NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 83, 4 October 1941, Page 10

NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

HITLER'S PLANS

DECISION IN EAST

A GERMAN EUROPE

Hitler's broadcast to Germany, preceded by Goebbels's appeal to Germans for a continuance of faith in the Fuhrer and a deaf ear to British broadcasts, throws light on the German plans, first, for an early decision in Russia, and then for a completion of the organisation of Europe under German control. Hitler said that the chief task on the Eastern Front had already been achieved in the main.and that Russia had already been broken, but that a decision in the w&t with England was "no longer possible.".

Hitler's claim that Russia was "already broken," his assessment of the number of prisoners taken and guns, tanks, and planes destroyed, and his declaration that German factories were now producing so much war material that he had had to order some of them to close down may be taken as just so much propaganda for German consumption and without much basis in fact. In an advance over some hundreds of miles along a belt stretching from Leningrad to the Black Sea it would be easy to include any number of civilians in-the list of prisoners, and there is nothing,to show that in casualties and loss of material the Germans have not suffered at least as heavily as the Russians. Hitler did not give the German losses, but some of the figures recently broadcast from Germany are quite unworthy of credence. All the evidence from a multitude of sources all over Europe is that the resources of German manpower have already ( been strained to the limit and unwilling allies have been called on to fill gaps. Working for the Reich. But when Hitler boasted openly of forcing Europe to work for Germany and of putting the whole Continent into the service of the Reich he was confirming reports of a process that has been going on for someHime. It was described in this column a month ago (September 2) under the heading "Hitler's Europe." The treatment of the oppressed nations in the occupied countries, daily described in the news, with special reference to the Poles and Slovenes, bears out the truth .of Hitler's statement, "We knew how to organise these conquered areas." Preparations are already being made to "colonise" the belt of Russia now held by the Germans, just as Poland and Slovenia have been "colonised." This is the "lebensraum" side of Hitler's Europe. The rest will work for Hitler either in factory or farm or fishing ground, producing food, raw material, and munitions for the Reich and the "Wehrmacht." v First Settle Russia. But before the process can be completed and Europe presented to the world as a solid Nazi citadel with Britain outside and impotent^ even with the "help of America, to storm, so impregnable a fortress, accounts must be settled once and for all with Russia. So Hitler says that for the last 24 hours "gigantic operations have been in progress on the Russian front which will help to defeat the enemy in the East." : Some light is cast on this in today's news, which states that "the German High Command aims to conceal the utmost preparations for a new and giant-scale offensive with the object of inflicting a paralysing defeat on the whole of the Russian army before winter." "The Times" correspondent on the German frontier suggests that this means a "great' wedge of drives towards the Volga and Caucasus," to furnish a base for a direct campaign against the Baku oilfields, after which the Germans would cut the chief "British-American/supply line to Russia. Leningrad is included in the scheme as another, base from which armies could drive eastwards to the Volga'and descend from the north to meet a drive from the south in a pincer movement on Moscow. The rest of the correspondent's observations on this grandiose plan 'will be read with interest as helping to explain much that is tangled and obscure in the present military situation. present Position. For the moment, except in the eastcentral Ukraine, on the road to Kharkov, the Russians appear.to be holding their own against the most violent attacks. In the far north'at Murmansk the Germans have been thrown back. There is no confirmation that the Mur-mansk-Leningrad railway has been cut by the Finns either at Kandalaksha, on the arm of the -White Sea, or at Petrozavodsk^ further south on the shores of Lake Onega. Fighting to the south of- Leningrad continues^ on the whole, it would appear, to the advantage of the defending Russians. The German capture of Tsarskoe Selo is not confirmed. Heavy fighting is reported round Velikiye-Luki in the approaches to the Valdai Hills. On the whole yon Leeb seems to be getting the worse of the exchanges with Voroshilov. In the central sector Timoshenko is steadily clearing the Germans away from positions remotely threatening Moscow, but the position is not yet stable. Danger in South. It is south of this area that the greatest danger to Russia persists in the thrusts of yon Rundstedt's columns towards Kharkov and the Don Basin. Despite successful counter-attacks here and there, the Russians seem to be falling backhand strong reinforcements, well handled and directed, are obviously required if the situation is to be restored to reasonable safety before winter slows down operations. Odessa holds out successfully against the mixed Rumanian and German'forces, but the. Crimea has probably yet to face the most violent onslaught with the use of parachute and other air-borne troops. The Germans have made some advance from Perekop, but have not yet mastered the bottle-neck of the isthmus.

The issue of the great struggle in Russia must depend on the relative strengths bf the opposing armies, the skill with, which they are handled, and the equipment with which they are provided. The true position will be known to Lord Beaverbrook and Mr. Harriman, the British and American representatives at the Moscow conference, and there is nothing in the attitude they have displayed to suggest the slightest doubt of Russia's ability, with the help of Allied material and airmen to defend herself successfully against any attack the Germans can bring to bear. A message from Teheran says that thousands of tons of material are being forwarded through Persia to Russia along the railway to the Caspian and that the quantity i s increasing. It will be a race between supply alone this route, the German drivef aMth! winter.