An account of how General Chen Chiung-ming's.troops ousted Dr. Sun Yat-sen and entered the headquarters of the anti-northern army at Shin-how (Shaokuan) was related to a representative of the "'North-China Daily News" on Thureday morning by General Chiang Tso-ping, chief of the department of military intelligence in Dr. Sun, Yat-sen's anti-northern army. General Chiang, who arrived here on Saturday afternoon from Hongkong by the Admiral Line str. President Madison, came to public knowledge last year as head of the so-called Hupeh Self-Governing Armies which were defeated by General Wu Pei-
Genetht Chiang's story is best told in his own words, of which the following is the translation.
Cur orr FROM CaNTON.
"Our armies were making excellent progress in Kiangsi and had driven the Tuchun, Chen Kuang-yuan, practically out of the province, when suddenly, on the afternoon of June 15, telegraphic communication between Shaokuan and Canton was _interrupted.. Messages received at the Shaokuan railway station were to the effect that the lines had been torn up and the railway service stopped. We received this news at the General Headquarters with astonishment and consternation.
"An investigation was ordered. Just at this time, we received news from Kanchow, Kiangsi, from Gen. Li Lich-chun and Gen. Hsu Tsung-chih to the effect that Gen. Chen Chiung-ming was not working with the constitutionalists. I learned shortly afterwards that he was working hard with the north against our movement, and later I was able to secure copies of telegrams which had been exchanged between Chen and Wu Pei-fu. Communication had been going on between these two men for some time. I have proof in my possession that Chen Chiung-ming actually was a traitor to our cause.
"The following night (the 16th) messengers arrived at General Headquarters reporting that President Sun Yat-sen had been forced to leave Canton and that the presidential mansion had been burned by the troops of Gen. Chen Chiung-ming. We immediately acquainted our leaders in Kiangsi with this news and asked Gen. Li Lich-chun, Gen. Hsu Tsung-chin and Gen. Wang Ta-wei whether they wished to continue their campaign against the North in Kiangsi or whether they would return to subjugate and drive Chen away from Kuangtung.
"We received, on June 18, a wireless message from Admiral Tang Ting-kuang, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, to the effect that Chen had-*mutinied and he, Tang. in accordance with iustructions from President Sun, had given orders to the gunboats to bombard Canton as a protest.
Autecatioss or Lootine.
"Two days later, on June 20, Chen Chiung-ming's forces arrived at Shaokuan, which was left in the possession of a few staff officers and myself. Immediately after they loft the station, Chen's troops began looting and never troubled about taking over the administration of the city. Not a shop nor a house escaped the looting. Even the mission where T was forced to take refuge was robbed. The soldiers, however, failed to search a small room where I was hidden.
"Gen. Yung Shih-liang, Chen's commander, arrived three days after the entry of his troops. He met Gen. Liu Chin and me and appeared to be very courteous, giving us special passes to go through his lines freely. With this pass I returned to Canton. From there I proceeded to Whampoa, by way of Hongkong, and met President Sun Yat-sen. The President was extremely angry at what had happened and accused us of having too much confidence in General Chen Chiung-ming. He said that if we had less confidence in the man, whom we never expected to prove traitor to our cause, this trouble would never have occurred. President Sun intimated that' if Chen wanted him to retire, he could have approached him in a peaceful way. There was plenty of room for discussion. There was no necessity for using military force." I was forced to admit that I was in the wrong and had too much confidence in Chen.
"Chen's forces are mostly Hakkas, men of Waichow, and: are generally uneducated. Very few of his leaders are educated men.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.