Heavy downpours i^ east Honan are reported to be holding up the advance of the Japanese in the Lanfeng and Chihsien area, where muddy fields are said to be making the operations of mechanised units difü- cult, Two Japanese detachments, Chinese reports say, appeared yesterday afternoon on the outskirts of Chengyangkwan, near the Anhwei-Honan border, northwest of Hofei. These units are said to be the vanguards of the Japanese troops now at Fengtai and Shou-hsien, The usually well-informed "Ta Kung Pao," in an article on the war situation today, says that "in the Hsuchowfu battle the Japanese concentrated their attack on one point, while the Japanese are at present launching a large-scale drive from several directions. From -Anhwei, Honan and Chekiang. Japanese forces are moving westward, Their main objective is to cut the Peiping-Hankow Railway, encircle Kaifeng and Chengchow, and exert pressure upon Hupeh. Therefore. in the new campaign Kaifeng and Chengchow do not occupy an important position, "Our chief aim to defeat the very aims of the present Japanese drive.. We have learned, and we are Father Sought in
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