GERMANS CAPTURE PSKOFF

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 51, 28 February 1918, Page 7

GERMANS CAPTURE PSKOFF

ENORMOUS SUPPLIES IN THE TOWN REPORTED RETIREMENT OF TROTSKY

'[tt MUEGBAPH. —UNITED FR'ESS ASSOCIATION.—COPYRIGHT.) (PUBLISHED IN THE TIMES.) PETROGRAD, 26th February. Fierce fighting continues for Pskoff, which has changed hands several times. The Soviet is sending fresh troops from .Petrograd. The first of the" German detachments were small but well equipped. Large reinforcements are now approaching. Enormous supplies and valuable munitions are stored in the neighbourhood, hence the Germans' anxiety to capture Pskoff. The railway to Petrograd has been cut, and the bridges blown up. The Soviet almost hourly is issuing violent proclamations, goading its supporters. The latest denounces the approaching combination as "imperialist assassins, damned minions, of William the German, Kaledin's White Guards." Strange scenes are witnessed. The blare of syrens woke Petrograd on Mon- •■ day night. Few knew what the sound signified. They went into the streets, and were immediately summoned to-get. picks and shovels and dig trenches and roads. Telephones buzzed everywhere, telling that the Germans were coming from Pskoff. Trams ran all night, motors were requisitioned, and railways closely guarded. (AUSTRALIAN-NEW ZEALAND CABLE ASSOCIATION AND REUTER.) " '■ LONDON, 26th February. A German official report states : "Four days after crossing Moon Sound our troops who were marching on Reval captured the fortress after a battle. Flags were'hung in many of the towns in Livonia when we entered. Many of the inhabitants were arrested at the capture of Pskoff. _ General yon Linsingen stormed and carried Kolenkowitz and* the railway station. We covered upwards of 180 miles in the last few days. Co-operating with the Ukrainians, we have cleared the greater part of the country of the looting gfangs. -We recently took prisoner on the Eastern, front three- divisional Staff officers, 180 officers, and 3676 men." (Received February 28, 8.30 a.m.) ( PETROGRAD, 27th February. Only two cavalry squadrons and sis armoured cars entered Pskoff. The defenders fled in a panic. The Letts recovered soonest, and offered resistance when they learned the enemy was so few. There was some street fighting till the German reinforcements arrived. The invaders soon pushed on beyond the town. ... /. The Commissarie'i in Petrograd are torn with dissensions. - N^ It is understood that Trotsky has retired. \