The. walled-town of Wangtien, a smell city situated between Sung. kiang and Kashing, is now being attacked by a-large and well-armed "army" of Chinese guerillas, according to arrivals from that city. These guerillas, according: to these same sources, were formerly in three separate units operating in the vicinity of Chapoo, Yenmou and Kashing but, under orders, it is believed, from Hankow have now formed one group and are attacking Wangtien. Yesterday, shell-fire was clearly audible over a wide area of Shanghai.
Telephone calls, asking "what all the noise is about," were received during the morning from points as far apart as the Central District and Edinburgh Road. This confirms re-"forts that engagements between Japanese units and guerilla "armies" in the Shanghai hinterland continue to be fairly frequent, the heavy rains Of the past few weeks being more to the advantage of the latter than to the former.
During the past two or three days, heavy ambulance loads of wounded Japanese soldiers have come in from the area west of Shanghai, and it is believed that most of these were Wounded in engagements with the Chinese guerilla bands. Although it is some time now since the sound Of shell-fice was heard distinctly in Shanghai itself, residents "in the Hungjao "area continue to report hearing intermittent gun-fire of both heavy and light weapons.
Yesterday's "battle" started very early in the morning, the heaviest firing being between 9,30 and 10 a.m. The consensus of listeners was that "the guns were being fired from "somewhere between Minghong and Sungkiang." This direction partially confirms reports of the attack on It is also considered as substantial tion of the report that reinforcements "with supplies and orders for these guerilla bands cross the /Hangchow Bay Jate at night and make their way "iby easy stages up to the Minghong "area, where they cross the Whangpoo River and, linking up with the other units engage upon guerilla activities "The shell-fire is considered more likely to have come from Japanese warships in the river and. from Japanese field units rather than from the Chinese guerillas, who favour the rifle and machine-gun.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.