ATTEMPT AT STALEMATE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 133, 2 December 1944, Page 7

ATTEMPT AT STALEMATE

YON RIINDSTEDT'S STRATEGY .

Rec. noon. LONDON, December 1. Throwing in strong reinforcements and counter-attacking in almost every sector, yon Rundstedt is trying to force a stalemate along the line of the floodswollen rivers, says the British United Press. The Maas, the Roer, and- the Saar are all flowing hip-deep, and the Germans; taking advantage of the floods,.are trying'to stop the Allied -forces ~.crossing! £he, rivers. Counterattacks launched so far appear to be "drawn,from the tactical, reserve, but new strength is being ■■ massed behind the German .lines, including armoured reserves, which could be thrown in if. the river.line did not hold. . Opposition from the Germans on the Saar .front is becoming decidedly, stronger now that the Allies have xeached the river at several points. '■ ■ Reuters correspondent with the •united States Third Army says that the resistance to, General Patton's advance towards the Saar industrial 2one is increasingly bitter. "The Times" .correspondent on the Saar front says there is a heavy Concentration ,of enemy artillery; on the east bank of the. river. Pill-box^s abound and run right 'down to the river's edge. The Saar River, which' normally averages 150 feet in width is mow at least 300 v feet wide, and at some iipomts 1300 feet. \ The Germans are resisting most ;strongly west of the Roer River, and (General Simpson's forces made very -little progress .today, says Reuters correspondent with the United States (Ninth Army. The . Americans north and south of Lirinich are meeting with 'determined opposition. ' • The British United Press correspondent with the First . Army says ■that infantry advanced 400 yards today to within 1000 yards of Geich, which ds four miles west of Duren. The Americans are fighting- their way room by room through two great iblocks of fiats on the edge of the -Rhine to drive the Germans from their last foothold in the Strasbourg area, says the British United Press correspondent at Strasbourg. The Germans are laying down heavy shellfire around ■the bridges over the canal which separates Strasbourg from the main stream" of the Rhine. ENEMY WITHDRAWAL NEAR BASLE. According to the Swiss radio, forces of the French army this' morning entered Huningen, three miles north of Basle, without resistance, the Germans withdrawing their troops last night. The German news agency stated that the enemy in Alsace-Lorraine launched ■a frontal assault against the Vosges, and that the Germans were making a slow' fighting withdrawal eastwards into the Rhine Valley. Most of the fighting was' now occurring in the eastern fringes of the Vosges. Reuter.'s correspondent with the United States Ninth Army says that Lindern and Welz, three miles north-v/est-and two miles south of Linnich respectively, have been cleared. The Germans, after losing these two places in the Linnich defences, are now closer to 'the town. As the Ninth Army builds up its strength west of the Roer River, patrols report that the Germans are working hard on the other side, preparing defences for attack across =»the river. The German resistance at Flosdorf is aimed at gaining time forstrengthening the defences. Flosdorf itself is defended by bunkers, pillboxes, and dug-in tanks. Patrols crossing the Inde River found the. enemy defending the line of the Julich-Esch-weiler. railway a few hundred yards east of the river. There are few Germans west of the Roer River between Linnich and Julich, but there are probably considerable forces in the triangle between the Ro.er and Inde Rivers. > The British United Press correspondent at 21st Army Group headquarters, says that Hitler Youth troops who declared ■ they would die for the Fuhrer fled from Wanssum. Only between 30 arid 40 prisoners were taken when the castle and the village of BrockJhuizen were captured. The British and the Americans are strengthening their grip on the west bank of the Roer River, but activity is mainly confined to artillery fire from both sides.