DESPERATE EFFORT LINE OF DESNA

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 72, 22 September 1943, Page 5

DESPERATE EFFORT

LINE OF DESNA

Nazis In Dnieper Bend

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.) . Bee. 9 a.m. LONDON, September 21. The Germans are trying* hard to make a stand in front of Dnepropetrovsk, says the Moscow "Red Star." The Germans are forcing- thousands of peasants to dig* fortifications along* hills and small rivers. The nearer the Russians approach the Dnieper the more determined the German resistance becomes. The country is studded with villages which the Germans have converted into strong-points. They are rushing* artillery reinforcements to the most threatened points. Renter's Moscow correspondent says the Russians are closing in on Dnepropetrovsk from three sides. All the railways to Dnepropetrovsk from the east have been cut at comparatively short distances from the town. The Russians are advancing swiftly from Bularovka, 20 miles north-east of Dnepropetrovsk. "Isvestia" says the Germans are throwing* in strong* forces of tanks, motorlsed units, and mortars in defence of Sinelnikovo. They launched three determined counter-attacks on the flanks of the Red forces, but failed to check the momentum of the advance.

Reuters Moscow correspondent says the big Dnieper bridgehead of Zaporozhe is isolated from Dnepropetrovsk by the severance of the railway at Slavgorod, about half-way between the two towns.

The Russians are less than 10 miles from the railway linking the Crimea with Zaporozhe and it is now practically useless as an escape line.

Terrific fighting is occurring between Kholm and Smolensk, says Reuters Moscow correspondent. The Red Air Force is bombing and machine-gunning the retreating German columns less than 25 miles north-west of Smolensk. This blow is developing very satisfactorily on a broad front.

The Russians are moving down the Dvina valley towards Vitebsk. The Berlin news agency says that extraordinarily bitter close-range fighting is occurring on the Bryansk-Roslavl road, mostly in the German outpost zone.

CONQUEST COMPLETE

IMPORTANT TOWN TAKEN

RUGBY, Sept. 21

The capture of the important north Ukranian town of Chernigov, on the west bank of the lower Desna River, is announced in an Order of the Day by Stalin. "Troops of the central front, continuing their violent offensive, successfully crossed the River Desna, and by a skilful bypass manoeuvre after three days of fierce fighting, today took by storm the Ukranian regional centre of Chernigov, a most important centre of the enemy defences in the lower part of the Desna region.

"Thus, the enemy's defence prepared on the western bank of the Desna has been overcome on the1 entire length of the river. The enemy's plan to stem our advance on these positions must be considered frustrated." — 8.0. W.

VITAL FORTRESSES

will be able to do more than fight a delaying action, for the Russians are now converging against the city from the east and from the north-east.

EIGHTEEN MILES AWAY.

Guns thundered within 18 miles oJJ Smolensk today as the Russians softened up the defences and moved steadily and relentlessly against the German fortress. The column nearest the city is advancing along the main road from Kholm, the column from the* Kalinin front is outflanking Smolensk from the north and moving down the Dvina Valley towards Vitebsk. The Germans are being forced back on all fronts.

More big German withdrawals in Russia, possibly as far as the Polish border, are indicated by the latest reports from Berlin, published in the Swedish Press.

"Dagbladet's" Berlin correspondent quotes authoritative Nazi circles for the statement that it would be a mistake to assume that the line the Germans are now taking up is to be the winter line. The present German aim is to form a buffer line, and it is too early yet to speak of a winter line.

This statement, says the British United Press Stockholm correspondent, is all the more startling since the Nazis are already stressing the gigantic scale of the present shortening of the front, which ia something far bigger than the previous small-scale withdrawals.

Paris radio's commentator, Jean Paquis, says the German retreat in Russia opens the last chapter of the war. It will probably be the bloodiest chapter, but Germany remains confident.

ALONG KIEV RAILWAT

ADVANCE OF RED ARMY

LONDON, September 21. Russian forces have pushed further along the Poltava-Kiev railway and have taken a station about 70 miles from Kff y. In the Poltava sector our allies advanced 16 miles at some points and over 250 places are back in Russian hands, including several railway stations.

Tonight's Moscow communique also reports the capture of an important railway junction 25 miles south-east of Dnepropetrovsk. Soviet troops made a general advance of from six to 10 miles in this area today and reoccupied over 80 towns and villages.

THREATENED BY RUSSIANS Rec. 12.30 p.m. LONDON, Sept. 21

Three vital fortress towns, upon which the entire German front hinges, are now directly threatened by the Russians—Smolensk, Kiev, and Dnepropetrovsk. The Russians captured Chernigov today, and in doing so have smashed through the last water barrier before the Dnieper line. They have begun closing the trap against Kiev, which is the anchor of the German hopes of a strong winter line in this sector.

Rokossovsky's men had to force their way across the Desna and then fight southward in an outflanking movement. The Russian spearheads are now less than 25 miles from Kiev, and the advanced forces are beyond Slavgorod (half-way between Zaporqzhe and Dnepropetrovsk), and are less than 10 miles from the Dnieper. The Germans are making a desperate effort to concentrate their forces for the defence of Kiev, but there is little sign that they

NOTES ON. THE WAR

REASON FOR RETREAT

RESERVES WITHDRAWN

LONDON, September 21.

A withdrawal of German reserves from the Russian battlefront in order to meet the Allied invasion of Italy is admitted by the Berlin newspaper "Voelkischer Beobachter."

