After months of work by the Oda detachment of Japanese infantry, the Hwai River linking Pengpu on the Tientsin-Pukow Railway with Cheng-yang kwan in western Anhwei, a distance of 180 kilometres, has again become navigable, the "Nippo" said yesterday.
The reopening of this waterway will play an important part in the further operations of Japanese troops in the interior, the paper seid.
Japanese troops can attack Sinyang on the Peiping-Hankow Railway north of Hankow by water via Sanhotsien, 105 kilometres northwest of Chengyangkwan, and Si-hsien, 210 kilometres south-west of Sanhotsien, the "Nippo" declared.
The distance between Sihsien and Sinyang is 160 kilometres, while the total length of the river from Pengpu to Sinyang is 655 kilometres, the journal pointed out.
From Chengyangkwan, the daily continued, Japanese troops can advance by water to. Yencheng on the Peiping-Hankow Railway south of Chengchow by way of Yingchow (Fowyang) 95 kilometres northwest of Chengyangkwan, and to Choukiakow, 260 kilometres northwest of Yingchow.
Distance between Chowkiakow and Yencheng is 80 kilometres, while the total distance from Chengyangkwan to Yencheng "is 325 kilometres.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.