RUSSIAN ATTACKS REPORTED

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23802, 23 November 1942, Page 5

RUSSIAN ATTACKS REPORTED

Enemy Admits Heavy Thrusts GERMAN REVERSE IN CAUCASUS (Rec. 11 P.m.) LONDON. Nov 22. “The Russians are attacking along the entire front from the Don northwest of Stalingrad to the Kalmuck steppes, ’’ says Reuter's Moscow correspondent. , .. A German military spokesman stated that the Russian thrusts on both flanks of Stalingrad had assumed the nature of a veritable offensive. He added that the first enemy waves were repelled, but defensive fighting was still going on. .. . Reports reaching Moscow state that the Russians are heavily attacking the Rumanian positions covering the left German flank outside Stalingrad. The Germans are reported to have recovered from the Russian success at the approaches to Ordzhonikidze and to be desperately attempting to recapture some lost positions. An earlier report stated that while the Russians were still pushing the Germans back in the Caucasus, the Germans were continuing to talk about a coming Soviet offensive. Only this morning a Berlin commentator said that M. Stalin had sounded the signal for the first Soviet winter attacks, in areas of deployment which had been known for a long time to the German command. The latest Moscow communman makes no mention of any big Russian movements, and says that yesterday there were no important changes. Local successes at several points m the south are reported.. The Russians are striking well-timed hammer blows at the Germans, who are falling back after their defeat in front of Ordzhonikidze, and edging the

enemy away from the vital Grozny! oilfields. These attacks are being made to the south-east of Nalchik and in the. area of Mozdok. At Stalingrad there have been relatively small-scale movements, and two enemy groups trying to pierce the workers’ settlement were wiped out. The Russian morning communique on Saturday recorded no important changes on the front. Activity in the Stalingrad area appeared to be on a small scale. Fighting continued souuiwest of Nalchik, where a Russian Marine group from the Black Sea Fleet made landings deep in the rear of the enemy and annihilated the coast guards and returned) without loss. The Russians are still holding the outskirts of Novorossiisk. Saturday night’s communique showed that the main fighting had again been in Stalingrad and on the two Caucasus fronts, south-east of Nalchik arid north-east, of Tuapse. In one sector north-east of Tuapse Russian troops pushed forward and dislodged the enemy from several fortified positions. Headlong Retreat Other reports said the German forces were in headlong retreat after their big defeat near Ordzhonikidze, in the central Caucasus. The Russian forces had taken the offensive in this area and recaptured an important height south-east of Nalchik. The mauled and broken Axis forces were abandoning one position after another. They hastily discarded tanks, guns, and ammunition, and fled to the mountains and forests to escape capture. More than 5000 German dead and 10,000 wounded were left on the battlefield. . * ... The Germans lost from 150 to 200 tanks, many of which were not damaged but had run out of fuel. The difficulties of bringing up fuel across the snow and mud proved too mucn for the Germans. The Moscow radio says that thousands of German bodies and tanks, armoured cars, and lorries twisted, into heaps of broken metal, litter the battlefield before Ordzhonikidze. ‘Bodies were, thick in a recaptured village. There were 40 common graves in one cemetery and another village contained 40 lorries piled with dead which the Germans were unable to bury. . . Russian front line dispatches now reveal that the battle for Ordzhonikidze began on November 1. The Germans on November 3 broke through the defences on a narrow sector and prepared for a final thrust with tanks and aeroplanes to seize the town and gain a footing on the Georgian military highway. The situation was extremely critical, but the Russian? launched a desperate counter-attack and held the enemy onslaught, and on November 11 threw the Germans out of the fortified village. The Russians continued to hold the main Axis force and then launched a powerful flanking thrust which ultimately cut off a very large Axis force and compelled it to take up defensive positions in three fortified settlements. The Russians subjected the encircled Axis forces to devastating artillery and mortar fire for five days and nights. The Soviet infantry repelled counterattacks by which the Germans hoped to break the ring. Then the Russians, on the sixth day, advanced from the north and northeast against the three fortified settlements. The Axis forces fought fiercely, but the Red Army relentlessly pressed on, completing the rout, in which Axis soldiers abandoned most of their arms and equipment. The victory at Ordzhonikidze appears to ensure the safety of the Groznyi oilfields for the winter, as it is apparent that the German defeat was due to the skilful manner in which the Russians capitalised on the enemy’s winter transport difficulties.