Peiping, Mar. 24
Japanese forces today were within striking distance of Chengchow, junction of the Lunghai and Peiping-Hankow railways in Honan province, with their vanguards at Kingsuichen on the south bank of the Yellow River.
A Japanese detachment, feld dispatches reaching here revealed, crossed the Yellow River near Wang-we on the night of March 20 to advance to Shihkiao on the following day.
Kingsuichen was occupied at noon on March 21. Japanese forces continued operations to push back the Chinese west of the breach in the Yellow River dyke caused by the Chinese as they retreated towards Chengchow last spring after the fall of Hsuchow The Chinese abandoned 150 dead and one machine gun in their retreat Japanese casualties were given as five wounded.—Domei.
Hungarian mechanized forces in the Carpathic Ukraine crossed the Slovakian border this afternoon and penetrated to a depth of fifteen kilometres nto Slovakia, reports from Houmenne. on the Slovako-Ukrainian frontier, asserted tonight. The Hungarians occupied several villages after which ihe troops stopped their invasion and a Hungarian officer informed a Slovakian military commander that the occupation was taking place with Herr Hitler's agreement.
In their drive, the Hungarian tanks and armoured cars had compelled some 2,000 Slovakian troops to retire. One Slovakian aeroplane was shot down by the invaders. At 5 o'clock this afternoon, fighting was resumed when Colonel Hutka, commanding Slovakian forces in that area, ordered the counter-attack.
Certain quarters here stated tonight that German intervention may become necessary.—Havas.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.