GRAVE DANGER IN SOUTH

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24103, 23 October 1941, Page 9

GRAVE DANGER IN SOUTH

MOSCOW THRUST MAY BE EXHAUSTED By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (.jjeceiTfd October 22, 13.30 p.m.) LONDON, Oct.. 22 The savagery of the fighting for Moscow, the Donetz Basin and Rostov reached new heights as both sides threw in fresh forces. For the first day since the start of this offensive against Moscow no German gains could be reported beyond local successes which were counter-balanced by equally minor Russian advances. Both sides are paying a frightful price for these minor successes. The news from Russia this morning indicates that the German advance on the capital is being held or slowed down, but in the south in the Ukraine the Soviet lines have been broken in several places. Berlin correspondents of neutral newspapers report that the German High Command does not expect a quick victory on the Moscow front, but considers that the occupation of areas in the Ukraine are more important. The militarj r correspondent of the Times expresses the opinion that the Moscow offensive is exhausted and will not easily —probably not this year—recover its old power, although if the Russians do not recover in time from the exhaustion which must be present on their side it might regain force sufficient to again put Moscow in the deadly danger in which it stood two or three days ago. The Times' correspondent on the German frontier says the Russians between Tula and Orel, south of Moscow, are heroically stemming the onslaught of Guderian's panzer divisions, and the Germans are consequently attempting to by-pass Tula to attack Moscow from the east, but so far without success. The arrival of British and American armoured vehicles, munitions and spare parts has greatly heartened Moscow's defenders. The latest news confirms that the greatest danger at present is in the south, where the Germans are virtually at the gates of Rostov and are making ferocious onslaughts on the fringes of the Donetz Basin. If Rostov is captured by the Germans they will cut off Russia's shortest connection with Iran, and make it necessary for all traffic from the Caucasus to pass by the Caspian Sea to Astrakhan and thence by rail and by the Rivers Volga and Don. Moreover, the capture of Rostov would virtually exclude Russia from the Black Sea. because Rostov is the terminus of the canals joining the River Don and the Sea of Azov with the Caspian. The Moscow newspaper Pravda admits that the Russians at Taganrog retired under pressure of numerically superior forces to previously-prepared lines. The Russians do not confirm the fall of the town of Stalin, which is in the eastern Ukraine about 90 miles north-east of Rostov and near the end of the oil pipe line from the Caucasus. The Russians say they are offering stubborn resistance there.