While the Japanese. army. called upon its alr force to assist in stemming the progress of the turgid ware of the Yellow River, the flood yesterday spread relentlessly.over. the. flat plains of northern Honan to cove 00 square' kilometres, Two thousand villages, with. an agregate population of $00,000. were affected. Loss of life among Chinese farmers was expected to exceed the $0,000 mark, Domei dispatches from Kaifeng said.
'With' special receptacles packed. with "gunny bags—which normally would be used for the construction of sand-bag emplacements—taking the place of death-dealing bombs, twineengined Japanese bombers_ roared above the breached embankments where isolated Japanese" engineer units, assisted by Chinese farmers, were fighting against time, ud nature to All in the gaps.
When released from the low-lying craft, the parachute-equipped recep-todes floated gracefully towards the ground. An occasional burst of machine-gun fire from the northern shore indicated the presence of Chinese troops.
As soon as they hit the ground, the receptacles were promptly unpacked, the bags filled with earth! ind rushed to the nearest breach.
Tools and food were also being] Groped from these planes.
The width of the flooded area yesterday " exceeded ten kilometres, while its length was estimated to run to about 60 kilometres, Efforts to rescue marooned vie~ tims of the: flood continued.
Forewamed of the breaching of the dykes by its "eyes" aloft, the Japanese army did not suffer any losses directly "attributable to the flood, official dispatches claimed.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.