Hankow, Nov. 16.
Threatened by a Japanese outflanking movement in the direction of Pingkiang in eastern Hunan, Chinese troops "holding the Wuning-Siushui line in western Kiangsi along the banks of the Siu river have begun retreating, aerial observation, reports received by Japanese here said today.
The Chinese, the dispatches said, were falling back in groups of from 500 to 1,000 men in two directions. Some were seen marching from Siushui to the south-east in the direction of Nanchang by way of Fengsin, others were observed moving from Chatsin, near the Hunan-Kiangsi border towards Pingkiang.
Further east, near the Tungting Lake, the Chinese were reported to be abandoning their positions at Siangyin, halfway between Yochow and Changsha.
From Changsha itself, large bodies of troops were said to be moving south in the direction of Hengshan and Hengyang.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.