Feb, 11
After a lull of some months the Japanese forces have commenced a series of actions designed to bring about the fall of Hsuchow and thereby secure domination of the whole of the Tsinpu Railway and its junction with the Lunghai Railway. The Chinese have all along considered that this city was one of the main strategic points in their resistance to the Japanese invasion, and for a very con= siderable time have been busily engaged in perfecting its defences which are reported to be very strong, strong enough to be called China's "Hindenburg Line." The last few days have seen a considerable increase in the activities of the Japanese Army moving northward and with the recent capture of Pengpu, and Fengyang and the move towards Mengcheng the first, steps towards the ultimate reduction of Hsuchow may be said to have been completed. 'The whole action is assuming greater dimensions with the Japan-ere attacking the Lunghai Railway from no fewer than five provinces, Honan, Hopel and Shantung in the north' and Anhwei and Kiangsu in the south. The fighting is consequently, being carried on over a wide front from the Tientsin-Pukow to the Peiping-Hankow Railway. It is quite probable that the Japanese high command will seek to bring about the fall of Hsuchow by cutting the Lunghai Railway somewhere to the west and at the moment it appears as though Kweiteh and not Hsuchow Is the immediate objective, for as the armies advancing upon it from the north and the south draw closer together the salient around Hsuchow will be sufficiently squeezed to oblige the Chinese to withdraw. Kweiteh in this instance plays exactly the same role as Tazang did in the defence of Chapel, for it will be remembered that when the Japanese reached that important spt the danger of the encirclement of the Chinese forces in the Chapel salient was so great that withdrawal was the only prudent method of keeping the troops intact. "Kweiteh need not necessarily have to fall before the Chinese positions around Huschow are rendered tenable, for the mere reduction of the distance separating the northern and southern Japanese forces will render it imperative for the Chinese command to extricate itself.
That the Japanese may eventually succeed in carrying out their present plan seems to be fully realized by the authorities in Hankow, who are determined to mike the whole move cexecedingly expensive for the Japanese, The bitterness of the fighting is indicated by the reports that on occasion the Chinese have been able to beat off Japanese advances, and the crossing of the Hwai river is still being hotly contested. Roughly speaking the Japan-cee are endeavouring to advance in three directions, from the south towards Hochow and Kweiteh, from Tsining southwestward to the latter city, and down the Peiping-Hankow Railway towards Chengchow, the capture of which would be an additional step in turning the Chinese position at Hsuchow. Indeed both Chengchow and Kweiteh are key positions upon which the fate of Hsuchow completely depends. With the capture of these three cities, if and when it is brought about,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.