Hankow, Feb. 9.
Several thousand guerilla were scattered with heavy losses in mopping-up drives by Japanese detachments in widely-separated areas in North and Central China during the past few days, Japanese military authorities stated yesterday.
A wedding ceremony for the son of a guerilla chief was interrupted when a Japanese garrison at Wulitien, in south-eastern Honan, launched a surprise attack in the vicinity of Yuankiawan, 18 kilometres north-east of Sinyang on the Peiping-Hankow Railway. The guerillas and wedding guests fled pell mell, leaving 20 dead and quantities of arms and ammunition.
South of the Yangtze a Japanese detachment at Shawei, 20 kilometres north of Tungcheng in south-eastern Hupeh near the Hunan-Kiangsi border, engaged about 130 guerillas and put them to flight. Forty guerillas attempted a counter-attack in the evening but were repulsed.
Japanese troops garrisoned at Siao-chi kow, opposite Kiukiang, repulsed an attack by about 2,000 guerillas armed with trench mortars and machine guns. Though the Chinese outnumbered the Japanese troops 20 to one they were routed after a battle lasting one hour, according to a message from Kiukiang.
Guerillas in this area were Communists with a base of operations near Susung, 45 kilometres north-east of Siaochikow. Mopping-up opera. tions against them were being continued.
Japanese troops killed 60 guerillas and captured 12 in a clash with 200 north-east of Quinsan. Ten rifles and a quantity of ammunition were captured.
Another Japanese garrison attacked
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.