RUSSIAN RESISTANCE

Southland Times, Issue 24871, 10 October 1942, Page 5

RUSSIAN RESISTANCE

ALL ATTACKS CHECKED NAZIS TALK OF NEW TACTICS (Rec. 7.40 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 8. Rising above the conflicting propaganda from both sides is seen to emerge the fact that the Russians are still holding their own in the vital north-west industrial district of Stalingrad. The Moscow correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain definitely states that the Russians inside the city have checked all attacks by the Germans in the last 24 hours. A German military spokesman declared: “Our strategic objectives at Stalingrad have already been achieved. It is no longer necessary to send German infantry and assault engineer’s into the battle. The finishing touches will be entrusted to heavy artillery units and Stukas,” but the German radio gave a different picture of the Stalingrad fighting when it said: “What we have gained one day must next day be fought for all over again.” The German spokesman’s statement has caused a ferment of speculation among London military writers. One says that the announcement indicates that General von Hoth, the new German Commander, has found Stalingrad’s defences tougher than he expected, but until front-line reports confirm that German infantry have withdrawn from the streets the announcement should be treated cautiously. Another expresses the opinion that the Wehrmacht (German armed forces) is preparing for a winter defensive or even paving the way for an eventual retreat. DEFENCES STRENGTHENED Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says Russian Guardsmen hurled back the most dangerous German attempt to split Stalingrad’s defences today, defiantly pounding the Germans with new batteries of field guns rushed across the Volga. The garrison in the pasL 24 hours has considerably strengthened its defences. The Germans in some parts of the battle area are clearly on the defensive, clinging precariously to positions and awaiting reinforcements. The Moscow correspondent of The Times says that although since Sunday Stalingrad’s defenders have prevented the development of the enemy s offensive, which during the first 24 hours hovered on the edge of success, the situation remains highly critical. Marshal Semion Timoshenko’s chief army north-west of Stalingrad has strueff another hard blow against the German panzer screen between the Don and the Volga. . A Russian tank unit smashed a breach in the German defences and caused havoc behind their lines. This Russian army in the last seven days has killed 4600 Germans, destroyed 50 pill-boxes and put numerous tanks out of action. The Volga batteries, mounted on barges, are moving from point to point playing an increasing part in holding up the enemy. They several times prevented the enemy from breaking through to the river. According to the Moscow correspondent of The Times Russian Marines supported by the Black Sea Fleet, for a month held up the German advance from Novorossisk. The Germans have

made slight headway towards Grozny, but the Russians view the situation there without alarm. The Russians on the Bryansk front dislodged the Germans from two important heights, driving off counterattacks and killing 600 men. The Germans show no signs of relaxing their pressure. There are equally no signs that the defence is cracking. A German military spokesman has claimed that the Red Army, especially north-west of Stalingrad, is showing signs of exhaustion and has forecasted a decisive outcome of the battle before the week-end. Moscow radio, on the contrary, says that the Russians north-west of the city are persistently and methodically breaking up the Axis defences. German reports continue to mention Russian pressure against the Axis flank south of Stalingrad. Neither the Russians nor the Germans, however, are overlooking the importance of the battle for the Caucasus, where the winter is laying a hampering hand on this, the last of all the Russian fronts. It is indicative of the Russians’ skill and determination that they for six weeks have kept the German advance in the Mozdok area under two miles a week. Their resistance in the western Caucasus is equally stubborn and today’s reports to Moscow say that the Germans have not gained an inch in the Western Caucasus since the fall of Novorossisk 26 days ago, despite the destruction of 1000 of their troops a day.

POWERFUL NAZI THRUST TROOPS NEAR VOLGA (Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, October 8. Red Star, organ of the Red Army, reveals that one German thrust carried a German detachment dangerously near the Volga. They launched a surprise night attack, penetrated a hollow leading to the Volga and reached its mouth near the river bank. The situation was serious because no Russian artillery was locally available. The Russians, however, checked the thrust with grenades until they were reinforced, when they threw back the Germans, who left the hollow strewn with their dead. Fierce fighting has again broken out at Rjev. The Germans have thrown in two fresh infantry and tank divisions, attempting to cut off the Russians on the outskirts of Rjev, which is reported

to be ablaze, hardly a single, house escaping the flames. The Germans reopened their Rjev offensive on October 2, but so far the Russians have hurled back the attacks and captured a number of fortified points. GERMAN STATEMENTS Two significant statements have been made over the German radio. The announcer on Wednesday night declared that no more attacks on Stalingrad would be necessary as Germany’s strategic objectives had already been achieved. Later a German military spokesman added that no more German infantry would be used against Stalingrad, which would now be finished off by artillery and dive-bombers. Stalingrad, at the moment, however, is by no means finished off. It is holding firm. In two days the Germans by almost superhuman efforts have smashed their way into two more minor streets, but elsewhere they have been held firmly. In the Caucasus the German drive towards Grozny has been halted and the position is firmer. QUESTION”OF SECOND FRONT Lord Strabolgi Critical (Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, October 8. “The military high command is too cautious and too prudent in considering the opening of a second front in the west,” declared Lord Strabolgi in a speech. The Dieppe raid could be successful only if it were repeated the following week and kept up. The ideal time for a second front was last October. Preparation for a second front should have been begun independently of United States intervention. The British seemed afraid of a Red Europe. He believed they must have.a Red Europe to destroy Nazism. That did not mean a communist Europe. It meant Red in the Socialist Democratic sense. The United States Government has determined that the American people are ready for the casualties inevitable in establishing a second front, says the Washington correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor. On the basis of extensive independent surveys the Government is assured that public opinion is amply prepared to assimilate whatever shocks might be involved in a large scale lan dinvasion of Europe. The Government’s testing of public opinion is not concerned with the military feasibility of a second front and the survey does not shed any light on the imminence of a second front. “The Russians want a second front, even if it fails,” says The New York Times. “Our western allies (Britain) hold out for a successful invasion because the whole issue of the war hangs on it. Their thesis is that the war cannot be lost in Russia, but that it can be lost for everybody if the grand offensive now being prepared fails. Russia has performed prodigies, but the time is surely coming when the main battle of the war will be fought elsewhere. In other words the second front must be the first front.”