"Denuded of its population of 200,000, Soochow, fell into Japanese hands on Friday morning, a Domei correspondent with the Japanese Expeditionary Force reported yesterday.
The Iwakuma and Sugawara units entered the northern gate at 6.30 o'clock in the morning. About four hours later, the Fujii detachment entered the city and immediately proceeded with a house-to-house search for snipers.
The task, the Domei correspondent said, was completed the same evening. During the fighting in the imvicinity of the city 2,000 Chinese were taken prisoner, the report added.
The main body of the Chinese garrison, comprising about 40,000 men of the Fifteenth and the Fifty-Third Divisions, was reported by the correspondent to be in full retreat] towards Wusih.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.