CONSIDERABLE proportion Peiping, May 15. of the urban population of China who have their real homes and families in the villages of the interior must today be leading a somewhat disjointed existence, for north China is divided into two quite distinct countries, between which there is practically no communication of any kind.
(On the one hand are the cities in Japanese occupation, with adhering patches of surrounding country. connected with one another by narrow corridors through which the r Iways run. On the other, are the vast regions of the hinterland, large portions of which' remain untrodden by the invader and are still under Chinese control.
Visits to the interior are not couraged by the Japanese authorities, any ease are not simple; for Between the two areas there exists generally a Kind of no man's land, Often abroad belt of burnt-out or ruined villages, in which rove bands of guerillas who are not amenable to Aiseipline of either side. Tt is, there fore, very dificult to get a clear pieture of what is going on in the interior districts, Only occasionally does one get a glimpse behind the teurtain, from some missionary resid ing. up-country oF from some rare intelligent Chinese who has managed to ip. unnoticed back into the coupled territory.
The following Is a rough picture of the distribution of Japanese and chinese control in north China, north ud east of the Yellow River Tu November of last year the JJopanese, having brought large re-Inforcements into north China, started fan intensive campaign from the east fand west, that is to say from the Peiping-Hankow and the Tientsin" Pukow Railways, in order to clean up feentral Hopel. After about five months constant fighting and with considerable. losses they succeded in occupying all the towns as far south fas about half-way to the Yellow River. As. they found that the system of raids and retirements had not brought satisfactory. results, they decided this time to change their methods and started garrisoning the larger towns fof central Hope, For this purpose Further reinforcements of about $0,000 men were brought into north China during March and April. only to be promptly swallowed up in the vast size of the territory.
No Military influence PAeévminus, Potows Is stilt Yet oven so, central Hopei can scarcely be said to be effectively ocfeupied." The gueritias stilt hold. the Jcountiyside. hiding among, hundreds Jot villages scattered over the. vast lain, while the Japanese precariously fentrenchedhehind barbed wire en~ many of the na alin to Mae, feared out the quertins lar as halfway" to the. Yellow River
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.