RUSSIAN RESISTANCE

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 August 1942, Page 5

RUSSIAN RESISTANCE

BECOMING MORE EFFECTIVE

CAUCASUS CHIEF CONCERN

LONDON, August 13.

From the Caucasus front there have been no Russian reports of further withdrawals since the admission yesterday that Soviet troops had fallen back to new positions in the Cherkesk area. Fighting continues for the Maikop oilfield. At Krasnodar the Russians are putting up a strong resistance to German attempts to cross the Kuban River. The position in this sector remains serious as the Germans throw im.strp.ng forces in their attempt to reach ; Npyorossiisk and the Black Sea. Reports from Moscow give some indications that Russian resistance in the Caucasus has become more effective in the last 24 hours. . The Moscow correspondent of the British United Press emphasises that the next ■ phase in the.-.. Caucasus battles —a mountain cainpaign—is yet in its early stages, and there is still ample time for the Russians to halt their long retreat. He and other correspondents look hopefully toward indications of stiffening Russian resistance in the Cherkesk area, where the Russian High Command is believed to be throwing in some hardy Caucasian reserves. . “Red Star,” commenting on the Caucasus fighting, says: “Temporary Russian misfortune has not weakened our faith, or our strength, or the possibility of defeating the enemy. A Russian communique. records a slight German advance on one Kletskaya sector. The Russians normeast of Kotelnikovo and south ol Voronezh improved their positions. Fierce battles were fought at Krasnodar, and heavy engagements took place in the Maikop and Cherkesk areas against German tanks and mechanised forces. “Red Star” says: The Russians on one Maikop sectaor withdrew into strategic hills. The Germans broke through a sector in the Cherkesk draw to new lines. The Russians region, forcing the Russians to withgained fresh ground in the Voronezh area, capturing considerable booty and prisoners. The Stockholm correspondent of “The Times” forecasts a German effort to cross the Caucasus ranges via the Mamison Pass, running southwest to Kutais, because this route leads past the world’s greatest single source of manganese, in the Chiatura district. Manganese is needed in Germany more than oil. Latest information shows that the German steel industry is almost desperate owing to lack of manganese. The Paris radio declared that Russian reserves were being brought up from the Far East and were massing between the Don and the Volga before Stalingrad. . An Ankara report claims that the Russians have 60 divisions, totalling 900,000 men. stationed in the Kuibishev area. This is called the “strategic army,” and is held in readiness to be used when a most urgent crisis develops.

STALINGRAD’S DEFENCE.

LONDON, August 13

Marshal Timoshenko’s forces m front of Stalingrad are still holdin" fast. At Kletskaya, north-west of Stalingrad, the Russians have beaten off further strong German attacks. The German thrust here has strengthened with the arrival of more reserves. Bitter fighting is reported in the Kotelnikov area, with a stubborn battle for one populated place which has changed hands many times. OTHER FRONTS.

LONDON, August 13.

The first Russian reference to any large-scale attacks north-west of Moscow is given in to-night s communique. The Russians beat back German attempts to recapture an important position. Bitter engagements are in progress behind the German lines on the Bryansk front, where the enemy ?s intensifying his efforts, using many tanks to liquidate a large partisan army which is lying uncomfortably close to a vital supply route Partisans are reported to have killed men and destroyed 19 trains in the last few dqys.

’enemy CLAIMS

(Rec. 11.50 a.m.) LONDON, Aug. 13. A German communique claims that the Germans, despite stubborn resistance, pushed back the Russians in the Caucasus area, captured Ehstra, and gained further ground between the Volga and the Don. , Vichy declared that the Germans have reached Krymskaya and are now contacting the Russian lines pt resistance before Novorossisk itself, ft was also stated that the Germans^ captured Batalpashinsk, after hard fighting, and that Axis forces have reached a point 28 miles from Grozny. "RUSSIAN COUNTER-ATTACK. RUGBY, August 13. The check to the German offensive north-west of Kotelnikovo has now developed into a counter-attack which, says the Soviet communique, forced the enemy into the defensive and improved our positions. Inside the Don bend, the Germans continue to attack with large forces, and advanced at one place, probably near Kalach. However, the Russians are mainly holding their own. German tanks and motorised infantry continue to advance more slowly among the north-western foothills m the Caucasus. ENEMY PROGRESS STOPPED. (Roc. 2.23 p.m.)~LONDON, Aug. 13. Von Bock’s thrust against . Stalingrad now in its fifth week, is being held on all fronts. Latest reports indicate that the great Kotelvinkovo battle, which was resumed . on a larger scale yesterday morning, alter the Germans and Rumanians had suffered a sharp reverse, is still moving slightly in the.Russians’ favour, while the Russians have succeeded m restoring the position at Kletskaya, after an important German advance in one sector. , „ Details are now available of the phase of the Kotelvinkovo battle which ended on the morning of August 12 .with the disorderly retreat of the German and Rumanian forces from positions gained at great cost in the preceding few days. After hurling great forces of tanks, lorries and infantry against the Russian defence lines, and losing many machines to the Russian tanks awaiting them in ambush, and being driven back by a decisive counter-blow, the German Command on Tuesday morning accumulated a force of 300 tanks. These bore down in two waves bn .the line of hills where the Russians had established their main. fire-points. The defenders held their fire until the shock troops could be seen clinging to the sides of the tanks. The Russian guns and mortars then opened up a murderous fire. . German tanks were seen to recoil, many burst into flames as thermite shells found their mark. Others broke formation, took cover in the small valleys, and then turned tail and retreated in confusion. The enemv adjacent to the sector then threw in infantry which edged the Russians off a number of heights. Before the enemv had time to consolidate, the Russians counter-attack-ed, regained the lost territory, and drove the entire force, except one

regiment, off the battlefield. This regiment engaged the Russians for the whole night, but by daybreak on Wednesday they had held thenoriginal lines intact. The Kotelnikovo battles are among the most sanguinary of the entire southern campaign, as the Axis forces attempt to drive along the railway towards Stalingrad? Ferocious street fighting is occurring in many townships, and fields are strewn with hundreds ol dead.

RUGBY. August 13.

A Soviet communique states: “During August 13, our troops engageci in fierce fighting in the areas of Kietskaya north east of Kotelnikovo, Krasnodar, Maikop, Cherkessk, and in the Mineralyse-Vody area (on the Ros-tov-Baku railway, 10 miles north of Pyatigorsk). There is no change m nthpr “Soviet warships sank an enemy submarine in the Gulf of Finland. In the Barents Sea, Soviet warships sank three transports, totalling 28,000 tons. c “In the Krasnodar area, a fierce enemy attack was repulseci. We fought a defensive battie in the Mineralnya-Vody area. In the Voionezh area, we wiped out a German regiment. On a sector ol the Biyansk front our troops broke the enemy resistance, forced a r * v er crossing, and occupied several inhabited localities. ICEBREAKER DELIVERED RUGBY, August 13. Captain S. Slocombe, of Toronto, has, according to an Ottawa message, reported back to the Federal Transport; Department,, after an adventuious trip. He delivered the Canadian Government icebreaker “Montcalm to the Soviet authorities. , Captain Slocombe said that his shin in convoy was attacked on three successive days by German bombers and torpedo-carrying planes.