Peiping, Sept. 23.
After severe fighting for two days, Japanese troops this morning almost reached the walls of Paotingfu,. the fall of which is momentarily expect-Chinese troops, holding prepared defences on the south bank of the Tao River, stubbornly resisted fierce Japanese attacks, but yesterday morning the Japanese turned the Chinese left flank at Mancheng after a night assault, At dusk yesterday the Japanese crossed the river opposite the Chinese centre and stormed the formidable network of trenches, pill-boxes and redoubts. They held tenaciously to their gains and then advanced ten miles as far as the village of Kuo-chang, on the Peiping-Hankow Railway line, only a half mile north of Paotingfu.
During the fighting, two Japanese planes were shot down north of Paoting-fu by Chinese anti-aircraft batteries, which were in action for the first time in North China.
Shantung province yesterday was brought within the scope of hostilities, when Japanese naval aircraft bombed Tsining and Yenchow. The action is regarded as significant, as hitherto the attitude of Gen. Han Fu-chu, Governor of Shantung, towards the Sino-Japanese conflict had been doubtful.
Meanwhile a Japanese force thrusting north along the Peiping-Suiyuan Railway aboard an armoured-train engaged in strenuous fighting with Chinese troops near Pingtichuan in Suiyuan—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.