LUFTWAFFE TOO WEAK FOR RUSSIAN WAR

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 164, 14 July 1941, Page 8

LUFTWAFFE TOO WEAK FOR RUSSIAN WAR

GOERING'S VIEW?

Red Army Too SoI?d For

Blitz Tactics

Tni*.-. 1 Pn-ss Aevwinlion.— r-upyrij-'ht. i'tec. 2.30 p.m. LONDON, July 13. According to the Moscow radio, well-informed .Stockholm circles state that Hitler and Goering quarrelled violently on the eve of ;he invasion of Russia. Ooering argued that the losses in the West and also in the Balkans and Crete had left the Luftwaffe unfit for a new campaign. He refused responsibility for " a new drive. Hitler became frenzied and called Goerinp a coward, and declared that he would command the Luftwaffe himself

The radio adds that the disappearance of Goering's name from the German Press tends to prove the veracity of the report. It is also rumoured that Himmler, Gestapo Chief, insisted that Goering be interned.

"The Times" Stockholm correspondent says the total sinkings of Russian and German ships in the Baltic, particularly by submarines, has been considerable. Russian submarines have certainly been active despite the German minefields and the loss of Latvian and Lithuanian bases. Some Russian surface warships are still passing between the islands and the Estonian mainland to the Gulf of Riga, where a number of engagements have occurred between destroyers, submarines and minesweepers. The Germans at present are unwilling to risk too many ships. Germans Harassed The "Daily Telegraph's" Moscow correspondent says Russian guerillas are holding Pinsk, on the central Polish frontier, where the Pripet marshes facilitate their activity. When three German tanks stopped at Pinsk because of lack of petrol, guerillas climbed on to them and put their guns out of action with hammers. The bewildered crews surren-| dered.

Guerillas attacked enemy motorised units at Beresina, killed 150 Germans and dispersed the remainder. Other bands destroyed 18 tanks with "Molotoff cocktails." Peasants have blown *ap bridges and dismantled railways.

A "Pravda" special correspondent describes the German blitzkrieg attacks against sectors where a break through is desired. The attack is opened by motor cyclists composed of wild and insolent but unsteady youngsters, aged 18 and 19. They race at whirlwind speed along roads and fields, maintaining machine-gun fire, but the Russian fire soon knocks a dozen from their motor cycles. The blitz troops then turn back with lightning rapidity. The tactics of the infantry are similar, being aimed at securing a psychological effect. They advance, shouting "Hoch, Heil," but when they see a number of daredevils fall the others crouch on the ground.

The Russian counter-attacks then begin and the Nazis are unable to withstand these. They may have succeeded in intimidating the brave but unsteady French and Belgians, but the well-trained Red Army is too solid for them.