RUSSIANS PREPARE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25047, 10 November 1944, Page 5

RUSSIANS PREPARE

GREAT OFFENSIVE DESTROYING GERMAN ARMY ißecd. 12.15 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 9 Reports from Moscow correspondents emphasise that the Red Army .is taking advantage of the present lull along the front to prepare for the launching of its fourth great winter offensive. Pravda is making 110 secret of the .Russian intentions and says the Red Army and armies of the Allies are poised for the final assault against the life centres of Germany. The Red Army is going out 011 its final mission to exterminate the German Army in its own lair. it is believed in Moscow that General Tolbukhin's Third Army will shortly be thrown into the Hungarian campaign, states the Moscow correspondent of the Associated Press. The Russians' long communication lines, however, will continue to be an important factor. The ' most recent Soviet actions have been swift, hard-hitting offensives which smashed the German front line. -The Russians then had to halt to build up their supplies. The attacks over the Hungarian plain between the Tisa and the Danube have been this type of* operation. ... The German radio, describing the present lull 011 the Eastern Front as "the calm before the storm," says the Russians have more men in reserve behind the East Prussian front than they are putting into the field. The Germans say they expect the Russians to launch an offensive from the Baltic to Poland. RUMANIAN ARMISTICE (Recti. G.lO p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 9 The Soviet deputy-Foreign Minister, M. Vyshinsky, arrived in Bucharest yesterdav to check up 011 the way the Rumanian Government is carrying out the armistice agreement with the Allies, says the Moscow radio. The Soviet official news agency reported recently that the armistice commission had protested that Rumania was not carrying out properly some of the armistice clauses. RUSSIANS IN NORWAY (Reed. 0.30 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 9 The Berlin overseas radio, admitting that the Germans have evacuated Hainmerfest, 011 Alten tiord, Northern Norway, adds that defence measures are being taken against the Russians advancing into Norway. TITO VISITS MOSCOW (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 8 The leader of the Yugoslav Army of Liberation, Marshal Tito, is in Moscow for conversations with Marshal Stalin, according to information reaching London. Brigadier Maclean, M.P.. head of the British Mission to Yugoslavia, is visiting London.