Mr. Pembroke Stephens is Hit on Water Tower Gaon after seven o'clock last night, a Chinese Headquarters order to evacuate the Nantao area brought to an end a day of some of the grimmest fighting Shanghai has witnessed in nearly three months, as Chinese, vastly outnumbered and overpowered by all the mechanical might of the Japanese forces, trapped in the old city on Shanghai's southern boundaries; fought desperately against extinction. Trapped in the area, when Japanese forces swept around from the western areas on Tuesday, a force of between 3,000 and 4,000 men had decided to hold on to the end. 1 Following Wednesday's aerial and artillery bombardment, the Japanese at dawn yesterday threw into action from the west a tremendous number of men and machines. In addition, at daybreak a landing was effected in Pootung, just opposite Yangtszepoo, and this force encountered little opposition, easily driving back the few remaining Chinese. By late afternoon, artillery units had been placed in position in Pootung, opposite the Nantao Bund, and were firing direct into the city
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.