Gains On Central Front

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23810, 2 December 1942, Page 3

Gains On Central Front

SHARP FIGHTING IN STALINGRAD (N./. Press Association—Copyright.) 11 l Mn -) LONDON, Dee. 1 To-duy’s Soviet communique soys Russian troops last night continued their offensive on both (he central and southern fronts. Sharp fighting continues in (he suburbs of Stalingrad, and beyond the city, to the north and the south, where the Russians have made further progress. South-west of the citv (he Russians have reached a point less than 25 miles from Kotelnikov. The fiercest fighting on the Russian front is at present occurring on the central sector, particularly in the Rzhev area. Russian tanks and infantry, after penetrating the second German defence lines near Zubtsov, are reported to be fighting in the streets of Rzhev. They are believed to have joined up with the Russian troops who have been occupying Rzhev’s northern suburbs for six months. The left flank of the German armies stationed on the Vvazma-Smolensk railway are being subjected to increasing Russian pressure, while the gaps in the northern approaches of (he railway are steadily being enlarged. The latest front line dispatch reports that the Russians are more tightly squeezing (he Axis forces trapped on the Don and Volga steppes. Columns from the/Russian southern army are spreading further south-west on both sides of the railway which leads to Novorossiisk. One column has reached Chilekovo, on the railway 15 miles from Kotelnikov. Another column has advanced to Romashkin, 36 miles north of Kotelnikov. Continuous battles with the surrounded German garrisons are going on inside the Don-Volga area and also on the Kalmuck steppes.

German losses in four clays in the area before Stalingrad number 20,000. On the central front they have lost 23.000 in five days t7600 of them in the last 24 hours). Fighting in Don-Volga Area In Stalingrad fierce battles arc raging as the Russians chase the Germans from street after street. In one part the Germans counter-attacked, but were driven back. The Russians captured eight blockhouses and drove the Germans out of 27 gun positions. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says: “The Germans north-west of Stalingrad continue to show growing resistance. They arc counter-attacking with imnorlant tank-supported forces.” the Red Army has made further progress north-west and south-west of Stalingrad. The Germans in the Don bend, as well as between the Volga and the Don. are finding their position growing more critical every hour. The enemy is making efforts to relieve them by sending reinforcements by air. but, his transport machines arc being waylaid in hundreds by the Rod Air Force and destroyed. Counter-attacks by the 200.000 Axis trooos now hemmed in before Stalingrad have been repelled and the Russinns have made new advances. Southwest of Stalingrad the Russian spearhead is striking shrewd blows from several directions towards Kotelnikov. The Russians have dropped thousands of leaflets telling the Germans that, their position is desperate and advising (hem to lay down their arms. The defenders of Stalingrad arc winning back street after street from th° weakening enemy forces. Here, as outside the city, the enemy is putting in as powerful resistance as his strength allows.

Progress on Central Front Rzhcv appears to be the focal point of the battles on the central front. The advance of the Russian pincers on either side of the town has made its position precarious, and it is considered doubtful whether the Germans will be able to hold it. The Russians are holding wide stretches of the only two railways supplying Rzhev. It is expected that the Germans will exert every effort to hold Rzhev, which has been regarded as their main centre for operations against Moscow. General Zhukhov’s forces arc now extending the four gaps in the German positions between Rzhev and Velikye Luki. An encircling movement is being developed at these two points. The Germans are counter-attacking, but they are greatly handicapped by the gaps driven n their lines by the surprise Russian attack. South of Rzhev the Red Army forces which cut the railway line running to Vyazma are consolidating their positions. A German military spokesman said the greatest tank battle of the war was raging on the central front, where the situation was very grave. Between Kalinin and Toro pets, ho said, German soldiers were facing the most severe threap. They had received orders not to retreat under any circumstances. The Stockholm correspondent ot "The Times'’ says: "The German positions on the central front arc more unfavourable than at any time during the last Russian offensive. Operations on the central front have developed into battles of manoeuvre. With reserves pouring through the gaps m the enemy’s lines, the Red Army s commanders have a chance of striking against the exposed Vyazma sack from various directions.

"Russian troops in Stalingrad repelled enemy counter-attacks. The Germans in several Stalingrad streets, behind a constant smoke-screen, are engaged in some unexplained engineering project. The severance of German supply lir.es is already having its effect.” The weather is becoming increasingly difficult on the central front. Paul Wintorton. "News Chronicle” correspondent in Moscow, reports (hat this central sector is one of the most strongly fortified in Russia. For these reasons the Russian offensive in this area is not on the same scale as in the Stalingrad district. However, on the central front more than 300 places have been won back bv the Russians. On this front the Russians are now further west of Moscow than they have been since August, 1941. The Russian forces are reported to bo at the gates of Novososkolniki. which is 60 miles from the Latvian border. A German military spokesman said that fierce hand-to-hand fighting followed a continuance of heavy Russian attacks yesterday south-west of Kalinin, and also in the Toropcts area. Effect of Operations "It is thought in London that the effect of the latest Russian operations has been that the important communications centres of Volikye Luki and Rzhev are both surrounded,” states a British Official Wireless message. “If this is so, the enemy appears to be faced with throe courses. He can leave his garrisons to their fate. He can try to keep them supplied by air while they attempt to fight their way out, or he can count on a major counter-offensive to come to their rescue. "If the last course is adopted, troops would probably have to be drawn from other fronts, and in that case it is very likely that 'the central section from Voronezh southward would be thinned. That part of the front is hold by the Italians, Hungarians, and Rumanians, stiffened by Germans, and it is thought questionable whether they arc nowsufficiently staunch to stand alone. "The encircled Stalingrad pocket is steadily being pressed in. The Russian boa constrictor, however, has taken in a very large beast, which will take a certain time to swallow and digest. Some surprise is expressed that the surrounded army has apparently made no attempt to fight its way out. It is thought possible that it may bo expecting help from the west. Such a counteroffensive would now have to be on a big scale to break through the besiegers’ ring, which is daily thickening, and so far no sign of it is seen.” The Finnish High Command reports the flaring up of fighting between Lakes Ladoga and Ilmen, where the Russians have launched several attacks. The Finns also report that th? Russians launched three successive attacks in the northern sector of the Finnish front, but they claim that all were repulsed.