The Daily Alaska empire., 1949-04-21
RED FORCES ARE MOVING
 ON RIVER
Successful Crossings of Yangtze Are Reported
 by Communists
By SEYMOUR TOPPING

AhANA1iS1, AprlI zl-lhf-COm- munist forces attempted today to consolidate newly won positions south of the Yangtze as the river battle drew four British warships into the fight.
 Chinese government spokesmen said successful Communist crossings of the Yangtze. which separated Nationalist territory from Red, had been made at Tikang. 80 miles west of the capital and at Wuhu. 50 miles inland from here.
 Government troops were counter attacking A few planes and gun Goats were pressed into the battle by the tottering government.
 Three ArInles Landed
 Top level Ministry of National Defense sources said the Commun- ists were believed to have landed three armies at the Tikang bridge head. This would be total of about 6o,000 troops. Communist reinforce ments were said to be pouring across the river under the cover of darkness.
 Ranking garrison headquarters said contact with Kiangpu, seven miles southwest of Nanking on the north bank of the river, had been lost.
 "Liberate All Ehinay
 Red leader Mao Tze-tung and his army chief of staff exhorted their troops to "liberate all China" in special communique. I British naval units were ui1wiIl- ing participants in the Yangtze rattle. Four vessels, the 10000 ton cruiser London. the destroyer Con- sort and the sloops Amethyst and Black Swan suffered casualties. The joint communique broadcast by the Communist radio was addressed to both Communist regu- lars and Red guerrillas operating in South China.
 No mention of the attacks on the bIlClSn SnlpS was maQe. Negotiations The announcement by the Com munist chieftains left some room for negotiation on the basis of Red surrender terms rejected yes- terday by the government.
 It stipulated that if any local region is willing to make peace on Red terms it will be accepted. The announcement also charged the Nationalists refused to accept the peace terms because the Man. king government still "obeys Ameri- can imperialists and Kuomintang government party) chieftain Chiang Kai-shek.p POSITIONS ARE SEIZED Chinese Communists in great force surged across the Yangtze river today to the south bank 30 miles southwest of Ranking and seized north-bank positions directly opposite this quaking capital. | Flight of the government offices remaining in Ranking began to- night, with all bound for Canton except the National Defense Minis try and the presidents office, which were going to Shanghai. A government spokesman tonight said elements of three Communist armies (60OOO men if at normal strength) had crossed at many points around Tikang. 80 miles up the river from Nanking and had rapidly unified their bridgehead.
 RED FORCES EXPANDING Neutral military experts and other government quarters said the first crossing was by 5000 to 10000 men, but the Reds were rapidly expanding and reinforcing the scuth-bank position during the night.
 Government sources reported other crossing in the general area Of Wuhu. only 50 miles upstream from Nanking. Confusion at na- tional defense headquarters pre- vented confirmation of this.
 Six hundred miles to the north- west, the isolated Shansi province capital of Taiyun was reported of- ficially to be aflame. with hand-to- hand fighting in progress just out side the walls. All its airfield had been lost. and the city was ex- pected to fall at any moment.