PINCERS CLOSER

Grey River Argus, 25 November 1942, Page 5

PINCERS CLOSER

ROUND GERMANS ON STALINGRAD FRONT Huge Force in Danger [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] LONDON. Nov. 23. The latest Soviet communique stated: “Russians advanced initially north and south of Stalingrad. They broke the enemy’s defences for a stretch of 20 miles in the Serafimovich area and also smashed through south of Stalingrad on a 15-mile line-. South of Stalingrad the advance continues, with destruction of enemy manpower and material. The Russians have killed 600 more enemy troops and taken 40 guns. During the night our troops in the Stalingrad area continued to conduct offensive battles in the same directions as before. Two German shock battalions were wiped out and much booty captured during the enemy’s desperate attempt to hold up the Soviet advance from the north-west of Stalingrad. In Stalingrad itself, the enemy launched an ineffective attack in the factory area and in another sector had two costly failures in counter-attacks.”

A Moscow message says a Russian break-through north-west of Stalingrad began with short but intense artillery" preparation. Soviet gunners had such exact data about most enemy batteries that the first defence lines were silenced within an hour. This success was followed up by tanks and infantry. The attack culminated in bitter hand to hand fighting. The Germans were scattered. Russians then thrust through the defences in depth. They steadily maintained progress against the dense system of minefields, emplacements and fierce anti-tank fire, covering a wide area. t The Russian thrust from: the lower Volga to Kalach is seen in London as having turned the tables on the Germans. If Kalach remains in Russian hands, and the thrust from the north inside the Don bend continues, the problem of the Germans in the corridor between the Volga and the Don elbow will no longer be how to got into Stalingrad, but how to get out. German losses in men and material are regarded as a particularly heavy blow at this time of the year, when winter is making problems of communications more difficult. North-west of Stalingrad Russians nave encountered Rumanian troops on the Serafimovich-Kletskaya front, but continued to advance in a southwesterly direction'. It is the, development of attack from the south of Stalingrad which seems to have achieved most remarkable results. This advance apparently not only cut the Stalingrad-Krasnodar railway, linking up with Rostov, but also the Germans’ main supply' line—the railway from Kharkov to Stalingrad. Kalach, which the Russians* captured, is on a branch line from the Stalingrad-Kharkov railway and about due west of Stalingrad. The Russians have developed effective control of Volga communications despite the arrival of ice. The Stalingrad offensive has been well timed, in support of the recent victory in the Central Caucasus. London observers point out that during the last month, in addition to the rout of two armoured divisions of the Afrika Korps in Egypt, two armoured German divisions have been badly mauled in the Caucasus, and three more, in the Stalingrad area. The Axis divisions remaining before Stalingrad are threatened with encirclement as a result of the cutting off "at Abaganerovo and Krivomusginskaya of two vital supply railways feeding the. German spearhead. . r.. , j> » The London “Evening Standards military writer says: Russian advances’have placed very large German forces in Stalingrad area in the gravest peril. There are in this aiea 13 German infantry divisions and three panzer and two motorised diyisians with probably seven to eight unspecified divisions, all of which have suffered more or less serious losses. In addition, in the Caucasus sector, the Thirteenth and Twentythird Panzer Divisions have been severeiy ma.ulocL Following closely on the defeat of the German offensive in the Central Caucasus, the Russian victory on the flanks of the Stalingiad front is conclusive evidence that, respite heavy losses the Soviet forces suffered during the- summer and autumn, the Red Army is determined to stage a vigorous winter offensive. •The "Moscow correspondent of “The Times” says: The- Red Army s current operations which have already achieved tactical successes of the first magnitude are clearly part of shrewd strategic plans to cut off the enemy’s advanced forces from their bases. This plan is being carried out with the painstaking efiiciency which characterises the Red Army. The Germans in Stalingrad area, like in the Central Caucasus where Russians report further improvement, are reaping the- consequences of their failure to achieve the main object of their offensive, namely the destruction of the Red Army, which has eluded the Germans, despite their great terri? torial gains. GERMAN WITHDRAWAL

LONDON, Nov. 23. The London - “Evening Standard” military writer said: It now seems that the Germans most recent attacks against Salingrad were design-j ed to cover a general withdrawal to the Don. This would be a logical | move fo’- the Germans when it became clear that Stalingrad could not be taken. Mr Morley Richards, a Daily Express” war writer, says Marshal Timoshenko knew that the Germans planned to withdraw from the approaches to Stalingrad and he “beat them to the draw.” He was not fooled by the Germans two minor offensives against the city. “It looks like a repetition of Hitler’s blunder on the Moscow front last year, when he left his withdrawal too late. It is a striking commentary on Hitler’s lack of soldierly skill.” The Moscow correspondent ot tne Columbia Broadcasting System says that the Germans wedged in at Stalingrad could get out if they gave up the attempt to take the city and retreated to the open country between the railways, but they are trying to hold on, and the Russian columns are closing in. . . A Zurich message says it is officially admitted in Berlin that the Russians have penetrated the German lines north and south of Stalingrad. A German communique says that the Germans in the region of the great Don elbow, and south of Stalingrad continued strong ‘defensive fighting.

