Office of the Historian

793.94/4415: Telegram

The Consul General at Shanghai (Cunningham) to the Secretary of State

Shanghai, February 25, 1932—5 p.m.
[Received February 25—2:35 p.m.]

111. Continuing my daily report, 103, February 24, 5 p.m.

1.
There is relatively little change on the various fronts since my yesterday’s report. The Japanese claim to have brought a locomotive from Woosung to point near Kiangwan Village which would indicate that they fully control the intervening country. The situation at Kiangwan continues as yesterday. According to reports of various observers who have visited the Kiangwan front the Japanese have suffered very heavy casualties which they have attempted to minimize in their official communiqués. These losses were bound to occur in attacking the Chinese positions over the open country as they have been doing since the beginning of the Kiangwan push. In initiating the Shanghai naval adventure with a handful of marines the Japanese naval commander completely misjudged the resistance of the Chinese and now in attempting to sweep the environs of Shanghai clear of the [Page 444] 19th Route Army with two divisions they have blundered a second time. The penalty of the second miscalculation has been that the much heralded push of General Uyeda with the 9th Division has come to a complete standstill and now the Japanese are awaiting the arrival of the 11th and 14th Divisions of approximately 30,000 men which are alleged to be on the way from Japan. The checking of the Japanese over the 11,000-yard front has more or less unnerved and weakened their morale.
2.
On the other hand the morale of the Chinese is exceptionally high. In the defense of Shanghai the Chinese have attained a higher morale and a more complete coordination of military effort than has ever previously been realized. Not only are Chiang Kai-shek’s troops fighting alongside those of 19th Route Army but some of Feng Yu-hsiang’s troops are going into the line at Woosung. General Tsai has stated that his losses since the beginning of the Japanese offensive have been in the neighborhood of 1,700. Previous to the recent offensive of the Japanese the losses had amounted to 500 making a total of approximately 2,200. He added that since January 28th no less than 5,600 noncombatants have been killed by Japanese. It is the universal testimony of men who have gone over the battle front at Kiangwan that the Japanese attackers in protecting themselves against snipers have ruthlessly burned thousands [omission?] and slaughtered innocent peasant men and women. This ruthlessness of the Japanese has also been apparent in Hongkew and adjacent areas where Japanese marines and armed civilians have broken into American and Chinese property and where allegedly hundreds of innocent Chinese civilians have been bayoneted or shot to death.
3.
It is believed in some quarters that the Chinese may continue to attempt to bomb the Japanese Consulate General and the Japanese flagship moored nearby. The unintentional shelling of the Libia in an effort to shell the Japanese Consulate in the past couple of days would indicate such an intention. This seems to be somewhat confirmed by Mayor Wu’s recent message set forth in my telegram No. 106, February 24, 11 p.m.
4.
The food situation in Shanghai is easy. Refugees are still continuing to leave Shanghai by every boat and train.
5.
Latest reports have it that the Japanese have bombed the Shanghai-Nanking Railway near Nanziang.

Repeated to the Legation and Nanking.

Cunningham