Russians in Kuban Push Huns Towards Sea

Manawatu Times, Volume 68, Issue 85, 10 April 1943, Page 5

Russians in Kuban Push Huns Towards Sea

Temporary Halt on Draetz Front (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) LONDON, April 8. The Russians in the Kuban are slowly and inexorably pushing the Germans towards the sea. Russian encirclement tactics threaten to isolate many German garrisons, because their strength is offset by the precariousness of their communications. In the waterlogged Kuban delta, the Germans are having to fight strenuously to protect the narrow strips above water. The Russians in the last few days have taken several villages connected with the mainland only by strips of land. On the Donets front, the Germans have temporarily halted the main attacks, hut both sides are probing for weak spots. The German command from Byelgorod to Isyum is regrouping its forces ready for now attacks against the Russian bridgeheads on the west bank of the Donets, says Reuter’s Moscow correspondent, hut the German chances of forcing the river, unless they launch a full-scalo offensive, are dwindling daily because the ice over tbe Donets is disappearing. Flooded rivers throughout Russia are making a big advance at present impossible. Soviet successes at Isyum will compel the Germans to consider the possibility of a Russian summer offensive, says the Columbia Broadcasting System's Moscow correspondent. The Germans yesterday, after launching attacks for five days, ceased to attempt to force a crossing at Isyum. The German losses included 2500 dead, 27 tanks and 20 guns. Isolated exchanges of artillery Are in the SCvsk area was the only activity on the central front. The Russians report that the Germans are extensively using a tank type oi mobile 75-mm. gun against the Russian artillery. The gun is mounted on a 22-ton truck with a speed of 30 miles an hour and a range of 90 miles. Berlin radio’s commentator, Captain Sertorius, says the length of the present lull on the eastern front cannot be predicted because the weather at present is subject to unusual fluctuations. However, the duration of the pause ib not only dependable on the weather, but on the length of time either opponent takes to completely regroup his forces.