Dnieper Line Will Crack Soon Under Soviet Assault

Northern Advocate, 28 September 1943, Page 3

Dnieper Line Will Crack Soon Under Soviet Assault

( | < Rec. 1 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 27 I : | The Russians are continuing to j - j break German resistance in the Kuban j 'land have captured Temryuk. Red '(Army units are now lighting in the! i suburbs of Dnepropetrovsk, j These new successes are reported in 1 1 tonight’s Soviet communique, which | also states that 1100 inhabited places i were freed of the invader. During ! the day advances up to 10 miles were made in the Gomel and Mogilev cli■jrections. Chernobaisk was taken in ; the Kiev area. The Red Army also 1 1 captured Onezdovo railway station, j five miles west of Smolensk, j Reuter’s Moscow correspondent de-i ; dares that the Dnieper line is already; | cracking and likely to split wide open ; isoon. German losses of men are huge;' ; and thousands .of tons of valuable; ■! material now massed east of the river j iwill never make the return journey; i except in Russian hands, j A supplementary Russian communil que states that the Russians in tlie| i Mohilev sector have entered the 1 i White Russian Republic j Forced Back into River As the Russians on the east bank of! j the Dnieper surge forward more and I more the Germans are being forced! iinto the river. Many German bodies; | are floating down towards the battle-; ifields farther south. : Along the whole front from west of l ■j Smolensk to south of Dnepropetrovsk j |the Germans have reached positions! | where any - further retreat in one! (sector will menace the entire line, saysj. | Reuter’s Moscow correspondent. ! Between Kiev and Kremenchug the; Russians are doing their utmost to ex-j tend and reinforce small bridgeheads on the high w r est bank. A decisive! struggle is going on along the east bank on the outskirts of Kiev. The Russians are wearing down German pockets around Kremenchug by (flank attacks and frontal attacks. The j | Russian column advancing against), j Kremenchug from the north is less ! I than 20 miles distant. Fifty Russian (divisions are driving in three main) | sections against White Russia, im-j | perilling the heart of the new German! jline and the vital bases of Vitebsk.) Mogilev and Gomel, which are the! gates to Minsk.

’Crucial Battle For Crossings The crucial battle for the Dnieper crossings is in full swing, states Reuter’s Moscow correspondent. The Russians are making many simultaneous thrusts, some of which are undoubtedly feints designed to split up the Germans and diffuse their fire. Russian and German artillery are engaged in heavy duels across the river. The Red air force is hammering the German defences. There are live bridges between Kiev and Zaporozhe for railways and mam roads. It is not yet known whether the Germans have blown them up or whether they hope to retain protective bridgeheads on the east bank. German resistance is stiffening west of Gomel where the enemy is employing considerable tank and infantry reinforcements. The Russians are striving for maximum progress while the good weather lasts and before the rains convert. the marshes east of Chernigov and Unecha into impassable bogs. The German propoaganda machine has switched to the line that the great German retreat has ended except at a few points and claims that the withdrawals were timed to reach defensive points in the Dnieper before rain and mud bogs down heavy transport. The Germans admit that the Russians have crossed the Dnieper at a few points and claim that they have been liquidated, while the Germans are still holding on to bridgeheads east of the river. Oslo radio states that Berlin newspapers are assuring readers that the “present disengaging movement is only of a temporary nature. At the right time defensive tactics will be succeeded by a strong offensive in which German tanks and infantry will again storm forward on a wide front.” Sacrificial Battles Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says that sacrificial battles, fought out on Hitler’s orders, marked the last stages of the struggle for Smolensk. The German garrison the day before the final battle was reported to have received a message from Hitler: “Die, but do not abandon Smolensk." General lovlev, a native of Smolensk, was in the forefront of the advance. He spurred his men on when he saw the city : aflame. * When the battle-stained Red Army men swept into the city, the few inhabitants left of the 100,000 population: rushed to hug' the soldiers and offer them: humble gifts. ! "The Times," in a leader on Smolensk. ; says: "Our defeats were suffered before we were prepared. Germany's defeats are ; being inflicted against her after making: the greatest preparations ever witnessed . in warfare and after her strength had passed its peak. AJ) Germany set out to l gain has been lost. and lost forever.” The Russians have cleared practically i the whole east bank of the Dnieper, south j of Kiev, as far as Z.aporozhc, says the ■ British United Press, adding that the i Germans are desperately clinging to strong; pockets in the Kremenchug. and Dnepro-; petrovsk areas, where they are trying to' get out the remaining forces to transport! them across the Dnieper.