THREE AXIS BASES MAY SOON FALL

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 42, 19 February 1943, Page 3

THREE AXIS BASES MAY SOON FALL

MOSCOW PREDICTION

Battles Raging- South-east Of Orel

N.Z. Press Association.—Copyright Rec. 1.30 p.m. LONDON, Feb. 18. It is expected in Moscow that the last three German bases in South Russia—Orel, Taganrog and Novorossisk—will soon fall. After the capture of Kharkov the Red Army is concentrating attention on Orel, on which the Russian forces are closing in from several directions. Berlin radio late this evening stated that big battles are raging in the area south-east of Orel. Reuters Moscow correspondent says the Russian thrust west from Fatej has created a new threat to the flank and rear of the defenders of Orel. A battle is raging for the control of the Kursk-Orel highroad running through Fatej. Front line dispatches say the Germans, in order to protect their flank, rushed up reinforcements and "fortified every vantage point. The British United Press reports that a violent battle is going on north of Kursk, where the Russians, driving north along the Kursk-Orel railway to Orel, are now about 50 miles from the town. Other forces northward, on the Bryansk-Orel line, are almost within striking distance, but the line is one of the most heavily fortified in Russia. Last Winter Line Bastion Orel is the last bastion of Hitler's original AVinter line below Moscow and the only point still held on the strategically important MoscowKharkov railway. Moreover, Orel is the last formidable German base threatening the left flank of the defences of Moscow. Its reoccupation finally would enormously facilitate the advance of the Russian southern wing towards the River Dneiper. Reuters correspondent reports that four of General Golikoff's columns are heading for tlie important railway junction of Poltava and the Dneiper River from north and south of Kharkov.

According to Moscow reports the Red Army's grip on the Donetz Basin has tightened in the past 24 hours. Two columns are converging on Debaltsevo, 40 miles from Stalino. The Russians farther south are sweeping across the plain of Rostov province towards Taganrog Desperate Axis Resistance The capture of Slavyangk has eliminated the pocket where the Germans desperately resisted for 10 days. The Russians practically surrounded the garrison and strong relieving forces supported by tanks. The Times Moscow correspondent says that to view the fighting as an elaborate rearguard action covering the German retreat through the gap between Krasnoarmeysk and the coast is to accept the German thesis which,- according to all Russian reports, gives a completely false picture. There is no doubt that the operation in the Donetz Basin is a clash between major forces, which is j proved by the prolonged heavy fighting which is preceding the capture of every town. The Rome radio commentator Ansaldo forecasts the Axis evacuation of the Ukraine "to avoid encirclement." The radio also stated: "Overcoming difficult ground conditions, which did not favour the attack, the Russians threw in four divisions, with four brigades of infantry, also a tank formation, against the Axis forces in the Caucasus. Thev are also persistently keeping up their attacks noar Novorossisk." Strong Northern Offensive Cables from Berlin, states a Zurich message, emphasise that the Russians' Lake Ilmen offensive, south of Leningrad, is being carried out '"ith an unprecedented amount of war material, especially tanks and artillery. One source states that most of the tanks are brand new, especially the T34 type and the 52-ton tanks. This is regarded as further evidence of the Soviet's gigantic reserves.