BRYANSK-KHARKOV FRONT

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 August 1943, Page 5

BRYANSK-KHARKOV FRONT

RUSSIANS SMASH AHEAD FOREST AREA CROSSED LONDON, August 17.. Russian columns smashing their wav relentlessly against Bryansk and Kharkov threaten to trap 50 German divisions east of the Dnieper in the Donetz Basin, the Kuban, and the Crimea, say dispatches from Allied correspondents. . One Russian column, carrying out a flanking movement against the Desna River, on which it is believed the Germans are likely to attempt a stand, has driven south from Spasdemensk and occupied Degirevo, which is 60 miles north-west ot Bryansk. The British United Press correspondent in Moscow says that progress by this column will threaten the whole Desna line, and should be watched very closely. .(The Desna rises near Elnya, flows through Bryansk, and joins the Dnieper near Kiev.) The latest Soviet communique says that the Russians on the Bryansk front advanced two and a-half to three and a-half miles and occupied more than 60 inhabited localities. In the Spasdemensk direction the Russians continued to advance. In the Kharkov direction the Russians repelled counter-attacks and fought offensive engagements on some sectors, considerably improving their positions. . , Reuter’s Moscow correspondent Says that three German panzer divisions which were battered in earlier fighting are now massed west of the Russians’ wedge on the Bryansk - Spasdemensk-Smolensk line. Another report says that the Russians in the Bryansk area have cut through the great forest barrier masking Bryansk in one of the most daring moves of the campaign. The forest stretches east from Bryansk and the Desna River for 20 miles. One Russian column, which is 15 miles from Bryansk, s driving along the railway through the middle of the forest, and three other columns are striking against Bryansk from the north, north-east, and southwest.

GERMAN LOSSES HEAVY.

RUGBY, August 18.

Moscow radio reports fierce German resistance in the Kharkov direction. The Germans are constantly bringing up big reserves and rushing them straight into battle. All enemy attempts to hold positions failed, and the enemy suffered heavy losses, particularly in tanks. German _ soldiers taken prisoners and letters found on dead officers and men show that German losses are on a scale unknown till now. “Red Star” writes: The Germans' are stopping tank attacks only when they have lost practically all the tanks used in the attack. In spite of all these attacks the Germans have not improved their positions, but, on the contrary, have lost important positions. In several days’ fierce fighting the left flank of the Soviet troops has been secured. „

“Pravda” reports that the Germans, having concentrated on a narrow sector of about nine miles, launched attacks by considerable forces. The Soviet troops wore down the enemy and repelled him. Y’esterday, west of Kharkov, 4000 troops were wiped out and 41 enemy tanks, mostly Tigers, were destroyed. Six German planes were shot down. West of Kharkov, the Germans are sparing neither life nor equipment in a desperate effort to regain the vital communications cut by the Soviet troops. Moscow radio also reports that Soviet .troops advancing in the Spasdemensk area are meeting fierce enemy .resistance. The Germans are clinging to every locality and every position,, and practically every height, attempting to stern the Soviet offensive. , ~ . The Soviet Press reports the destruction of another Soviet city, temporarily occupied by the German Fascist invaders. Gomel, which had a population of over 150,000 inhabitants before the war, has been reduced to less than 10.000, and the greater part of the buildings have been destroyed.

