ALL-OUT RED PUSH

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20958, 4 December 1942, Page 3

ALL-OUT RED PUSH

ENCIRCLING RJEV GREAT BATTLES RAGE AXIS POSITIONS TAKEN LONDON, Dec. 2. The Russians are reported to have thrown in 3000 tanks in an all-out attempt to destroy the German armies encircled at Rjev. The Red Army is launching full-scale attacks against the city from the west and south. The Moscow radio declared that great hattles were raging west of Rjev, and added: “Our forces are gradually wearing down and exterminating the Germans.” In capturing one inhabited locality on the central front, the Russians killed 500 Germans of the crack Jaeger Rifle Battalion. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent reports that the German command on the central front has thrown in all its reserves and even railway guards in an effort to arrest the Russian advance. The Russians in the past 24 hours ousted the Germans from a series of important positions. The Russians in one sector threatened to crush the flank of a number of German units. The enemy rushed up reserves, unavailingly counter-attack-ed, and lost 1000 killed. The Red Army north-west of Stalingrad has resumed its advance after repelling seven fierce counterattacks from a German division supported by dozens of planes and about 100 tanks. The Germans suffered heavy losses. South-west of Stalingrad, the Russians continue to win successes. They are now only eight miles north of Kotelnikovo. The Red Star says that Stalingrad’s defenders are striking against the weakening German lines. After a twoday battle, they defeated an enemy division and recaptured Yuzhnaya Hill, dominating the south side of the city. The Russians then advanced 2J miles further from Stalingrad.