Confidence in the ability of the Chinese forces to repulse the Japanese drive in south Shantung was expressed last night by General Chen Chen, Minister of the Political Affairs Department of the Generalis simo's headquarters and. concurrently Garrison Commander of the Wuhan area.
Even if the Japanese succeeded in occupying the entire Tientsin-Pukow Railway, General Chen said, the Chinese would continue to put up effective resistance, while Japanese difficulties in China would increase with a further penetration into Chinese territory, The Japanese forces in Shansi, he asserted, had been forced to abandon their line of defence and were now only holding points, many of which had already been captured ey Chi-pose troops.
"If the Japanese in Shansi do not receive further reinforcements,"
General Chen stated, "we will drive them out of the province shortly."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.