SALIENT LIQUIDATED. ~LONDON, Aug. 17. Describing the caoture of Zhizdra, the Moscow radio says the Russians broke into the town from the north and south. Street battles raged throughout the night. The approaches to the town are strewn with German corpses. The Russian advance continues, with, the Germans suffering heavy losses. They are burning villages, blowing up bridges, and destroying roads. “Red Star” says the capture ol Zhizdra liquidates the so-called German Zhizdra salient, which the enemy held and fortified for two years. It was covered by an exceptionally deep system of defences. The German News Agency reports that the Russians, flinging in 11 rifle divisions, made breaches in the German lines in the Izyum area. The News Agency claimed the Germans south-west of Byelgorod encircled and wiped out a large Russian force comprising two infantry divisions, two tank brigades, and one motorised brigade. SHOCK TROOPS DEFEATED. (Rec. 12.20 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 18. One hundred thousand German shock troops and motorised troops which in the last 24 hours had been transferred to the Kharkov area in the bid to recapture the vital Khar-kov-Poltava railway, were defeated in a huge battle several miles west of Kharkov. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says these crack reserves for two days repeatedly counter-at-tacked with strong tank and air support, but failed to dislodge the Red Army’s grip on the 10-mile stretch of the ‘Kharkov-Poltava railway. The enemy, to-day, weakened by very heavy losses, have been forced back beyond their original positions. The correspondent adds that around Kharkov itself, where the Russians for several days have been within four miles of the city, and where in some places the outskirts have changed hands several times, the German counter-attacks are beginning to show signs of exhaustion. Reuter continues that the effort to hold up the Russian offensive in the past four days has cost the enemy the equivalent of six divisions killed and wounded. The Germans, since the capture of Byelgorod 13 days ago. have lost 30.000 killed in the Kharkov area alone. The defence of Bryansk in the past fortnight has cost the Germans at least 30,000 more. The Russians, after many days’ fighting, gained an important forest and river area south-east of Kharkov, thereby materially strengthening their left flank. RUSSIAN CLAIMS. RUGBY, August 18. To-night’s Russian communique reports that the Soviet troops in the Kharkov area, in the face of fierce German counter-attacks, to-day pushed on forward some points four and a half to six and a half miles occupying more than 50 places, including a town 22 miles south-east of Kharkov on the main line connecting Kharkov with Izyum. In the Bryansk region the Red ‘ Army continued its offensive, advancing four to five miles in some

sectors and capturing nine large villages and 30 small ones. It captured two railway stations—one 22 miles north-east of Bryansk and one 20 miles east of Bryansk. In other sectors the Russians carried out fighting reconnaissances, and their were exchanges of artillery fire. WEEK’S GAINS RUGBY, August 18. Moscow radio, reviewing the operations of last week stated the Soviet troops developing the offensive‘in the Bryansk direction have in the period between August 11 and 17, cupied over 550 localities. It is further reported that on all fronts between August 10 and 16, 501 German tanks were destroyed or disabled by Soviet troops and 462 German planes shot down. “SICKLE CUTS ITS WAY.” LONDON, August 18. Detailing the fighting on the Bryansk front, Reuter’s correspondent says: The offensive is developing satisfactorily. The Russians are now attacking along the whole of a laUmile sickle-shaped front, stretching from Demensk in the north to Sevsk. which is the upper corner of the original Kursk salient, in the south. The Russians’ giant sickle is moving steadily forward, cutting its way through great tracts of forest. The sickle’s centre is only 12 miles from Bryansk. The Russians at both tips of the sickle are splitting up and developing secondary threats to the network of communications radiating from Bryansk. Russian forces in the noi th, wao are converging from Demensk and Zhizdra, are now threatening Lyuc.inovo, 45 miles north of Bryanox. Lyudinovo is the local railhead and junction of two highways running to Vyazma and Sukhimchi. The Russians in the south are developing a double threat to ihe Bry-ansk-Kharkov railway. One Red Army force is within five miles ol Nablya, at the junction of the Khar-kov-Konotop lines. A second force farther south threatens to cut the railway at a second point. Reuter’s correspondent concludes. The Red Army’s vast offensive has resolved itself into two huge battles —one for Kharkov and towards the Dnieper, and the other lor Bryansk and towards the Dnieper. The w.-ole operation involves nearly three-auar-ters of a million men on both sides. Moscow’s mood is resolutely confident, but it is recognised the issue is far from decided. To-night’s Soviet communique reports advances of four to five, mi.es on the Bryansk front, and four and a half to six and a half miles on the Kharkov front. Over 50 inhabited localities have been captured, including Smiyey.