SOVIET GUNS POUND GERMAN DEFENCES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 109, 10 May 1943, Page 3

SOVIET GUNS POUND GERMAN DEFENCES

KUBAN BATTLE Nazis Desperate To Hold Bridgehead N.Z. Press Association.—Copyright Rec. 12.30 p.m. LONDON, May 9. The Times Moscow correspondent, describing the Kuban battle, says that the Russians' guns were active for 48 hours, breaking down strongly-fortified German defences north-east of Novorossisk, which the Russians reached yesterday. German counter-attacks were strenuous and frequent, but the Red Army infantry is steadily progressing under powerful artillery and air support. The latter is on the biggest scale of the Russian war. The Red Army, closing in on Novorossisk, is fighting its way down the Caucasus valleys in the face of concentrated German artillery and mortar fire, said an earlier message. Machine-guns and bombers are helping the task of silencing the German batteries and blasting a way for the infantry.

All day yesterday they were hammerittg away at enemy firing points, blockhouses and other defence works. Soviet infantry, overcoming fierce resistance, drove forward against the defence line north-east of Novorossisk. Nazis Rush up Reinforcements All the Russian accounts of the Kuban fighting stress the German determination to hold on to the bridgehead at any cost. The Germans are bringing up reserves to many of their bases, while crowded airfields suggest an early attack. Reuters Moscow correspondent reports that the Germans are massing large and fresh forces at various points along the Russian front. Axis sources confirm the Russian view that the Germans are preparing for an all-out offensive. Paris radio declared: "Day after day trains packed with new weapons, material and vehicles are rolling towards Russia. They represent an uninterrupted line of over 625 miles." The Moscow correspondent of the Associated Press states that the air war over the Kuban has reached its highest pitch. The Russian Air "Force has destroyed over 500 planes in the past four days, many on Ger-man-held airfields behind the front. German and Rumanian reserves being hurried to the front are receiving a merciless pounding from Stormoviks and bombers. Fighter planes are mowing down German infantry in sudden swoops.