SOVIET DRIVE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24833, 5 February 1942, Page 5

SOVIET DRIVE

INITIATIVE HELD MOVE TOWARDS LENINGRAD NAZIS BRING UP RESERVES DESPERATE COUNTER-ATTACKS (Rec. 11.30 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 4. * The latest Russian communique briefly mentions that operations are continuing, but no place names are mentioned. The Moscow radio announced to- . day that in the north units of the Red Army are hurrying to the relief of Leningrad. On Tuesday 400 German officers and men were killed in one sector of this front. Two German divisions have been so severely mauled that the 225th Infantry Division, in addition to the other divisions mentioned in the last few days, Vas rushed from France to fill the gap. In the central sector the Russians are more ,than half-way to Smolensk from Moscow. Reports of the fighting mention the towns of Velikie Luki and Viazma, either of which may be the important town, identified as "V." which the Red Army is reported to have captured. In the Ukraine. Marshal Timoshenko's advance continues, and his columns are reported to be within 20 miles of Dnepropetrovsk. Unending Jabs ' . Earlier despatches indicate that the fighting in Russia appears to have become a vast series of interlocking thrusts, but there are no signs of a general westward movement. The Germans are desperately counter-at-tacking at various points in an attempt to stave off the fierce unending Russian jabs. i; The Russian tactics are to maintain the initiative by thrusting forward with hard-hitting cavalry units, which by-pass stronger points and demoralise German attempts to form a line. Heavier artillery and tanks than come up and batter down the isolated and semi-isolated stronger points. The Russians on the Valdai Hills front claim a further advance of .12 miles. The German retreat here is described at a headlong flight. Russian ski patrols in this region are rounding up many groups., of exhausted Germans behind the Russian front line. Important Gain An important new advance by the Soviet troops in the Ukraine is indicated in a Moscow wireless report of the recapture of Gavrilovko, Which was officially announced yesterday. Thii village is some 80 miles south-south--1 west of Kharkov, which brings the Russians to, within 40 miles of the key communication and industrial centre of Dnepropetrovsk. , . ; Large concentrations of. well-trained, fully-equipped Russian reserves ars moving up to the front line in the Smolensk area for the next phase of .the coming major offensive, reports the Moscow radio. Ski troops and light mobile units are constantly harassing the German positions from the rear. The Russians on the Moscow front are advancing day and night, and have liberated scores of inhabited places and captured large quantities of material.

SPRING CAMPAIGN GERMAN PLANNING SOVIET'S NEED IFOR TANKS (Rec: 7 p.m.) RUGBY, Feb. 3. / "There are ample signs that the German leaders are planning with all their formidable 'efficiency if or the spring campaign." says The-Times. "In March the height of the winter will already be past. Great thaws in April may make the movement of the front in either direction all but impossible, and in May the conflict will probably be resumed in conditions similar to those under which the first great German eruption was achieved, i "Production for the spring offensive is being screwed to its utmost output by the Germans, and the ranks of civil employment are being combed yet more ruthlessly for reserves of fighting man-power. No Sign of Gentian Rout "After pressing back the Germans along the w>jole front during the past two months, the Russian forces are now entering territory which the enemy has had time to organise and in which his men have been able to construct for themselves some protection against the weather. The ground that the Soviet troops are placing immediately behind their advancing lines has Bfeen systematically ravaged by each side in turn. "As yet there is no sign of a German rout. The enemy's withdrawal, however, is certainly not according to plan. The Russians have had to fight stubborn actions for every important position they have recovered. The most important are those which the enemy would have used as advance bases for his spring offensive." The most dangerous sector, The Times considered, was likely to prove to be in the south,. It was here the Germans had most to hope for. It was here that the spring would first appear, and it was here that the road to the oil of the Caucasus lay. Marshal Timoshenko's drive into the Donetz Basin was thus particularly significant. Britain's Part Concluding, The Times says: "Our own part of these movements is, not to sit back and applaud, for although the Russian industry is moving back behind the armies into reconquered territory and production is steadily improving, the Soviet Government still emphasises the urgency of maintaining the supply of British tanks. No effort will be spared to ensure it shall riot fail." HITLER IN COMMAND NO APPARENT ADVANTAGE <Rec. 7.30 p.m.) RUGBY, Feb. 3." The fact that it is not six weeks since Hitler assumed command of his armies on the Eastern Front is noted by The Times this morning. The paper says: "Nothing has yet happened to show the advantage of intuitive strategy over the more humdrum methods of the German General Staff. The Soviet forces are still pressing the invaders backwards at ibout the same steady pace as before the revolution in the German command."