SMOLENSK BATTLE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 248, 1 August 1941, Page 5

SMOLENSK BATTLE

TREMENDOUS AND FIERCE.

SPECULATION AS TO OUTCOME.

A MATTER OF EXHAUSTION.

(Rec. 9.35 a.m.) LONDON, July 31

According to a competent military commentator in London it would appear that, the Smolensk sector is the one in which the Germans are still exerting the greatest pressure. It is pointed out, however, that this battle has already been going on for over a fortnight on a tremendous scale, and with the utmost fierceness, and such a battle cannot continue indefinitely. On the other hand, it does not seem possible that a battle on such a vast scale, where such confusion of the disposition of troops exists—largo forces opposing troops fighting behind each other’s advanced forces—can resolve itself into a static front.

The result-of the battle would appear to depend on whether the Germans can deploy a sufficient number of troops and armoured forces to subdue the Russian resistance or whether the Russians can hang on and exhaust the German armies. It is believed that, the next few days may show which alternative will prove successful. In spite of many reports of large concentrations on the Bulgarian-Turk-ist frontier no authoritative information has reached London of any impending action by the Germans on this front.—British Official Wireless. German newspapers emphasise the German difficulties, which are said to be a result in no small measure of the lessons the Russians learned from tho Battle of France. Ah American broadcasting from Ankara said that Germans in Turkey are noticeably more perturbed by the trend of the campaign. The Strain of Battle. Neutrals in Europe envisage tho possibility of one side or the other in the German-Russian campaign collapsing from sheer physical 'exhaustion, reports the correspondent of “The Times” on the German frontier. Tho correspondent quotes the “Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung” as saying that the battle front is at least six times the size of that, between the Channel and the Meuse, overshadowing anything and everything in the last war. The newspaper asserted that, militarily the climax of the struggle against Russia had passed, but it pointed out that victory over Russia would not bo followed by the same results as in France, because Russia has intact her reserves, which German military authorities believe to be gigantic. The Germans, this correspondent adds, admit that their front-line troops are feeling tho strain of the prolonged effort. Some confess that the limits of endurance have been reached and that tho men scarcely hope for relief because of tho vast extent of the battle, field. Raiders Driven Off at Moscow. The Germans again attempted to raid Moscow last night but not one of their aircraft penetrated the defences. One German aeroplane was brought down. Tin? German radio announced that Moscow was raided again on Tuesday night, but tlxere is no confirmation of this from Moscow.

A report received in Vichy from Bucharest states that more than 300 military hospitals in the interior of Rumania contain 60,000 wounded. The figure does not include German wounded in front line hospitals. The Official German News Agency says that Lieutenant Hans Keitel, youngest son of Field-Marshal von Keitel, chief of the German High Command, has been killed on the Russian front .

The Moscow radio described a German trick of broadcasting machinegun fire. Russians were counter-at-tacking in a w’ood when machine-guns clattered out, apparently from' behind every tree. The Russians did not dare attack, but they sent patrols, who found loud-speakers suspended from trees and a microphone near a ma-cbine-gun. The Russians then attacked and wiped out a German detachment.

“The secret of the excellent performance of the Red Army is that it simply refuses to play the game as laid down by the Nazi war lords,” says Mr Frank Owen, editor of the London “Evening Standard,” in an article in which he declares that British leaders underrated the Soviet military power and delayed active assistance for Russia.

Mr Owen adds: “When the panzers break through, the Russians behave like a self-sealing aeroplane tank. They close up and absorb the bullet. The truth is plain enough. For 20 years the Russians have devoted 2-j per cent of all their wealth to the army. For 20 years they have rehearsed their defence against an attack from just the quarter from which it came finally. Russians’ Total War. “The Russians have taught tlioir people total war, while Hitler has merely taught his barbarians total destruction. The physical development of the Soviet was there for everyone to see. Bid nobody from official Britain see this and recognise what it was? If someone had, surely avc should not now’ be gaping at the Russian effort. We should be throwing in every ounce of aid w’o could give to this magnificent ally.”

Military observers in Britain, commenting on Mr Churchill’s warning that an invasion of Britain might come at any moment, argue that the surest way of dealing with an invasion is to send every ounce of aid that is possible to Russia and so create tw r o fronts.

Why, observers ask, should Britain

lull herself into complacency with the belief that the Royal Air Force can smash or even seriously impair Germany’s Avar industry - Avithin . a few weeks Avlien the German. Air Force could not smash Britain’s - industries *iYi nearly a year?