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serious being in the Kiung Chow peninsula.
2. But the Bress of 31st August contained a really important announcement. Some time ago it was reported
that negotiations were in progress for an entente between
General Li Chai-sum and General Cheung Fat-fui, a Cantonese,
who had at one time been the former's second-in-command.
General Cheung has in the last few months come to the fore as
commander of a considerable section of the Hankow forces,
and one of his latest exploits was to bar the advance of the
Nanking armies towards Hankow by capturing Nanchang, the
capital of Kiangsi, and expelling the two communist generals
above mentioned (who then retreated southwards towards the
Kwang-tung border). On 31st August it was announced that
General Cheung had arrived in Canton on 28th August and,
after placing himself at the disposal of his former chief, was leaving again to join his army in Kiangsi almost imediately. The reconstruction would, therefore, appear to
be based on a military combination. General Li Chai-sum has
already with him the Kuangsi forces under Generals Wong
Shiu-hung and Fan Shek-shang and at least the goodwill of
those under General Li Tsung-yan operating with the main
Northern Expedition. If to these are added the army of
General Cheung Fat-ful, the scheme of "a Monroe Doctrine for Kang-tung and Kuangsi" would seem to be taking a big step
forward.
3.
Two small matters tend to confirm the view
that General Li is feeling more safe in the saddle. In the
first place, he has been able to detach forces to deal with
the
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