NO MAJOR GAIN

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20630, 11 August 1941, Page 7

NO MAJOR GAIN

NAZIS IN RUSSIA DRIVE SLOWED RED ARMY’S TACTICS NEW BLITZ IN UKRAINE? (Elec. Tel Copyright—United Press ABsn.) (Reed. Aug. 9, 2.30 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 8. The most lethal war in history has resulted so far, according to The Times’ correspondent on the German frontier, in the Germans occupying only one-tenth of European Russia, including a large amount of the territory the Soviet had acquired since 1939. The German gains are only onefortieth of Greater Russia and do not include a single main objective. Most of what the Germans hold, the Russians have relinquished with the object of withdrawing to positions more favourable for the defence of the Soviet as a whole. The Russians have forced upon the Germans almost insoluble supply and transport problems. The Russians strategy fundamentally is to enforce a deadlock similar to the last war. A long-drawn winter campaign must be fatal to Germany The Germans .are quite aware of the deadliness of Russian tactics. Hence they aim at preventing the struggle from congealing. Great Battles Forecast The Wilhelmstrasse therefore is predicting that battles are about to begin far more immense and fiercer than anything so far. The success of a German attempt to reach Odessa might mean enormous Russian losses. The improving weather at present favours a German advance, but the resistance of Marshal Budenny, commander on the Ukraine front, everywhere is formidable. The Wilhelmstrasse appears to be very confident that this movement will show the Ger- " man Army has not lost its ability rapidly to overrun vast areas. The Stockholm correspondent of the Daily Telegraph makes the definite assertion that the third German offensive on the Russian front has been slowed down to a pace which must be causing the German High Command disappointment and anxiety. He says that the Germans still hold the initiative, but there is no diminution in the Russian confidence that this latest Gkrman thrust will be as effectively blunted as were the previous ones. Tank ' Division’s Fate Russian dispatches from the front claim that the 20th German tank division was destroyed in an unnamed sector. Only 40 tanks escaped from the battle, which lasted for several • days and resulted from a Russian counter-attack. A Berlin communique claims the destruction of an enemy force southeast of the Umn and the capture of over 30,000 prisoners.