Shanghai, May 20. 10 o'clock yesterday morning, Japanese troops were in control of all parts of Hsuchow except the southern area.
There, a strong Chinese unit was reported to be fighting a rear-guard action, to enable the main body of the garrison to withdraw from Hsuchow.
The first quarter of the city to succumb to the Japanese attackers. was the western, whose defences were pierced by a Japanese column at 9.10 o'clock in the morning.
Less than an hour later, the force had fought its way through to the heart of the city.
Throughout the day, fires raged through~ out the city, gradually eating their way into new sector:
Adding to the terror gripping the lily, Japanese naval aircraft, whose strength was, put by a naval' spokes-tan here at'several flights of more than twelve planes each", severely bombed Chinese troop concentrations in the south-eastern and eastern parts of Hsuchow at 10 o'clock in the morning.
'The Japanese broke through the city's outer defence rim at 8, o'clock' in the morning. For two hours before the attack on the western suburb ws launched, Japanese field and mountain guns pounded Chinese sandbag barricades, in an attempt to create a gap through which troops could pour into the city.
When the vanguard of the Japanese force charged the Chinese defence works, it was met by a hail of hand-grenades and intensive rifle and machine-gun fire from the survivors of the bombardment.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.