SOVIET DEFENDERS STILL BOLD GERMANS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 173, 24 July 1941, Page 7

SOVIET DEFENDERS STILL BOLD GERMANS

SMOLENSK KEY

Frontal Attack On Moscow " Hopeless " United Press Association.—Copyright. Rec. 1 p.m. LONDON, July 23. "Smolensk, which is the focal point of probably the biggest and bloodiest battle ever waged by mechanised forces, is and always has been in the Red Army's hands," says Reuter's correspondent, in a special message to-night from Moscow. "It is true that German advance units reached the outskirts of this key city some days ago, but the defenders drove them off. The Soviet communiques rightly continued to speak of 'fighting in the direction of Smolensk. , "The Russians have placed many obstacles on the roads between Smolensk and Moscow, and these obstacles are hampering the present Russian communications with the battlefront, but they may be regarded as one reason why the Germans are beginning to realise that a frontal attack against Moscow is a hopeless task, and why the Nazis are now trying to explain to the German people that the High Command's immediate objective is not Moscow, but the destruction of the Soviet Army. .Leningrad's Barriers "The situation in the Leningrad region is more obscure. The Russians do not believe that the Germans can thrust either across the highlyfortified Karelian Isthmus, across which stands the old Mannerheim Line, or around Lake Ladoga, with its difficult terrain cut by lakes and waterways. The danger to Leningrad is possibly only from the south-west, but the main Russian forces in this region are grimly holding on around Pskov. The Germans there find themselves in a position not unlike that at Smolensk. Furthermore, the whole region between Pskov and Leningrad, and between Tallinn and Leningrad, along the coast, is largely made up of forests and marshes, with few roads."

The Berlin correspondent of the British United Press quotes official sources as saying that the terrific battles south-west of Novgorod and around Smolensk have somewhat slowed down the German advance. The existence of very large Soviet forces in the rear, after the German armoured units passed beyond Smolensk, forced the Germans to make a wide detour around the city in order to regain contact with the advanced force. The Soviet command is hurling in enormous reserves, seeking to protect Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev.

The Germans also admitted that substantial Soviet forces were "left behind" in a large pocket in the Jitomir area. The Germans still have not reached the main defences' of Leningrad, where they expect to find the toughest resistance yet met. Heavy Rains In Ukraine The Berlin radio's official commentator refers to continuous rains on the southern front which have so thoroughly soaked the ground that the German advance can only be made very slowly and with great difficulty. He claimed that numerous Russian "pockets" on the central front are being subjected to heavy pressure. The Russians in these "pockets." aided by counter-attacks from outside, attempted to break out in many places, and sometimes succeeded, but they were "soon surrounded elsewhere." The Germans added that whereas the French resistance collapsed because most of the commanders and every soldier realised that further resistance was hopeless, the Russians fight on stolidly, ignoring the. fact.

The Berlin correspondent of the Zurich "National Zeitung"' says the Russian High Cemmand is throwing in more reserves than the Germans expected. Other reports, originating in Berlin, harp on the claim that the Russians are being forced to use up more and more reserves, but even from the fronts northwards of Leningrad it appears at present that German progress has been over-estima-ted.