MOSCOW BATTLE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24106, 27 October 1941, Page 7

MOSCOW BATTLE

FEROCIOUS ATTACKS RUSSIAN DEFENCE RESERVES .. BROUGHT UP (Reed. 7.20 p.m.) LONDON. Oct. 20 Neutral sources state that Hitler has massed the greatest forces ever known in the- battle for Moscow. The Russian commander-in-chief on this front. General Zukhoff, is said to be prepared to hold the capital for six months. The Germans are said to have brought down the ]loth Division from the Leningrad front to reinforce their troops in the Mojaisk area. Workers' battalions are reported to be lighting side by side with Russian regulars. The latest reports indicate that new Soviet reserves are now taking part in the battle of Moscow. A famous Soviet division which distinguished itself in the Finnish campaign has been for some days holding the neighbourhood of the highway where Napoleon fought. This division is battling for every yard of territory. Villages have changed hands several times. Threat ol Encirclement The Berlin radio admits that the Soviet is throwing in large forces in the Moscow region and says they are attempting to hold lip the Gorman advance by blocking the roads and destroying billeting facilities. German panzer forces are being hurled against Moscow from three directions and the capital is threatened with encirclement, says the Berlin correspondent of the Stockholm newspaper Tidningen. The correspondent adds that swarms of aeroplanes supporting the panzers are bombing the roads and railways east of Moscow to prevent the Russians' retreat. Moscow radio, quoting a report from the front, said the enemy's attacks had become ferocious, but the German forces flung against the Russian positions in the Mojaisk sector had been repulsed. The Moscow newspaper Pravda says Soviet units drove the Germans from an unnamed town on the central front, and were now completing mopping-up. Russian Counter-Attacks Russian forces during counter-attacks repulsed enemy attempts to cross the River Oka. near the Kaluga area. The had pressed Soviet units back at two points south of Maloyaroslavets, but the Russians were now improving their positions. Pravda says the Germans launched a. new offensive in the north-western direction, particularly in the direction of Lake Ilmen, simultaneously forcing an entry into Kalinin. Stubborn fighting has continued for several days. The Soviet news agency says the Germans lost nearly 4000 men at Kalinin yesterday. The battle for the city continues with unabated fury, and many pillages on its outskirts have changed hands several times. The Finnish radio stated that a thick pall of smoke is hanging over Leningrad. The city is burning, bombs ate falling and guns roaring. It is incredible that a city can hold out in these terrible conditions. BOMB KILLS RUMANIANS LONDON. Oct. 25 A Bucharest message says the explosion of a Russian delayed-action bomb in Odessa killed the Rumanian general, Ghigosianu, who was commander of the town, and 50 Rumanian officers. The bomb was hidden near the former Ogpu headquarters, and was exploded by the turning on of a tap in a bathroom,