793.94/11045: Telegram
The Consul General at Shanghai (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 9—2:23 p.m.]
949. My 945, November 8, 7 p.m. Chinese troops in the western area south of Soochow Creek commenced an orderly withdrawal to the southwest about midnight last night. Japanese troops have today occupied the entire area from Soochow Creek south to Lunghwa aerodrome. Several hundred Chinese troops are said to have been caught in the area between Nantao and Lunghwa. Only one or two fires have been reported in the Hungjao Road residential district but Chinese troops before withdrawing from the Nantao-Lunghwa area fired a number of buildings.
Withdrawal of Chinese forces from the immediate vicinity of Shanghai is said by military observers to have been brought about by the rapid and successful Japanese thrust from Hangchow Bay towards Sungkiang which the Japanese appear to have either captured or surrounded. The Japanese report that Nanhsiang is burning and that a Chinese withdrawal from that front is imminent. It is not yet clear where the Chinese will establish their new line. Settlement and French Concession quiet.
Repeated to Nanking and Peiping.