POWERFUL OPENING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 August 1942, Page 4

POWERFUL OPENING

BUT ON NARROW FRONT RUSSIAN ATTACK WEST OF MOSCOW. SOVIET FORCES FANNING OUT. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 12.55 p.m.) LONDON, August 27. The original break-through in the Russian offensive in the Rzhev direction was on a. front of only six miles. The Russians massed troops in a wood. Behind them were large tank and cavalry forces. The German positions were in a wood across a stream. The Russian offensive opened with a terrific artillery barrage and a mass air attack. The infantry then moved forward, crept close to the exploding shells and waited until the moment when the Russian guns were switched to the depth of the German defences. The Russians then rushed the German trenches.

The Russian barrage had destroyed all life in the German outer defences. The Russians fanned south-west, west and north-west from their breakthrough. The Germans abandoned long-range artillery positions seven or eight miles from their forward lines when they learned of the breakthrough, and the Russians, by the suddenness of their attack and the intensity of their bombardment, were able to take th? fortified town cf Progoreloyegoi’udishchc with small losses.

The Germans, doing their utmost to prevenv me widening of the breach, launched several counter-attacks with tanks, out within a few days the Russians covered thirty miles. Rain enforced a pause, btr; the Russians then went forward with renewed vigour, drove southward . and occupied Karmanovo, which is 18 miles north of Gzhatsk, advanced eastwards, decupled Substov and pressed on to Rzhev. The German news agency says the Russians in the Kaluga and Rznev areas succeeded in making “certain local progress” and that the German forces are carrying out “a systematic straightening of front.” A German military spokesman said the Russians in the past two days have been attacking on the Leningrad from. Heavy artillery fire preceded an attack by strong tank formations which were thrown against German positions on the River Neva. The attackers finally gained a foothold on the road along the river, but the original defence line is now’re-established. The German news agency declared that the battle for Stalingrad has assumed a particularly bitter character and added that the Russians are counter-attacking before the city. The Stockholm newspaper “Tidrnngen” stated that the Russians are ■ launching particularly violent attacks against the Italian lines north of Stalingrad. the Russians are exerting enormous pressure. The Moscow radio said Marshal yon Beck now has one million men concentrated for the Stalingrad offensive. The Vichy rad.o declared that the Germans had captured Mozdok. The Rome rad .o reported that fighting in the Western Caucasus is going on in snowstorms, at a height of 9,000 feet. FEROCIOUS CONFLICT NORTH-WEST OF STALINGRAD. MORE GAINS BY. RUSSIANS IN RZHEV AREA. (Received This Day, 12.30 p;m.) LONDON, August 27. The announcement of General Zhukov’s offensive on the central front was the signal for violent German efforts against Stalingrad and in the Caucasus. Front-line dispatches say that tank battles have reached an unbelievable pitch cf ferocity, particularly north-west of Stalingrad. The Germans in seme sectors have a superiority of three to one, but the Russians have brought in hundreds of tanks and scores of planes and inflicted enormous losses on the enemy. German regiments have been bled white but, as always, the Germans flung in new reserves, not relaxing the pressure for a moment. The same story is true of the opera--1 lions in the Caucasus, where the German reinforcements seem endless. The Russians here are ambushing the Germans with anti-tank guns and artillery, destroying men and material and repelling constant attacks, but the position remains serious. Fierce fighting is raging along the railway to Grozny. Grozny’s peril has been increased by the German advance to Mosdok, from which roads lead to Grozny and also to Vladikavkaz and thence to Tiflis. These roads are mountains, but are suitable for the type of operations now in progress. General Zhukov’s forces have made a new advance west and north-west of Moscow, captured twenty more fortified villages and reached the RzhevVi'azma Railway. Fierce battles are raging between Rzhev and Sychevka in the main attack against Rzhev from the north and north-west. Russian long-range guns are shelling the town, where the Germans are fighting fiercely with artillery and mine-throwers. ' The German losses are very heavy. The “Red Star’’ says General Zhukov’s offensive continues, with tanks and planes smashing through and infantry grinding the German manpower.