NEISSE LINE AFLAME

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 73, 23 February 1945, Page 5

NEISSE LINE AFLAME

HEAVY RUSSIAN ATTACK FIERCE FIGHT" FOR GUBEN (N.Z. Press Association. —Copyright.) (Rec. 11.15 a.m.) LONDON, l*'eb. 22. A hotly contested fast-moving battle is today going on within a few miles of the Spree-Oder canal south-east of Berlin as Russian mobile units strike to force the * Neisse River, says Reuter’s Moscow correspondent.

The Russians are attacking on the stretch between Guben and the Oder south-east of Furstenburg where the canal joins the river. The Neisse line is aflame along almost the whole of the 60-mile stretch from Guben to Gorlitz.

Guben and Gorlitz are both under heavy pressure. Fierce hand-to-hand clashes are reported from the Guben area with Russian tanks leading sallies to the eastern outskirts of the town. Colder weather and brighter skies over a large part of Central Europe have brought better conditions for the Red Army and long lines of trucks which in recent weeks fought in snow, slush and mud are now moving on over firmer roads. The better ground conditions should enable Marshal Zhukov to finish his consolidation.

The German News Agency reports that the Russian armies east of Berlin are poised for the attack. Marshal Zhukov in the centre is trying to clear the field for an all-out effort by extending his bridgeheads across the Oder, particularly at Kienitz where he has secured a fairly wide though rather shallow footing. The other Russian bridgeheads between Furstenburg and Kustrin are still too small to take the masses of material required for an all-out attack.

The Germans are maintaining heavy counter-attacks south-east of Stettin in an attempt to hold this flank back from tho Baltic. Marshal Rokossovsky is maintaining the speed of his push against Danzig in clear sunny weather which has brought out swarms of Stormoviks and bombers. His advance promises to bring him into the southwestern corner of Danzig territory, leaving Gdynia and Da zig city ready to fall into the new pocket. Tho main German pocket in East Prussia south-west' of Koenigsberg is now reduced to such an extent that Russian heavy guns on the flanks are able to shoot right across it from end to end. The Russian artillery and air force are pounding the trapped enemy from three sides and the enemy’s central stronghold at Zinten is under fire.