The Bay of Plenty Times FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 1944. THE RED ARMY MOVES SWIFTLY FORWARD

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 13427, 14 April 1944, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Times FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 1944. THE RED ARMY MOVES SWIFTLY FORWARD

The Russians have taught the Germans some wholesome lessons -—at least it is hoped so. The Germans, with their colossal conceit, believed that their war machine and the German soldier were invincible but the Red Army has definitely and conclusively pioved the contrary. The Germans have been out-generalled. and outmanoeuvred. and their war strategy has proved to be ver\ much inferior to that of the Russians. They, have not won a single victory during the past six months, on the contrary they have suffered defeat in every encounter they have had with the Russians and have lost very heavily in men and material. The Russians, too, have suffered, but nothing in comparison with the Hitler’s boa.sts of capturing Moscow,'occupying the Ukraine and seizing the Russian oilfields-have all turned out to be fantastic dreams of the pipe smokers. The Germans are now vacating Russian territory as fast as their legs and other circumstances permit, but they do not seem able to move fast enough to escape butchery by the Russians.

The Germans have been driven out of Russian territory in some sectors and it is not likely to be very long before they are driven completely out. The Russians are now well into Rumania, and the Rumanians must be sorry for themselves. The Hungarians will presently realise the horrors of war; in fact they have already had reason to regret their impetuosity in taking an active part in the war, for the Allied air force has raided Budapest tu some purpose. The Russians are on the frontier of Czechoslovakia and they are well inside Poland. The Czechs and the Poles have organised guerilla bands, and these bands will now have their opportunity to wreak vengeance on the German oppressors. The Russians will thus secure considerable reinforcements where they will most need them. Odessa, on the Black Sea, is now in Russian hands and the German troops in the Crimea are being annihilated by the Red Army. It is difficult to see how Germany can stem the tide of the Russian advance, for they have neither the men nor the material available for the purpose. They could throw more reinforcements into Russia if they cared to withdraw troops from the occupied countries and Italy, but this they seem reluctant to do, relying on the Rumanians and Hungarians and the Bulgarians to aid them in their campaign against Russia. These forces are proving to be unreliable. It is not unlikely that the Germans will be compelled to draw upon their reserves to meet the Russians, who must soon reach the German frontier with the aid of the Czechs and Poles.