Hankow. Apr. 20 Extremely sanguinary street. fighting is In progress in the north and west gates of Lingyi. where the Chiese are battling furiously in an attempt to drive out a detachment of Japanese troops which entered the city through a breach in the wall made by their heavy artillery, according to a telephone message from the Tientsin-Pukow Railway front this afternoon, Alter a series of assaults on Chinese positions at Shuitien, outside the west gate of Lingy, which was defended by one brigade of Chinese troops, Japanese artillery concentrat-shelling the west and north gates. Soon a breach was made in the wall near the north gate, which allowed a small detachment of Japanese troops to enter the city.
Chinese forces are desperately trying to close the breach, and are engaging the Japanese detachment in-lo the north and west gates. They are being aided by their comrades stationed south of Lingyi, who have Joined in the battle, while the Chinese left wing, moving eastward from the west bank of the Yi River, fg attacking the Japanese right tank to the north-west of Lingyi.
The Chinese military authorities ore not perturbed by the develop. ments on the Lingyi front. Ther point out that the Japanese are using two and a half divisions for their drive in the Lingyi sector—one and a half divisions transferred from the} Peiping-Suiyuan ud Peiping-Hankow railway zones and another division from Shanghai. The Shanghai division, they say, came, from the Chekiang front, and has' been re-' placed by one and a half division of flesh troops from the Formosa gar-ison.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.