It says: "The Wehrmacht Was facing a situation in Russia which was tending towards breaking-point. The Fuhrer, therefore, ordered flexible tactics henceforth to be adopted; the front line had to be straightened. We do not attempt to belittle the surrender of Kharkov, Novorossisk, Stalino, and Bryansk.

"This general retreat in Russia, howevei% has set free new reserves for us, and it is because of these reserves that the Britsih and American invasion of Italy is not a walk-over."

Churchill. They survey the whole field of the global war and indicate what they would like to be done to the combined Chiefs of Staff of the two nations. These embody the best military brains available and their job is to say what can be done and what cannot. So the great plans come into being for the waging of war in the manner best calculated, in the opinion of the heads, to secure and ensure the destruction of the enemy. Such plans on so enormous a scale must look far ahead with dates and places assigned for various ■ stages of unified operations. Ponderous, But It Works. Such a method, ponderous as it must be, cannot so easily take advantage of passing opportunities as the Supreme Commander way, but it works, as events for the last year have shown; and, above all, it makes far fewer profound errors such as have marked the military direction of German operations by Hitler. In this war, waged for so long under the most adverse circumstances, Britain and the Allies, by co-ordinated teamwork, have done better than in any previous war, far better than in World War I, and better than in the wars against Napoleon, when William Pitt—the Churchill of his day—after Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz, 1806, declared: "Roll up that map of Europe; it will not be needed these many days," and shortly afterwards died of a broken heart. Neither Britain nor the United States has ever produced a Napoleon, but they have always managed to find statesmen' like Lincoln, Roosevelt, i Chatham, and Churchill, and generals | like Grant and Wellington who, given the tools, caii do the job. ..

HOW IT IS RUN

METHODS COMPARED

The war continues to go well for the Allies on all fronts, particularly the Russian, where the Red Army at several points is forcing the retreating invader back on the Dnieper. Progress is slower in Italy where the Western Allies have much ground to cover before they can shorten their front across the Peninsula.

Mr. Churchill's observations to the House of Commons on the Allied conduct of the war raise many points of interest. The Western Allies —Britain and America —have been severely criticised in some circles on the ground of slowness to take advantage of opportunities, for example, recently, the interval of delay between the fall of Mussolini on July 25 and the landing at Salerno on September 9. Apart from the military fact that the German concentration at Salerno to win a "prestige" victory, as they intended, exposed the heel of Italy, . with Taranto, Brindisi, and Bari, to cheap Allied advance and occupation, there is the inevitable difference between democracy and dictatorship in the conduct of war. Not only the original Axis Powers-^-Germany, Italy, and Japan—but Russia also, and China direct their military operations from single supreme commands in the persons of Hitler, Mussolini, To jo, Stalin, and Chiang Kai-Shek. The advantage of despotic over democratic control in the conduct of war was noted as long ago as 350 B.C. by Demosthenes, the leader of- the Greek city-states, against Philip of Macedon, the common enemy, at the beginning of the series of aggressions which ended, some twelve years later, in the total enslavement of the Greek democracies —the nearest parallel in history to the events which led to the present war, except in the final outcome. The passage, too long to quote, is at the beginning of one of the earlier speeches of Demosthenes to the Athenians, warning them against Phiilp. The gist was that one-man control of everything, such as Philip enjoyed, was a great advantage in the swift and timely conduct of operations of war, but it cut the other way in diplomatic negotiations, for the despot soon came to be universally distrusted for his motives. That is certainly the case with the dictators of the Axis Powers, who have made themselves universally hated as nobody before in history. A Slow Process.

MR. NELSON IN LONDON

Rec. 11 a.m. RUGBY, Sept. 21. Mr. Donald Nelson, chairman of the War Production Board of the United States, arrived in London today and called immediately on Captain Oliver Lyttelton, Minister of Production, with, whom he will discuss the common problems of war production in both countries.

Demosthenes failed against Philip because he could never manage to hold the Greek city-states together for long, Greece being then a microcosm of the Europe of our own time. The corresponding units today are the United Nations, and these President Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill have welded together by patient, persevering policy into a weapon, first, capable of resisting the onset of the dictators and, then, of overcoming them. But the process is inevitably slow, much slower than, say, the military movements directed by one-man commands. Britain and America have to consult again and again in periodical conferences on the military policy to be1 pursued. The resulting plans are bound to be, at least in the initial stages, more massive than mobile. President Roosevelt is, constitutionally, Commander-in-Chief of the military forces of the United States, but he cannot in a democracy act quite like a dictator. Neither can Prune Minister

This is Mr. Nelson's first visit to Britain since his appointment. He was invited here by Captain Lyttelton, who has twice been to Washington during the last twelve months.

During his stay Mr. Nelson will visit some of Britain's war factories and see something of the United States forces.—B.O.W.

VICTORIAN POLITICS

Rec. 9 a.m. MELBOURNE, Sept. 21. The new State United Australia Party-Country Party Ministry Inet Parliament today, and after a stormy debate Mr. Dunstan was granted an adjournment of two weeks to enable his legislative programme to be prepared.

It is evident, in view of recent events, that the Labour Opposition intends to take every opportunity to avenge what it describes as "the U.A.P. betrayal" of the, short-lived Labour Ministry. Public opinion, with which all the newspapers agree, is that Labour should have been given a better chance.

COMMUNION IN MOSCOW

Rec. 11.30 a.m. -RUGBY, Sept. 21. The Archbishop of York held Communion early this morning in his suite at the Hotel National in Moscow for members of the British Embassy. Later he went to Bogoyavlensky Epiphany Cathedral, where he attended the Russian Church Festival of the Nativity.—B.O.W.