Tientsin, Feb, 12.
Railway trae between Tsing-{20° and Tsinan,—Shantung Provincial capital, a distance of 396 Kllometers, was restored yesterday. The service was restored fon. Japan's Empire Day after strenuous efforts by engineers of the Kimura detachment, who completed the repairs io the damaged line on 'February 10, 'The railway will be managed by the South' Manchuria Railway Company.
Meanwhile, trate on the Tientsin-Pukow " line "also. was restored yesterday between Tien-and Tsinan following the completion ofa temporary bridge spanning the Yellow River. Three tains will be operated regularly on both Uines.—Domel, uns the other Japanese line of communication the motor road to Tatung on the Peiping-Suiyuan Railway.
a very precarious route, and can only be done by convoys under heavy escort and accompanied by planes; and even then they have to fight their way through, The truth is that the Japanese, believing that with the fall Tolyuanfu all was over bar the shouting, withdrew a large portion of their forces from Shansi, partly back to Manchoukuo and parily to take are in the Shantung" campaign. At the present time it is doubtful when ther they have more than 150,000 men north of the Yellow River. As, of course, the Japanese General Staff not likely to have made any mistake or miscalculation, there must have been some deep military reason for this withdrawal of troops, because in recent weeks they have started bringing them back again.
Mopping up Communists"
Japanese spokesmen have been talking about a campaign "to mop up the Communists" In North Shans. So far little progress seems to have been made in this direction. Nor is that strange in view of the very dim-cult nature of the country there. The monastery of Wutaishan itself lies in a valley 6,000 feet above the sea level, ud, in order fo reach it, passes rising nine or even 10,000 feet have 10 be crossed, a suMelently arduous task for an army at any time, but next fo impossible in mid-winter.
Numerous parties of economic, survey and mining experts from Japan)iave passed through Peiping on their way {0 Shansi, to examine into the prospects of the economic development of that province. But after a very short and apparently proftless stay at Taiyuanfu have quickly returned home again. Indeed, if the whole of Shansi, north and south, is to be properly subjugated and ex-plotted, it Is likely to require a second Bnd very extensive campaign with even greater strength of force than was employed in the frst invasion of the province, It seems hardly likely that such a campaign will be attempt ed before the spring.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.