LOSSES AND GAINS

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 35, 5 November 1942, Page 5

LOSSES AND GAINS

Axis Power Not Spent In Russia

(British Official Wireless and Press Assn.) (Received November 4, 8.15 p.m.) LONDON, November 3. News from the Russian front continues to give prominence to the successes for the defenders of Stalingrad and to the disquieting German gains in the central Caucasus. . Hitting back hard, the Russians at Stalingrad in the past 48 hours have repeatedly improved their positions. Ihe Germans have failed to advance a. single foot in the factoiy districts and also failed to recapture the lost ground. . . The Russians in the Tuapse area have further improved their positions but the German’s air ascendancy in, the Caucasus region generally, of which the fall of Nalchik was another reminder, is likely to cause further critical situations.

Moscow radio reports that particularly fierce fighting is continuing day and night in the Nalchik area. The Germans, mustering a large force of tanks and planes, are attempting to break through to the south-east regardless of the cost. The Russians, in beating off enemy attacks yesterday knocked out 20 tanks. Strength of Thrust. A Russian communique reports repeated German attacks toward Ordzhonowidze and the Georgian road. The enemy concentrated two divisions pt tanks and two Rumanian alpine divisions here, liesides other units. After the third attack, launched with fresh reserves, the Germans succeeded m pushing the Russians back, but. at the cost of very heavy losses. In a battle for a single village tne Luftwaffe has made 300 separate Hights and dropped 100,000 bombs. Later dispatches show that strong groups of German tanks in the Nalchik area have gained some more ground by taking advantage of the Germans air superiority. The Moscow correspondent of “The Times” says the Germans are seeking a rapid decision in this small area of comparatively Hat ground. Though this news from the central Caucasus is disturbing, it is less alarming than would be a direct advance to the east. The correspondent says that the Germans’ chief preoccupation in the Caucasus at present is to secure dependable winter positions and also railway communications. The German thrusts have nearly everywhere followed the railways. Nalchik is the terminus of a branch line from Alagir, and the terminus of another from Dargkokh, 20 miles distant on the main southern loop of the transcaucasus line. Malkobek, which the Germans reached recently, is also the terminus of a 20mile branch from Mosdok on the northern loop. Republic Devastated. Thus the Germans have captured the whole north Caucasus railway system west of Mosdok, except for the 15-mile branch from Beslan to Ordzhonokidze at the entrance of the Georgian Military Highway to Tiflis. The entire small Caucasian autonomous republic of Kabardino-Balkaria Is the arena of the present violent battle around Nalchik. It was a prosperous agricultural area in the low mountains, covered with rich orchards and wheatfields, but the Red Army bad time to evacuate or destroy practically everything. • Referring to the Tuapse area, Moscow radio has reported the capture of anol her important height to the northeast. The Russians in this vicinity are continuing to mop up encircled German units, but the Germans are rushing up reinforcements. The German news , agency says that the Russians three times penetrated the German positions north of Tuapse, but were thrown back after bitter hand-to-hand fighting. Moscow reports that in cement factories in a suburb of Novorossisk, tlie large Black Sea port which fell six weeks ago, the Russians are not only holding but are gaining ground. The “Red Star says that the Germans are not masters of the city, while Soviet artillery fire has made the port unusable for them. Little further change is reported in today’s later dispatches from Stalingrad, where the Russians are still ousting the Germans from the factory ruins in the northern suburbs. The Russians have also further improved their positions between the Volga and the Don, while they are continually disturbing the Germans’ winter preparations farther up the Don. Engagements continue in the Kalinin sector, north-west of Moscow, with the Luftwaffe carrying out, several hundred Hights every day. A correspondent says that one of the most important reasons for the German failure to take Leningrad is the great bastion of Kronstadt. Warships, including submarines and transports, are regularly leaving the harbour, while on the other hand more than 40 enemy transports have been sunk by Russian submarines in these waters.