Canton, July 9.
The equipment of the expeditionary forces which started out to free the province of Kuangtung from the grasp of the outlaws who have over-ran many counties since the outbreak of hostilities with Kuangsi has taken time. Even the working out of a general plan of action has taken days, and, while there have been sporadic movements designed to crush the vandal hordes, the real drive has just got under way. "On uly 6, there were brushes between government troops and bands of brigands in two northern regions.
robber stronghold near the town of -Yingtak, on the Canton-Shiukuan Railway, was taken by storm, the soldiers moving forward up the sides of Wat Shui mountain and firing from behind boulders at an invisible enemy, finally reaching the crest of the mountain, the main fortress ofthe largest all the northern Kuangtung bands. With this stronghold in their possession, the troops spread out over the entire county of Yingtak, and are searching through every' inch of the wild mountainous land, so that, before the drive has been concluded, the outlaws simply must come out' into the open and either submit to capture or be mown down by rifle-ire.
'A second expeditionary force, in the extreme northeastern section of the province, came up with a force of Communists on the same day. The enemy were quickly expelled from this area, but, since the policy of the Red Army is never to make 8 stand, but to flee when a foe of any considerable strength approaches, it was impossible to deal even a damaging blow. The attack on these Reds, too, was only incidental to the main purpose of the expedi-ton. A part of Gen. Hsu King-tong's rebel army had struck across country from Swatow and had been seeking an outlet either into Wunan kiangsi, nnd General Headquar-tors is intent on foiling this adversary, bottling him"up in the northeastern corner of Kuangtung, and there putting the finishing touches to the work of exterminating the rebels. Kam Hon-ting, of Gen. Chu Pui-tak's army, has wired from. Nanchang, volunteering to send a force of sufficient strength to prevent the egress of Gen, Hsu's soldfers from Kuangtung into Kiangsi. Tt begins to look as if no avenue of escape is left to these ex-soldiers, and that it is only a matter of a few days before they must make their final stand.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.