Confirming the cutting of the Po ping-Hankow Railway "somewhere" south of Chengchow, at dawn yester-ay, a Japanese military spokesman last night attached great importance to the success of the operation.
With the railway south to Hankow! unavailable for the movement of! their troops, "estimated at tens of thousands." the spokesman said, the Chinese had no alternative but to retreat west towards Loyang along] the Lunghai or to follow highways} the south-west.
The latter, the spokesman declared, were in poor condition im addition to being "wide open" to aerial bombing. The railway, he said, was open to artillery bombardment in addition to aerial attacks.
"The cutting of the railway will prevent the Chinese command from using the troops still in the Chengchow area for the defence of Hankow when we march on that eily," he declared.
The detachment which cut the railway was the same one that blew Up the Lunghai tine between Chengchow and Hsuchow on May 14 prior to the onslaught on Hsuchow.
News of the cutting of the railroad' was said to have precipitated a large-scale retreat westward of Chinese troops from Chengchow. Japanese military planes bombed Chinese {troops near Chengchow: their pilots reported that Chinese' troops remaining in the city were moving about in a confused manner—Dome!
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.