Now Nearly Pocketed GERMANS AT STALINGRAD. RELIEF IMPERATIVE. (Rec. 7.50.)i LONDON, Nov. 23. “The Times’s” Moscow correspondent says: The tables have been

turned at Stalingrad, the Germans and not the Russians being now menaced with destruction unless Jihev are relieved. The position of the Germans is increasingly precarious. They are now forced to fight from a line that is parallel with their communications. 1 Their line of communication is the Moscow-Borisoglyebsk-Stalingrad railway. Russian forces are at right angles to the offensiveness of the Germans. The enemy’s offensivsncss has blunted after his long battering against Stalingrad. Heavy Russian tanks are playing a great part in a forward drive at one point. They simply rolled over German positions, crushing more than a hundred men under caterpillars.

The correspondent also says: “The Berlin spokesman probably is right when \he expresses the opinion that. Russian blows in the Stalingrad area are merely preliminaries to a largescale spreading line —namely that of the Kuibyshev - Saratov - Stalingrad route. Since Saturday the Germans’ communications with their rear inside of the Don Bend have been confined! to a passage which is now less than forty miles wide at the most, and is without a railway. Advanced German! forces are in a very precarious position. “Both sides have masses of men and of material, but the Russians have an advantage in the form of an excellent offensive spirit, whereas tho edge of German offensive against the Russians is blunted. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent re ports: The Red Army’s advance has broken a triple line of fortifications and field works, bristling with artillery and machine-guns, which the Germans had established on their long line of communications.

Russian Attempt TO ENCIRCLE OVER 300,000 ENEMY. GERMANS’ NEW ATTACKS IN STALINGRAD. (Rec. 11.55) LONDON, Nov. 23 Despatches from Moscow agree that there are over twenty German divisions within an area which Russian armies north and south of Salingfad are at present attempting to encircle.

General von Hoth is now' reported to be trying to extricate his troops under the cover of fresh attacks against Stalingrad city itself. General von Hoth has already ordered a-retreat through the bottleneck against which Russian forces are smashing. The Russians are bringing up long-range guns on both sides to aim shell for the whole depth of General von Hoth’s only exit It would be most difficult to trap from three to four hundred thousand men in an pincers movement, however shaken or mutilated they may be, but the Russians are attempting it.

RUSSIAN GAINS ADMITTED BY GERMANS. (Rec. 11.55) LONDON, Nov. 23. Berlin radio admits that the Russians by massing rapid mobile units, achieved a major gain in grounds at several points southward of Stalingrad. Fighting in Stalingrad RUSSIAN GAINS. DESPITE ENEMY REINFORCEMENTS. HEAVY GERMAN LOSSES REPORTED. (Rec. 11.55.) LONDON. Nov. 24. The latest Russian communique states: The Russians have been fighting in Stalingrad’s factory area to-day. They slowly forged ahead. The enemy lost a thousand killed “In southern Stalingrad Russian forces overcame the enemy, and occupied a number of fortifications. “The enemy has brought up reinforcements north-west of Stalingrad, but has failed to halt our advance. In one sector alone! we wiped out more than four thousand Axis troops. On another sector of the l same front, Russians surrounded an enemy force, and took two thousand prisoners, including the staff of an enemy infantry division. “Southwards of Stalingrad, our troops continued to advance, dislodging enemy forces from a number of localities. The enemy left more than three thousand dead on the battlefield in one sector alone. u

Russians Closing Gap

ENEMY REGROUPS FOR RETREAT. (Reci 1.12.) LONDON, Nov. 24.. General Von Hoth has hastily been regrouping his battered forces' in an attempt to fight their way from Stalingrad. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent however, says: “The Germans appear to be hopelesslv tranped.’’ The United States National Broadcasting Corporation’s Moscow correspondent says: “The word demoralisation might be applied without exaggeration to the Germans in the Stalingrad area. The Russian forces, under Generals Romanenko and Batov. are steadily closing the gap of forty miles. The gap comprises an open steppe between the Don and the Volga Rivers. Advancing Red armies are continually meeting half-finished and hastily-constructed enemy fortifications.” ENEMY SUPPLIES CAPTURED. (Rec. 1.13.) LONDON, Nov. 24. Moscow radio stated: Russian troops north-westward of Stalingrad captured a huge enemy supply column.

RUSSIANS, ELATED. (Rec. 9.10.) LONDON ,Nov. 23 i Moscow radio refers to the Russian advance, saying: “The whole of Russia is rejoicing.” Caucasus Fronts GERMAN ATTACKS REPULSED 'Rec. 11.55) LONDON, Nov. 23. A Soviet communique on Monday stated: Russian forces south-west of Nalchik have repelled enemy coup-ler-attacks. They wiped out two infantry companies. In local fighting north-east of Tuapse we destroyed a number o f enemy blockhouses and pillboxes. W fi killed over a hundred Germans. OPERATION OF NORTH MOSCOW. LONDON, Nov. 23 A Soviet communique on Monday stated: Our patrols on Kalinin from killed 127 Germans in the last two days. ■