Information received from Berlin and Rome lead to the belief that Germany and Italy want the Japanese io put an end to military operations in China after the fall of Hankow in order to regain complete freedom of action and eventually be able to render efficient support to the total-italian states.
It is believed here that Japan has rot yet taken a definitive stand and that she wants to know the complete results of the Munich agreement before strengthening her relations with Rome and Berlin.
It is considered that Japan's policy will depend greatly upon the possibili-
Caught between one Japanese detachrhent occupying the south bank of the Fu and a second holding a mountain position north of their defences, the Chinese fought to halt the western advance of the Japanese, the report continued.
Repeated artillery and air attacks during the past three days have made the motor highway between the Fu River and Fushan useless to the troops. With their sole avenue of retreat closed, the Chinese were caught in a vicious trap.
Chinese entrenched on Chiaochien. shan, northwest of Hsintien, Honan's most southern railway station on the Peiping-Hankow Railway, surrendered to the Japanese Monday, according to a Domei report from the front yesterday.
Capture of a second Tapieh Mountain stronghold, Chiangchuangehai, followed when the Chinese retreated from the first position. The fall of these two strategic points greatly increased the Japanese threat to the Wuhan defences, the message concluded.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.