The Wilmington Morning Star

Generally along the soo the enemy are running from the Tungting lake region of northern Hunan westward around the main Japanese base at Ichang and then northeastward to the Hupeh-Honan border area.

Southwest of Ichang, five Japanese divisions earlier had been declared "completely routed"-fatally encircled and erased as a military force.

Following up this initial major triumph, a communique of the Chinese command announced:

"In southern Hupeh, the enemy's 116th regiment and a portion of the mixed cavalry and engineering units covering the retreat of the 13th (Japanese) division were surrounded by our forces at Lishutang, six miles east of Yuyangkwan, and completely annihilated. The Chinese troops captured an immense quantity of war supplies."

It was added that enemy remnants had been thoroughly mopped up west of Ichang and that the Japanese there were facing further encircling assaults.

"In north Hunan, Japanese troops who retreated toward Wangchichang have been surrounded and the battle of annihilation is proceeding."

The Chinese - Allied (American) air forces were said by Chiang Kai-shek's command to have been in strong, unending action along the Hupeh-Hunan border, having "inflicted immense damage on the enemy."

"The enemy's air strength," the communique went on, "thus has been greatly reduced and his planes practically made no appearance today."

Only in Shansi province, well to the north of the Hunan-Hupeh action, was any Japanese progress reported, and even there it was at high cost. There the Japanese were said to have hurled more than 10,000 reinforcements into a counterattack west of the Taiheng mountains. An enemy advance against violent resistance was conceded, but 800 Japanese casualties were reported during the day.

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CHINESE ENVELOP JAPANESE TROOPS

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