Evening star., 1932-02-20
CHINESE HOLD LINE
IN FURIOUS ATTACK
BY JAPAN'S FORCES
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been set by the Chinese in an attempt
to hinder an expected attack on Chapel
| from Kiaingwan
Shortly afternoon the japanese mill
! tary headquarters was moved suddenly
| from the Kingdah cotton mill to the
| international race course. short dis
! tarce east of Kangwan, and Gen. Ken
kichi Uyeda. japanese commander, be-
gan a desperate attack upon the town.
At the aviation field airplanes landed
! and took off continuously. They re-
mained on the ground only long enough
! to have their bomb rack refllled.
/ There was rush of cable messages
I to and from foreign countries through
out the day The greatest number of
| official messages went to Washington,
according to cable and radio sources
with London a close second and Paris
Berlin and Rome next as the diplo-
mats notified their capitals of the latest
/ developments.
| Soon after the japanese offensive
started a long funeral procession
threaded the streets of Shanghai. 1t
was the funeral of the two British
I sailors who were fatally wounded by a
shell last Wednesday,
The procession left the hospital and
! proceeded to the cathedral while the
guns roared and japanese airplanes
sWooped over Chapel nearby.
Approximately l, 500 persons marched
in the procession, including the British
American and French Ministers to
China, British consular officials in full
uniform, military bands, detachments of
marines and sailors and a number OF
officers of foreign units stationed here.
Defenses of foreign owned property
, were hastily strengthened as the big
drive began. A detachment of Amer
lean sailors guarded the entrance to the
American-owned Yangtzepoo plant of
the Shanghai Power Co. where they
raised a sand bag barricade feet high
and lined it with heavy brick walls to
guard against danger from shells.
The purpose of the first japanese as
sault was to break through the strong
Chinese positions near Kiangwan at a
point two miles north of Hongkew Park
in the International Settlement and
from that vantage point to deal sepa-
rately with the Chinese troops holding
the ends OF the line at Chapel and Woo
sung.
Fight Opened With Barrage.
Tie attack began this morning with
the advance of lines of Japanese infan-
try with fixed bayonets behind an ar ,
tillery barrage. The signal for the at
tack was loud volley from the big
japanese guns in Hongkew Park. 1t
was three hours later that .hostilities
began on the Woosung end of the line.
The Chinese opened the fire and rained
proJectiles upon the japanese, includ-
; ing the warships in the river.
The morning was foggy, but after
noon the murk lifted and there was
brilliant sunshine The temperature
was snappy. Conditions were ideal for
the big air circus that the overwhelm-
ingly strong japanese squadrons were
putting on over the whole battlefront.
A spokesman at naval headquarters
said the Japanese planned to clean out
Chapel with as. little action as possible
in the hope OF protecting the Foreign
Settlement" 1t was in Chapei's tortu-
Gus streets that the originel japanese
attack was repulsed by the Chinese
10Th Route Army three weeks ago.
Soon after the opening OF the artillery
duel, United States Marine headquar-
ters said two Japanese shells fell within
their area. The troSps OF the 3lst U.
S. Infantry, which yesterday took over
the defense facing the Chinese city,
covered their sand bag defenses With
half-inch steel plates,