Office of the Historian

793.94/3307: Telegram

The Minister in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State

[Paraphrase]
Peiping, December 23, 1931—7 p.m.
[Received December 23—6:44 a.m.]

1125. The Consul at Dairen reports on December 22, 4 p.m., as follows:

Japanese military authorities there are commandeering auto trucks on an extensive scale and shipping them northward.

The Consul General at Mukden reports on December 22, 10 p.m., as follows:

That afternoon trucks loaded with boxes marked “shrapnel” were observed en route to the railway. Taken in conjunction with the Dairen report mentioned above, this would indicate that the anticipated drive by Japanese troops westward is imminent.

Johnson