German Progress Slackens As Foothills Reached

Northern Advocate, 13 August 1942, Page 3

German Progress Slackens As Foothills Reached

(1.30 p.m.) (8.0. W.) RUGBY, Aug. 12. German attacks on the Kletskaya and Kotelnikovo areas continue with unabated strength, but no further advance by the enemy in either of these important sectors is reported officially by the Soviet. However, “Red Star” says the Germans are throwing fresh troops into the struggle, and admits a Russian withdrawal at one place. In the Northern Caucasus the Russians are defending the line of the Kuban River around Krasnodar against superior enemy forces. A Moscow message also says they are battering at the German wedge which they have cut off at the base. The situation in the Maikop region is described as serious, as the Germans are using every effort to push on, probably with the intention of capturing Pyatigorsk, 50 miles east of Cherkesk. Fast Progress to East It is believed in London that German progress southwards is slackening as the Caucasus foothills are reached. Eastwards, where there is no such barrier, the Germans seem to be pushing on fast. It is not yet apparent whether the Soviet Command will be able, with the forces available, to make a stand covering the naval base of Novorossisk and the port of Tuapse, defence of which would extend their line by scores of miles. Further slight progress by the Russians south of Voronej is announced. Nazis Claim Million Captured A special German communique states: “The encirclement battle west of Kalach has ended. We took prisoner 35,000 and inflicted very heavy casualties. We have taken prisoner 57,000 in the Don bend since July 23. “The Don bend battles resulted in annihilation of the bulk of the 62nd Russian Army and major parts of the Ist Russian Tank Army. Since the beginning of the spring to the conclusion of the Don bend battle, 1.044,000 Russians have been captured. We have captured or destroyed 6271 tanks and 10,000 guns, and shot down 5600 planes and destroyed 432 on the ground.” The High Command communique reports that the Germans are advancing further into the Caucasus. The Rumanians took the town of Slavianskaya, 60 miles from Novorossisk and inland from Taman Peninsula. The communique claims that strong Russian attacks on the Voronej, Rjev, Ilmen and Volkhov fronts were driven off. May be Exaggerated There is no evidence to confirm the German Kalach claims or to suggest that fierce fighting has ceased on the right bank of the Don bend. A Tass front-line despatch says the Russians have improved their positions in the Kletskaya area. Tass adds that violent fighting broke out on another sector, south of Kletskaya, where the Russians threw back the Germans and captured an important height. A Stockholm message says every seventh obituary notice in German newspapers concerning deaths on the Russian front now record the second death in a family. German authorities are renewing efforts to restrain the insertion of obituaries, which are limited to 25 daily in each newspaper. Defence Of Stalingrad The Moscow correspondent of “The Times” says Timoshenko is using all his resources to defend Stalingrad and the Volga and so maintain the Soviet’s vital communications, but Von Bock is pouring in great forces of infantry and tanks. The battles for Kotelnikovo. also south of Kletskaya, are continuing with undiminished intensity. The Moscow correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” reports that the Germans at some points of the Kotelnikovo area forced their way into Russian positions by sheer weight of metal, but the battle goes on without decision. The Russians in some Kletskaya sectors pressed back the Germans. Fighting in both sectors is the most bitter of the whole campaign. The Stockholm correspondent of “The Times” says the spearhead of the German drive eastwards from Armavir is reported to have by-passed the Nivevody-Ceorgeivsk junction and turned south-east into the spa district, which is connected with the main Rostov-Baku railway by an electrified branch line. Grim Hour For Allies The Russians have lost one-third of their wheat and 60 per cent of their iron. Negley Farson, in the “Daily Mail, declares that the food position in Russia is already alarming. It is a grim hour for the Allies, with the Germans striking ever deeper into Russia’s vitals, with Rommel still threatening Egypt, with the Japs ready for a strike towards Siberia with civil disobedience in India—lndia which can be regarded as the focal point and a desired meeting point of both Germans and Japanese. It can be borne in mind, however, that there is evidence of great strain on the German home front and that in the battles now being fought the stakes at issue are almost as large for the Germans as for the Russians. German armament workers are being hard-driven while the Germans have cut down civilian standards in food and fuel rationing, also the hours of rest. Meanwhile, Anglo-American strength is growing in Britain. No Further Withdrawals An earlier Russian communique, recorded no further withdrawals. The Red Army is holding fierce attacks against Kletskaya, north-east of Kotelnikovo and in fighting defensively on the Caucasian sectors in the face of great pressure. A Moscow message says desperate air battles are raging over the Caucasian front. Junkers are rushing up troops and materials. The Russians are taking heavy toll of these transports and are also plastering the Germans with fire bombs which set the woods ablaze, trapping concentrations of men and material. One report says the whole Kuban Valley is ablaze. Berlin radio claims that the Germans have occupied Kislovodsk. . Makhachkala Keypoint The question arises whether the Germans will attempt to force the Caucasus Mountains to reach Baku or strike swiftly across the north Caucasus, where only foothills impede them. If they reached Makhachkala they would be able to establish' flying fields 'from which to bomb Caspian shipping. , The Germans may try to encircle Marshal Timoshenko by reaching and advancing 50 miles from the Don and to the Volga. Other keypoints on the Russian front are Voronej and Rjev. It is felt that if Russian counter-offensives developed satisfactorily in these areas, it would be a valuable aid. • : , - . ■ . . . . ■. _ ■ ■ ■ r ; ' .•' . U