FURIOUS BATTLE IT GATES OF CAUCASUS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 278, 24 November 1941, Page 7

FURIOUS BATTLE IT GATES OF CAUCASUS

ROSTOV POSITION

Enemy Hammered By Red

Air Force

L'.P.A. anrl British Wireless. Rec. 1 p.m. LONDON, Nov. 23. No decisive results appear to have been achieved by the Germans in what is reported to be the heaviest offensive yet mounted asainst Moscow. The Soviet midday communique merely states that during the night fighting took place along the whole front. There is still no confirmation by the Russians of the claim by the Germans to have captured Rostov, nor any news from Germany as to whether their troops have succeeded in crossing the wide and swiftly flowing Don, on the western bank of which Rostov is situated, and which, even though this important city has fallen, should prove a considerable obstacle to the Germans' advance towards the Caucasus.

Marshal Timoshenko is clearly offering the fiercest resistance in this sector. The preservation of the oil of the Caucasus and the sea route from the oil wells of Baku to the North Caspian port of Astrakhan is of the first importance to the Russians.

The current issue of the London weekly journal Economist points out that the oil resources of the Urals are not yet very fully developed, and are certainly not adequate alone to meet the demands of the vast and growing Russian industry east of the Volga.

That the weather, at least on the southern Russian front, is not preventing widespread effective operations by the Red Air Force, is indicated by the supplement to to-dav's Soviet communique, which states that the Soviet aircraft operating over the southern front destroved 47 enemy tanks. 392 lorries with infantry and war equipment, 115 cars with army supplies, six buses, and 10 guns, and routed 1600 enemy troops.

Beyond a brief mention of fighting in the important industrial and communications centre of Rostov which is also virtually the gate to the Caucasus, the latest Soviet communique ignores the German claim to have captured it. The communique adds that on Friday the Soviet Air Force destroyed 22 German tanks, 12

armoured cars, 896 lorries, J4 staff buses, 6 petrol tank lorries, carts with shells, and 32 guns, and annihilated over 3000 officers and men. CaTalry Fighting at Tula The Moscow Tass news agency reports that both sides are using cavalry on the Tula front. The German cavalry arrived with the latest batch of reinforcements and has already participated in the fighting. The Germans are continually sending up reinforcements and throwing in more tanks.

All the German attempts to break through on the Leningrad front have failed and the enemy has been thrown back everywhere.

The Times Stockholm correspondent says the Germans have seized the opportunity of easier mobility as the result of the freezing of the ground and have resumed their offpnsive against Moscow on a scale and weight exceeGing expectations. A slight Russian retreat at Tula and Volokalamsk was made in good order and the prospects of an unyielding resistance are better tnan during the earlier offensives. It is believed that the Germans will be unable long to maintain the present strength of their offensive owing to the inadequacy of supplies for the present rate of expenditure. The casualties are already tremendous, even judged by the high standards of the Moscow front.

Although the loss of Rostov is very serious, another railway for the transport of oil from the Caucasus remains, while there is a further route across the Caspian to Astrakhan. "The Enemy Is Bleeding" The Moscow radio reporting on the fighting on Friday stated that intensive fighting is still going on. The enemy is bleeding, but is still attempting to break through to Moscow. In spite of numerical superiority in tanks, the Germans have failed to break through the Soviet defence lines, but at several places the Soviet troops have retreated to newly-prepared defence positions and are strongly counterattacking. In the Mojaisk sector the enemy threw into the battle four infantry divisions and a great number of tanks, in attempting to take a village "L.' but artillery repulsed their attacks.