GRIP TIGHTENING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25090, 4 December 1942, Page 3

GRIP TIGHTENING

_____————- RED ARMY’S OFFENSIVE VAST BATTLES RAGING (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph-Copyright) (Rec. 11.30 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 2. The threat of starvation to the 250,000 Germans enveloped in the Don-Volga area and the gravity of the position of the 100,000 German veterans at Rjev are stressed by correspondents to-night. Other significant news is that the Germans northwest and south-west of Stalingrad are unable to make a stand on the hills where the commanders aimed to halt the Russian advance, but are being pushed back.

The final destruction 'of General von Hoth’s army will not be tasy or rapid, but the tables have been turned on Stalingrad’s would-be conquerors so totally and unexpectedly that their available food is inadequate for winter-time. This is indicated by the employment of a large number of Junkers transport planes, 40 or 50 of which have several times been destroyed in 24 hours. Deliveries by plane may prolong the situation, but will not solve the feeding problem. Even if von Hoth realises that eventual starvation and reduction are inevitable, he is not likely to capitulate forthwith, because that would release the large Russian enveloping force for a disastrous ■ surge to the west •nd south-west.

On the central front the Russian offensive west of Rjev is gaining impetus, and fresh breaches have been made in the enemy lines, while south of Rjev the Russians have overrun another village. On the Rjev-Vyazma railway and elsewhere, the battles are increasing in violence as the Germans throw In reinforcements, but the Russians have seized highly important German defences. The Russians expect the Germans fiercely to defend Rjev, against which they are carrying out the war’s longest-drawn-out operation.

The Moscow radio says that the Germans are making determined tfforts to recapture the Rjev-Vyazma railway, but they cannot find a weakness in the Soviet positions. The Germans, in a neighbouring sector, after a three-days’ battle, were forced to retreat.

The German News Agency admits that the Russians have gained successes on the northern and central sectors, but claims that their losses are so heavy that they are unable to take advantage of the ground occupied.

The Stockholm correspondent of The Times says that the hardest battle is raging south of the Rjev-Velikie Luki railway. Hundreds of tanks are engaged. Two thousands Russian cavalrymen charged through a breach made by the tanks.

The Moscow correspondent of The Times, explaining the development of the Russian campaign, says that the Red Army during the summer accumulated huge forces of tanks and artillery in the surrounding forests and constructed a new network of communications in poorlyroaded districts. From time to time the Russians employed portion of their forces to drive the enemy from his defences, forcing him to restart fortifications and regroup the garrisons, thereby simultaneously securing springboards for the present offensive. The latest reports continually refer to the persistence of the German counter-attacks, which the Russians, who are bringing in reserves, repeatedly repel.

ASSAULT ON RJEV

THREE THOUSAND TANKS NAZI ARMIES ENCIRCLED LONDON. Dec. 2. The Russians are reported to have thrown in 3000 tanks in an all-out attempt to destroy the German armies encircled at Rjev. The Red Army is launching full-scale attacks against the city from the west and south. The Moscow radio declared that great battles are raging west of Rjev. It added: “ Our forces are gradually wearing down and exterminating the Germans.” In capturing one inhabited locality on the central front the Russians killed 500 Germans of the crack Jaeger Rifle Battalion. Reuters Moscow correspondent reports that the German command on the central front has thrown in all reserves, even railway guards, in an effort to arrest the Russian advance. The Russians in the past 24 hours have ousted the Germans from a series of important positions. The Russians on one sector threatened to crush the flank of a number of German units. The enemy rushed up reserves and counter-attacked without success. They lost 1000 killed. The Red Army north-west of Stalingrad resumed its advance after repelling seven fierce counter-attacks from a German division supported by dozens of planes and about 100 tanks. The Germans suffered heavy losses. South-west of Stalingrad the Russians continue to win successes. They are now only eight miles north of Kotelnikovo. The newspaper Red Star says Stalingrad’s defenders are striking against the weakening German lines after a two-day battle. They defeated an enemy division and captured Yuzhnaya Hill, dominating the south side of the city. The Russians then advanced two miles and a-half further from Stalingrad.