Japanese field headquarters on {he Lunghai Front, May 22.
Japanese troops yesterday continued to tighten their cordon around the Chinese troops driven into a pocket south-east of Hsuchow, A column driving south from Suhsien, along the Tsinpu Railway, yesterday afternoon occupied Kiaow, 50 kims. south of Hsuchow. With the fall of Kiaow, the gap through which the Chinese troops in the pocket could cross the railway, westward has been narrowed to about 20 miles. Meantime, another column driving southeastward from Hsuchow early yesterday morning occupied Taoshanchi, after defeating a force of 4,000 Chinese.
On the Lunghai, powerful Japanese columns were, meantime, forming another ring around troops concentrated in Lanfeng, east of Kaifeng. A desperate attempt by a Chinese force, led by three tanks, to break through the Japanese lines yesterday afternoon was repulsed with heavy losses for the Chinese, it was claimed
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.