Japanese blasting through Chinese lines! Phillipino divisions cut off!

ACTION SUMMARY: The Japanese continued to blast away at Chinese defenses today along three fronts. NW of Changsha, the situation turned grave when almost 50,000 troops of the Japanese 3rd, 6th and 39th Divisions drove into the scattered lines of the 168th Chinese division, sending the peasant conscripts into the shelter of Changsha. Three Chinese cavalry divisions, having force marched to the scene, still hold the strategic crossroads just 60 miles west of today's scene of disaster.



SE of Changsha, a weaker Japanese offensive was beat off despite larger numbers of Japanese close air support dominating the skies. Meanwhile, the Japanese offensive widened in Canton province where two Japanese division began their opening drive on Hengchow. Three Chinese reserve divisions are moving to meet the threat.



With the looming danger of nearly 80,000 Chinese troops being trapped in Changsha with low supplies and no hope of a breakthrough relief, General Chiang Kai Shek ordered a withdrawal west from the city. This is another troubling development in the third week of the Japanese onslaught throughout Asia and the Pacific.

Elsewhere, fresh Japanese landings in the Phillipines cut off two native Allied divisions in southern Luzon. They are marching north to breakthrough to Manila, but already Gen. MacArthur is expressing little hope that the defenders of Southern Luzon can breakthrough to Manila in order to join in Operation Redoubt's defense of Bataan. There, at the Allied fortress of Bataan, mountains of supplies are being unloaded in jungle supply dumps. Already, three brigades are pulling back from the forward defensive line at Clark AFB. Two more Phillipine divisions are marching across the mountains from NE Luzon to avoid being cutoff. After three weeks of consolidating on the beaches, the Japanese divisions in northern Luzon have shown uncharacteristic caution.

The Japanese Army Air Forces, however, have shown more dash than their bayonets as fresh air attacks from Formosa sank two American destroyers and two transports in Manila Bay. The enemy is still unaware that the few transports fifteen miles off Bataan are conducting an important mission for the Allied defense of the Phillipines.

Fighting continued in Malaya as Fullback tranports began evacuating base personnel from Victoria. Additional transports hove into view in Georgetown even as British and Indian Commonwealth forces were fighting a delaying action in the jungles forty miles inland.

CINCPAC announced a new operation today, Operation Ivy, whereby long range submarine forces are being concentrated at a forward base in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. From there, they set on patrols directly south of the Japanese Home Islands in order to intercept Imperial shipping from their newly acquired posessions in the DEI and Malaya. Elsewhere, a bombardment of Jolo by an ADBA fleet of 2 light cruisers and five destroyers had dismaying results. The ADBA fleet returned to Balikpapan unmolested.

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