THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Friday, January 5, 1945. THE GERMAN COUNTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25735, 5 January 1945, Page 2

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Friday, January 5, 1945. THE GERMAN COUNTER

Marshal von Rundstedt’s new blows against the American Seventh Army in the Saar Valley and the Lower Vosges were to be expected, and it may confidently be assumed that the Allied Command had made provision for them and will be in a position to deal with them. The strongest enemy resistance is also certain to be encountered on the northern flank of the endangered salient, where the American First Army is reported to have gone over to the offensive, for it is obvious that the German commander must avoid, at any cost, the risk of the salient being disastrously pinched, as was the German experience at Falaise. The New York Times correspondent, Mr Drew Middleton, suggested a day or two ago that the chances of retrieving the tactical reverses inflicted by von Rundstedt in the past two weeks, by containing and destroying the bulk of the German forces in the tip of the salient, appeared to be fading. That may well be so. It would certainly not be wise to count on any repetition of the successful Allied strategy that preceded the dash of British armour to the' Seine. For in the present instance the determined and well-organised German thrust towards the Meuse caught the Allies napping, in a sector less strongly held than probably any other in the long front opposing the enemy’s Rhine defences. And in spite of the limited recovery made by the Allies—a recovery contributed to in great part by the resolute American defence of Stavelot, Malmedy, and Bastogne—it cannot be said that von Rundstedt has lost the initiative. The assumption that he has no reserves left is certainly not warranted, in the light of his new bid to relieve pressure south of the vital salient. The enemy is reported, in particular, to be “punching and jabbing” all along the southern side of the salient to*prevent Allied regrouping in a strength sufficient to ensure the northward progress of the Allied counter. He is also reported to be withdrawing some of his forces, armour especially, from the western end of the salient. This may mean either that he is preparing to defend his gains in part, being content to consolidate most of the ground won in the flush of his counter-offensive, or that he is making ready for a powerful bid to smash the enclosing Allied flanks and broaden the whole of his front facing the Meuse. Whichever way the position is looked at, it is apparent that von Rundstedt has achieved a very considerable 'success, in a terrain he is better prepared to defend, so far as the resources of troops and armour made available to him are concerned, than seems to have been thought possible by the Allied Command. It may be asked what the enemy hopes to gain from the advantage that he is so skilfully exploiting, since the indications are that the Allies, compressing the Reich from three sides and building up in readiness for an allout spring offensive, will again eventually compel his withdrawal to the Rhine defence lines in the west and may be expected to penetrate his frontier positions at vulnerable points on the long east front. The answer is that he must still play for time, in the hope that war-weari-ness on the part of the Allies, and possibly disagreement between them, may yet concede him the advantages of a negotiated peace. The hope is a vain one, but that it,is entertained Goebbels has marty times admitted. Only last month he warned the German people that decisive changes would not come merely as the result of good luck, but must be bought by their “utmost exertions.” He was even more frank in November, when addressing members of the Berlin Volkssturm, “We are determined,” he said, “to ask a hard and high price from our enemies. Germany is not out, and we will fight until our damned enemies are prepared to conclude a decent peace.” That can be the only explanation of the hard effort to which the enlarged Wehrmacht is being committed. “We must understand,” Goebbels has told , the nation, “that we have got to go through with it—the leaders as well as the people.” What Germans—leaders and people—have yet to appreciate is that the Allies are also resolved to go through with it to the end, for Germany, of unconditional surrender.