740.0011 P.W./4–3045: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Hurley) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 1—8:30 a.m.]
694. Following is summary of M[ilitary] A[ttaché]’s report for week ending April 28:
The enemy drive into western Hunan continued, but at a slower pace. Advance elements of the Japanese 116th division probed the mountainous approaches to Chihkiang about 60 miles away. Within the Chihkiang area, conditions were sufficiently serious for the American military authorities to take precautionary measures against enemy saboteurs and agents. An American officer is reported to have been shot in the chest as he sat near an alert shack on the airfield. On the same day, shots were fired at a jeep crossing the airstrip and small [Page 99] arms and automatic weapons fire was heard in the vicinity of the group HQ and the hostel area, and the radio station was the target for enemy shots. The Chinese authorities assert these disturbances were caused by bandits, although in our opinion they were enemy inspired.
Captured documents indicate that Yuanling as well as Chihkiang may be an objective of the present enemy drive. Yuanling is an important town on the main highway which connects Hankow and Kweiyang via Changte and Chihkiang and parallels the Japanese communications line from central China to Indochina via Hengyang and Kweilin. The capture of this highway would greatly strengthen the Japanese overall position in south China.
Enemy activity in western Honan continues to indicate that the possibility of a drive on Sian cannot yet be discounted. Although major units which have participated in the Laohokow campaign were withdrawn to Nanyang, they remain a potential threat to Sian. With the arrival of reinforcements, Laohokow is safely in Japanese hands.
Elsewhere in China, little change is recorded. There is an unconfirmed report the [that] 2,000 troops of the Japanese 23rd Division are attacking westward from Wuming. The enemy is developing its defensive positions in the Hangchow–Shanghai area, and considerable troop movements are reported through the Swatow–Canton–Kukong area. The 14th Air Force continued to support the bombers and fighters Chinese group troops on all fronts and maintained operations against enemy supply lines. Ocean and reconnaissance patrols followed well established patterns.