DESTROY PANZERS IN STALIN DEFENCES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 165, 15 July 1941, Page 7

DESTROY PANZERS IN STALIN DEFENCES.

SOVIET STRATEGY

Germany's Severe Mauling By Red Army

U.P.A. and British Wlroless. Rec. 1 P-m. LONDON, July 14. Russian military spokesmen say that although there has not yet been any deep penetration of the Stalin Line the Red Army's mobile defence nolicy will probably allow deep penetration at selected points. This will allow the defenders to deal more effectively with individual panzer thrusts, as was done in the early days of the war. Authoritative observers in London are still cautious in assesssing the situation, but the general view is that after three weeks Germany has taken a severe mauling for her unsubstantial gains.

To-day's Russian communique says no large scale fighting occurred during the night and the position of Russian troops has not substantially altered. The air force throughout the night bombed airfields and mechanisea units, and attacks were also made on Jassy and Ploesti, in Rumania. It destroyed 94 German planes with the loss of 12.

The brief German communique claims that breaking through operations on the Eastern Front are continuing according to plan. The Finnish forces under Baron Mannerheim attacked on both sides of Lake Ladoga. The Luftwaffe bombed railways in the neighbourhood of Leningrad and Smolensk and military objectives at Kiev. German Propaganda Claims A German communique issued on Sunday, claiming the piercing of the Stalin Line, was for internal consumption to banish the anxiety which has settled over Germany, says the Stockholm correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph." The clearest evidence exists that the Germans have not yet begun a general offensive, although one may certainly be expected within a few days. The German communique in any case merely says the German armies in the north are still fighting along the old Russian border. General von Brauchitsch's crack divisions in the centre are held at Vitebsk and are still facing the ■powerful Stalin Line fortifications barring the road to Moscow. The Axis forces on the southern front are now coming up against the modern defence system guarding Kiev, which the Germans expected to occupy within a fortnight of the commencement of the invasion. Reliable reports indicate that the damage the German mechanised forces have sustained is so severe that the maintenance of a . fullpressure offensive is impossible. Offensive Held Up This morning's Moscow communique said: "There was heavy fighting on a large scale on Suridav in the regions of Pskov. Vitebsk 'and Novograd-Volynsk. German motonsed and mechanised forces in the north-western sector attempted a large-scale offensive toward the east but our stubborn resistance held it up everywhere. In some places the enemy were repulsed and suffered heavy losses. ."In the western sector we reoccuPied the towns of Zhlobin and Rogacnev, 30 miles east of Bobruisk. Heavy fighting is occurring between infantry and tanks. Our troops in tne south-western sector continued operations against mechanised f°rce s > .preventing their advance eastward. Heavy and continuous ngnting occurred in this sector, with frlL enemy suffering heavy losses our artillery, aeroplanes and counter-attacking tank formations. hJ? e °, tner sec to i- s there were no Hfe-scale operations and no imporSJL 1 changes occurred in our posirw Our air force a e ain attacked drom an motorised forces and aero-

Enemy's Huge Losses than e oS, u H ian !osse s so far are less S n 25 0.000 killed, wounded or werTfifv. n nnn he German losses total over 1,000,000 men and 3000 tanks. ?<wn £ usslan air force has destroyed alrfJES™*?? aeroplanes. The Soviet tn rto ♦ Wlll con tinue systematically en^ my aer oplanes and tS h^ ni £ ed and motorised units, and mil'S? w? nemy aerodromes and military objectives. testify 6 J l !* l tTlr , ee weeks' fighting Hltlir-c w-* h< i undoubted collapse of German b , l . lt ? k . rle 8- ™e best of the have been broken Wan d a sloi OS t an S k 0 s far 19 °° aer °- enorn ">ous losses of manv hL Xplam ,\ he fact that GerESSm fS? recalled almost all her theTwf» I K Occu P ied France, from "the? i^ order ', an d from several old men ■¥§?' Ti?P lacin g them with liaveaLvf H,tler Guard divisions iXnr" to the

REPORT TO RUSSIA S0V *ET MILITARY MISSION \l P t . ""RUGBY. July 14. headed bv°ri et military mission, itsamvaT£ e i nera GoHkoff, has since tacUs wfth R Vu n i on - made close c°n«ndT thp nJ ritlsh Chiefs of Staffs Golikoff and p Ce . Mi , nis t'W- General now returnti C t° l 0?, el P ra gun have and thev win Russia to report. Meanwhilp L then return to Britain, mission -s n, e wo r k of the Soviet edlv unrW A p , roceedm g uninterrupty under Admiral Kharlamoff. TURKISH PRESS UTvix^T-^r TACKED R An 2 ' 3 A I" 1 ' LON DON, July 14. af ter i nk ß message says that ln the Turkish in Whj& ai hf M t - Lkyinoff s speech, Planned hv ff f «? rred to the fate Eluded hv y r,o H J tler , for those still ?11 W iLK? of non-aggression, susn^Ji 1 newspapers have °Btensiblv P £ed for tnree days, njjgjwy for some other minor RUSSIANS ARRESTED

HJXD-UP in INDOCHINA

* 2.30 p.m. SAIGON, July 14. f ollowL O t^ ial,y announced that, tic rffin«l s t everance of diplomaSoviet °ji s J{? tw ?? n France and the hhel e Russian * in IndoJlred French , a "?ste<l. Six hunhave aho 'I" na,ivc ( '<»nnumists lCf, U Sem tO