In close pursuit of Chinese troops retreating westward towards Kwangchow, pivotal point in the southeastern Honan defence triangle, Japanese forces at 3 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon crossed the Chu River, 12 kilometres west of Kushih, dispatches from Domei correspondents on the north Tapieh front said yesterday.
Kwangchow is 40 kilometres west of Kushih along a highway cutting Japanese Bomb Wuchang Hankow, Sept. 8.
Eight Japanese aeroplanes this morning bombed the hills across the East Lakes southeast of Wuchang. They also rained their missiles on Man-shan Hill, 15 miles west of Hanyang.
Chinese anti-aircraft guns opened fire when three Japanese pursuit ships, acting as an escort for the bombers, circled above Hankow and Hanyang.
The bombing was only faintly audible in Hankow because of the distance. The vicinity of Wuhan University was not bombed, as previously reported.
The alarm was sounded at 830 am. and the all-clear signal came an hour and ten minutes later.—Reuter. across the southern portion of the Honan plain to Sinyang on the Peifing-Hankow Railway.
Kushih, which was occupied by Japanese forces early on Wednesday; Shangcheng, 35 kilometres south-west of Kushih; and Kwangchow, in turn 40 kilometres north-west of Shang-cheng, formed a strong Chinese defence triangle designed to bar the way to the Japanese troops advancing from Anhwei into Honan. The fal of Kushih jeopardized the entire Chi ese defence scheme.
Meantime, fierce engagements continued to be fought along the northern edge of the Tapieh mountain range near the Honan-Anhwei border, as a strong Chinese force continued to offer bitter resistance for the fifth
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