DONETZ BULGE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 170, 21 July 1942, Page 5

DONETZ BULGE

NAZI HAMMER BLOWS

Huns And Russians Race To Build Up Armies

United Press Association.— Copyright. Rec. 1.30 p.m. LONDON, July 20

Although the Russian abandonment of Voroshilovgrad represents a further important withdrawal towards the main defence line on the lower Don, the latest news does not substantiate an earlier Stockholm report that Kamenskaya has u and Shakhtui reached.

The heaviest German pressure continues on both sides of the Donetz towards Kamenskaya from the Voros.iilovgrad and Millerovo areas but according to The Times Stockholm correspondent the Germans are still at least 20 miles from Kamenskaya, where they have been checked by strong Russian resistance.

Berlin admits that it regards the sector between Voroshilovgrad and the Sea of Azov as the most important in the entire Caucasian struggle, but there is no evidence of new German frontal attacks or of Russian counter-attacks in force.

The Times Stockholm correspondent says the Russians are inflicting heavy losses on German columns thrusting from Millerovo and Voroshilovgrad. If the Russians continue to withstand the ever-increasing weight of von Bock's hammer blows from the Millerovo region, the Russian forces within the Donetz Basin bulge are in little danger of encirclement because the right wing resting on the Donetz cannot be outflanked by forces from Voroshilovgrad. Swift German Moves The large area south of Millerovo is now the scene of unabating battle, says the Moscow correspondent of The Times. A feature of the fighting has been the rapidity with which the Germans have regrouped and reinforced. The German High Command apparently determined to avoid the weakness revealed last year, when Soviet counter-attacks found advanced German units too weak to withstand pressure. Trains, trucks and transport aircraft are being used to rush German troops and supplies up to Millerovo. The correspondent adds: "The reverse in the south should not blind us to the major success which the Red Army is slowly, and with determination, gaining at Voronezh. There the Russians have stemmed two armies and five or six tank divisions which would have created a very grave position in Central Russia if permitted to advance eastwards in the past 10 days." Soviet All-out Kffort With the fighting in the North Caucasian region every hour reaching new heights of ferocity, the battle has spread far beyond the immediate area of the ground fighting. Both Germans and Russians are relentlessly attacking supply lines immediately behind the front and sometimes deep in the rear. The Russians are using every possible conveyance to bring up reinforcements of men and material, while simultaneously keeping the central and northern fronts supplied with oil. Tankers from the Caucasian oilfields are sailing with their decks level with the water. The merchant fleets of the Volga and Caspian are similarly loaded to the maximum. Tugs, barges, paddle steamers and motor vessels—every vessel, old or new—is ferrying troops, tanks, ammunition and food for the Russian forces cn the lower Don. Trains, lorries and carts of all kinds also have been pressed into service. The Luftwaffe is doing its utmost to frustrate this mighty effort. Its main blitzes at the week-end were directed against Rostov and its environs, also against the important railway junctions of Povorino and Shakhti. A large force of paratroops also attacked Shakhti. "Knrireling" Equipment Nazi spokesmen have found a new way of describing the situation in re:t. •: !'» the i!':Pitt;ig. In the present •j! If h.-y do not slate that the iir.n troops are encircled, but hat their war equipment is. B( mbers of the Russian Air Force aided. Konigsberg. on the Baltic. !ai rr e fires were started after bombs "I h. cvi d.oiped on military and ■ luhliia! tat get:;. The Russian; ■ -ir • w i'V :r Prussia on j