Nazi Garrison At Rzhev Isolated By Cutting Of Railway

Taranaki Daily News, 2 September 1942, Page 3

Nazi Garrison At Rzhev Isolated By Cutting Of Railway

Successful Russian offensive offsets German drive in south. Rec. 9.35 p.m. London, Aug. 31. rpHE situation at Stalingrad, where the Germans are making gains from an enormous effort, is duplicated at Rzhev, where the Russians are slowly increasing the area under their control in the face of very tough resistance. The German propaganda machine to-day claimed a new advance towards Stalingrad but warned journalists not to assume that the city s f all-was only . a matter of days. The Russians, however, displayed confidence regarding the outcome of the Rzhev battle by permitting f oreign journalists for the first time to see actual fighting. British journalists report that the Russian offensive against Rzhev is developed in two main thrusts north and south of the city which have swung inward but have not yet joined up. The Russians cut the railway leading westward from Rzhev, thus the Germaij garrison estimated at 90,000 picked troops has lost its iast .cojv nection witkits siHffiprting pbints. , , The Russians west of Rzhev are slowly In the western Gaucasus the_ Black Sea forcing the Germans south-eastward ports of Novorosswk ^ alone the right bank of the upper reaches being heavily bombed. At the . eastern of the Volga end ^ Caucasus there have been The Germans are repeatedly launching no new German advances either towards heavy counter-attacks on all sectors. Grozny or dovm the road over the Correspondents state that the Germans mountains of Tiflis. _ on some sectors lost 60 per cent. of their' At Rzhev the Russians are reported to personnel under Russian barrages, in' be pressing slowly forward against lnwhich the new Russian gun "Katyusha" creasing German resistance- Battles are figured largely. Correspondents saw raging on the banks of numerous watercraters 30 feet in diameter and 15 feet ways which the enemy have forfifieddeep where a Katyusha's projectiles had At least one important ' river has been exploded. Katyusha is a big mortar. crossed by the Russians. One report Before opening the central front offen- says ihat the Russians have cleared tha sive the Russians doubled and at some north bank of the Volga and are across places tripled the main highway going the highway that runs from Rzhev to westward from Volokolamsk to give Moscow. . . military traffic the required momentum. Fierce fighting continues to rage in the The unusually wet summer left the heavy Rzhev area where Russian heavy artijclay terrain waterlogged, which threat- lery is battering the German positions ened to impede the advance. Soviet from three sides. The Germans are atsappers felled thousands of trees along tempting to brihg up reinforcements. The the forest road, after which they iiailed British United Press Moscow correspongreat boards across the logs at chassis dent reports that the Russians have cut width. The log-fellers cleared a wide the railway between Rzhev and Velikiye strip on each side which served as a tank Luki. _ highway. A German communique states: GerThe Germans are being warned not to man troops south of Stalingrad are expect victory too quickly. A military piercing enemy positions aird are wiping spbkesman in Berlin said that Stalingrad out considerable Russian ■ forces. The was not likely to be taken in a day or Germans now stand 15 miles south * of two. The Russian defences were still the town." very strong. The Germans also report Paris radio declared that the . Germans that Stalingrad itself has again been have made a wide breach in the; Russian heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe. defences north-west of Stalingrad.