In mopping-up Operations in the Wuhan sector from March 1 to May 20, another communique said, the Japanese forces caused the Chinese to abandon 25,241 dead, while 941 Chinese officers and men were taken prisoner, These Japanese activities excluded the far flung "round-up" of Chinese forces in the Fifth War Zone in northern Hupeh carried on from May 1 to May 17.
The large number of Chinese casualties in this period was attributed by Japanese officers to the fact that the Chinese were on the offensive during April when the much-publicized Spring Offensive was launched on various fronts, but failed to achieve any concrete results.
Booty taken during these operations totalled 10 trench mortars; 20 heavy and 145 light machine guns; 44 grenade guns; 1,521 trench mortar shells; 1,750 rounds of heavy machine zun ammunition; 6,880 rounds of light machine gun ammunition; 622,260 round of rifle ammunition; 12,431 hand grenades; 11,002 anti-tank gun shells; 49,237 rounds of pistol ammunition; 287 land mines; 725 bay-oners and 262 gas masks, according to the communique.
Repulsed in an attack on a point cast of Hockowkiao, 14 kilometres southeast of Tungchweng in southeastern Hupeh, 300 men of the Chinese 92nd Division retreated abandoning 17 dead on Sunday morning, a field dispatch reaching here today stated—Domei,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.