cognizance of the Chihli movements by sending 3,000 Fengtien soldiers to Changli, which had been abandoned, and hurried the departure from Liushowying of 500 Fengtien cavalry. At present 10,000 Fengtien soldiers are between Liushowying and Changli with another 10,000 at Shanhaikuan. This indicates that the Fengtien position at Chinchow has been recently strengthened and gives colour to the belief of foreigners in that region that the Fengtien forces would soon retreat. The former says that the Fengtien forces at Shanhaikuan are sin no mood to make a stand and would probably retire at the first sight of the enemy.—Reuter.
Tientsin, May 29.
A considerable number of Fengtien forces returned to Changli from Shanhaikuan to-day, some of whom fired on an Allied train on Friday, but did not inflict any casualties.
More Chibli reinforcements have left for the northeast, but meanwhile General Feng Vu-hsiang's Christian division has returned from Tangshan to Honan, owing, it is reported, to a large increase of bandits in Honan.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.