Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-04
SHANGHAI RUSHES
RE|NFORCEMENTS
TODEFEAT[D ARMY
500 Wounded Soldiers Sent
to Rear After Fight With
Cantonese Troops.
LATTER RACING TO BEAT
FOREIGN FORCES TO CITY
q. S. Assures Chinese Minister Ma
rines Will Not Land Except
in Emergency.
sv the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
SHANGHAI. February 4.-Conf1ict'
ing reports left Shanghai in doubt to-
dav as to the military situation south
of here. where northern and southern
troops have taken positions after
hattle which has begun and Wnlch Is
axuected to determine possession ol
fhis CITY. control of the Yangtze Vailey
and possibly the fate of the repuphc'
Headauarters of Marshal sun Cnuah
Fang defender of the city against the
f,antonese advance, declared he was
holding his own. Nationalist circles
forecast his early collapse.
Missionaries arriving from the bat
,le front area in Chekiang Province
renorted today that 500 OF Marsnai
c,ln,S wounded soldiers reached rang
chow from his Yenchow front, croWu.
ing the Hangchow hospltals anu
.necessitating the moving or oVernoW
wounded to the Southern Presbyterian
Mission Hospital at kashlng.
One Flank Thrust Back.
The appearance of the wounded 20
the rear Of the lines of the defendlhg
o,,,r, go 1,,as the first evidence that the
battle in Chekiang Province had
The war theater is but little more
.har 100 miles southwest of here.
suns forces were, intrenched aIons
the Ysientang River, using 1enenoW
as a headquarters. The last known
position of the Cantonese indicateq
they were centering at CnucnoW' -
miles southwest of Yenchow.
Hangchow, where the wounded We're
being received, is about midway pc
tween Marshal Suns lines and Shang-
hal. It was learned here yesterday
that when the two armies ciasheu tne
central section OF Suns forces nad
been thrust back in the vicinity OF
Yenchow
Brings Up Reinforcements.
Marshal sun is bringing reinforce
rnents every hour to the defendlng
nss,ySy gsn,n i'll FloFtfIwarFl resources.
The Cantonese army awaited the ar
rival of picked troops before I1alung
another advance Because OF the Tor
eign situation the Cantonese are ex-
pectea TO make every effort 70 take
Shanghai before the arrival there 81
British troops.
with a fight for control Of the city
in prospect, Great Britain and otner
powers have announced their 0eteT-
rnination of defending the internationr
al settlement against possible harm
and are rushing ships of war and sol
(liers toward the city. Both northern
and southern Chinese factions nave
objected to the foreign gesture.
Meanwhile publication Of the Brit
ish proposals for new treaty with
the Picking and Canton governments
found the nation generally unrespon-
sive and uninterested. The British
proposal was made public at q time
- af1aa3thG6 IN
the New Year celebration. when IN
all China not a newspaper, Ihlnese
or foreign. was appearing.
Proposal Not Widely Known.
The text of the British proposal as
a. consequence is not known at pres
ent TO any but a small circle OF
publicists and officials, the latter
naturally being on their guard as
TO comment while the British offer
is being studied.
The presence of British and other
foreign armed forces at Shanghai
and the general movement of foreign
military and naval forces toward this
city remained as the outstanding
issue in the diplomatic situation.
Both Northerners and Southerners
have protested the British military
move, which avowedly is to afford
protection to the international settle
ment here III case of danger
The position of the Nationalists
(Cantonese) generally is that the
statement OF Eugene Chen, their for
eign minister. declaring treaty nego-
tiations could be continued only by
a removal of British forces from
Shanghai is the paramount factor
and settlement of this problem is
necessary before other issues can
be taken up.
Basis of Negotiations.
4 Nationalist spokesman here de-
clared that while the British pro
posals were considered inadequate
they might furnish a starting point
Tor negotiation OF a settlement.
Non-party Chinese consider the
British terms an augury for a more
hopeful future in foreign relations
and admit that they show the willing.
ness of Great Britain to take the lead
in readjusting China's international
status. They remain doubtful, how
ever, as to whether the Nationalists
will agree to anything short of un-
conditional surrender of all foreign
privileges.
MARINES DUTIES DEFINED