Canton, Apr. 23.
The story that has been making the rounds of South China having do the Commander-ination, Gen. Chen Chi-tang should not be passed around any longer. The had never been put and there was a ban on its publ tion in the Canton journals, though all the newspapers had report which came direct from Wuchow. Now, in a publicly released declaration, Gen. Chen denies having had in mind laying down his military commis si It does not take an expert to see what has made the story distastfu! to the man about whom it was written. Organs antagonistic to the party in power in Nanking have used the report to serve their own ends, making it appear that it was so that he might be free to serve Gen, Yen shi-shan that Gen. Chan Chi-tang wanted to be free of his military responsibilities in the south. Coupled with the General's Jeontradiction of the report is vigorous denial of friendship for the cause of the northern warlord, Both the 6th and the 8th Route Armies have wedged their way well into the Kuangsi district of Ku ping. Now they have their hardest row to hoe, for ahead lies Kuaiyun, with its rugged mountains and its dense timber land, defended by a large force of foeman. There is no intention on the part of the High Command to make a direct assault, fon the enemy's positions in Kuaiyun, Dut, if by a flanking movement on both ends of the line the Government troops can encircle this county, they will be in a much more favour: able position, and may be able to drive the rebels out without having to sacrifice many men, Another: Innovation is to be' observed:
Kuangsi recruits henceforward are counted on to do the bulk of the serious work in Kuangsi. Com.
ions have been given to two practically unknown natives of the rebel state, who have raised a few regiments already, and are every day enlisting more men. The guerilla warfare carried on by the Mintuan and bandit gangs has given the Koangtung commanders plenty' about which to think, but they are confident that Kuangsi officers fighting for the Government will be able to win over many of these irregular elements, and may be able to bring about the desertion of troops from the regular Kuangsi army.
An officer who deserted the rebel cause, and slipped quietly away, reaching Canton late last week, the authority for the statement that jen, Huang Shao-hung has been on furlough, and is spending his Nanning. Gen. the real leader, the and brains of Kuangtung's adversary. Li and Wang together have five divisions, but none up to Cull strength, there being no more thin 20,000 men in the whole lot. In Gen, Peh Sun-hsi's two divisions are 6,000 soldiers. The Ironside leader, Chang Fa-kuei, has only two regiments of his own, mere 4,000 [officers und men, but Gen. Chou Litn, Tate of Ho Kim's army, has und hhiy banner fully 9,000 deserters from the Wunan army. So, adding the Higures together, the Kuangsi army, says our informant, can count no more than 40,000 troops, and mot all of phom.have rifles. Tt has been popularly supposed that the obtaining of sufficient food supplies has been the rebel leaders' principal worry, but, according to this officer, the radical Leftist leader, Wang Ching-wei, is seeing to it that the supply of rations does not run low. From his headquarters at Hanoi, he keeps a steady supply. flowin eross the frontier into Kuang:
But it is not an easy matter to find recruits to replace those who are killed or sent to the hospital, and scarcity of ammunition is an' ever more serious problem.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.