STEADY ADVANCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24537, 20 March 1943, Page 7

STEADY ADVANCE

DRIVES IN NORTH RED ARMY'S GRIM TASK LONDON, March in The Russians on the central front are still making steady progress in their drive toward Smolensk. They ) have pushed further along the i Viazma-Smolensk railway and have 5 taken a town 40 miles west of i Viazma. Often they have to wade ■ through snowdrifts up to their 5 waists and cross treacherous marsh- > land. The force driving from Bieloi has l made spectacular progress. Tlva two 5 other columns are closing in from the 5 north and east against the important junction of Durovo, on the main ) Viazma-,Smolensk railway. One is advancing down the branch line from 1 Nikitinka and is 20 miles from Durovo, i while the other is moving along the ! main railway west of Viazma, and has , reached a point 10 miles from Durovo. . Before these columns lies the vast belt of fortifications protecting Smolensk, ( also a stretch of between 50 and 80 , miles of forest. 5 Flooded Marshland i South of Bieloi Soviet troops ad- . vanced through the dense woods. Rafts, | on which were crews of tommy-gunners and machine-gunners, splashed forward over flooded bogs and swollen brooks and over the washed-out trails of the retreating Germans. The thaw has not dampened the offensive spirit of the Soviet troops and in spite of the ruined roads artillerymen manage to keep their guns moving, even if thev have to carry them. South-west' of Viazma Soviet forces have entered Vskhod.v, which is the eleventh district centre captured in the Smolensk region since the beginning of the offensive. Vskhody is nine miles west of the Viazma-Briansk railway and ■lO miles east-north-east of Yolnia. The Germans, although retreating, are putting up stiff resistance. They are destroying houses and executing peasants or driving them to the rear. The remains of a huge barn were discovered in one village in which were the charred bodies of 250 men and 500 women, many of whom were identified as inhabitants of neighbouring hamlets. Lake Ilmen Offensive Marshal Tiinoshenko's battle in the Lake llmen area is raging as violently as ever, the Tass news agency reports. The Russians, developing their ofi'en- ' sive south of Lake llmen, have reached ! the Staraya Russa-Ramashevo highway. The news agency adds that the Red Army continues to overwhelm tho stubborn German resistance and is advancing and annihilating the enemy in tho forests. The Berlin radio said that the Russians were threatening the encirclement of Staraya Russa after sending strong forces supported by tanks across Lake ilmen. A Berlin spokesman said the Russians, after a furious artillery barrage, launched eight successive waves of armour and infantry toward Staraya Russa. The spokesman added the usual claim that the Russians failed to break the main battle lino. 1 , ] | < <