The war situation in China now covers ar extraordinarily large area of the country, Th strong force of Japanese invaders in the Nort is being opposed by the concentration of Chi nese troops round Tatung which the Japanes have captured and Paotingfu where the Chine: have large forces and along the Tientsin-Puko' Railway. The Japanese line seems now, witl the capture of Hsinchi, to stretch from Hsinch ess the Peiping-Hankow Railway at Liang:
35 miles south of Peiping, and then the Great Wall to Tatung. The threat to Canton has stimulated Chinese militar; defensive measures in the south, and around Shanghai the Japanese have estimated something like 29 Chinese divisions have bee: concentrated. In the meantime the Japanesi have declared a naval blockade of the Chin: coast but exempting from it the port of Tsini tao. Historically, this is the biggest invasion in China which has taken place since the middle of the Seventeenth Century when Tsung Chol the last emperor of the Ming dynasty, w: unable to withstand the invasion by the Mauch h Japanese claims to success in the Nort are justified will as usual only be establishes s the events unfold themselves. The Chine have agreed that Tatung has fallen, but it believed that around that city very strong Chinese forces have been concentrated. There a
cause in effect the Japanese are being opposed obvious difficulties in the Chinese situation, pi by three vertically parallel lines of Chi nese troops and it is by no means cle: in what way ce-ordination has been effecfed between those apparently independent forces. Paoting is also strongly held a the Japanese are proposing it would seel to make that their next point of attack. but the statements also suggest that there is forward Japanese movement designed to thru strong force in between Tatung and Paoting! with the possible object of taking the Tat: concentration in the rear, The situation round Shanghai has received attention recently a it has little changed. The position of the Chinese forces in Pootung is threatened, it-is bẹ- lieved, by possible attempt on the part of the Japanese to dislodge them by landing forces dri the peninsula, an effort which has already been made without success. In the meantime the Chinese have held out at Kiangwan which is now considerably in advance of their new line, where the Japanese have landed artillery and some of it has come into action, which sugge: that certain of the Chinese forces are not afraid of the naval guns. The possibility of the Chi nese not holding the new line a moment longer they consider they have sufficiently de-the Japanese defences has to be taken lutd account and that may also have an effect on the position in Pootung, although yesterday the indications were that the Pootung area might again come into the limelight before long. It Wil be seen from this brief account of the whole situation that both sides are making a grent effort. The activity of the Japanese Naval forges alone, to say nothing of their independent air operations in bombing Chinese cities, involves the expenditure of a considerable amount of men and resources. The big Chinese con-ion near Shanghai and in other parts cly named also constitute an effort of no little magnitude. The prospect therefore of an early cessation of hostilities does not seem partieWlarly bright. On the one side there is the &rBval of considerable forces of Japanese who will not be content to stay where they are or go back without substantial reason; on the other side is a country whose territory has been heavily attacked so that there is a widespread tion to resist so long as the effort can
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.