At the Gates of Leningrad

Southland Times, Issue 24536, 10 September 1941, Page 4

At the Gates of Leningrad

E EPORTS from Leningrad make a picture of a city defended by troops and citizens in whom the spirit of defiance is mounting towards a kind of exaltation. In spite of the calmness which has impressed newspaper correspondents in Moscow, the Russians are an intensely emotional people. But their sense of drama and incurable talkativeness are not a mere effervescence, allowing high resolves to evaporate before they can be translated into action. The Russians have shown that they can fight. Moreover, they are fighting in a defensive warfare quite different from the dynamic, aggressive strategy for which their armies have been trained. And in all their operations they have been able to retain cohesive fronts —the most encouraging feature of the whole campaign. For the Germans themselves have admitted that Russia cannot be defeated until the Red Army is encircled, divided and utterly destroyed. The position at Leningrad is interesting, and promises to be more so in the near future. But it cannot be properly grasped without some understanding of the physical and military background. Leningrad stands at the head of the Gulf of Finland and at the western base of the Karelian Isthmus. About 25 miles east of the city is the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, where the town of Schusselburg (which the Germans claim to have captured) stands on the bank of the river Neva. According to a statement made in London the sea plains “contain deep bogs and marshes and forests which are almost impenetrable.” But other observers believe that the marshes are too far away to be of much use. Flat open country lies on three sides of the city, and it is across this terrain, from the south, the south-west and more recently from the east, that the Germans are pushing their advanced columns.

They claim to have broken the Russian resistance to the south and south-west, presumably in an offensive which followed heavy fighting near Pskov. If their reports are correct they have drawn a steel ring around the main approaches to Leningrad, while the northern armies of the Finns are at Svir, on the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga. The Russians deny that the encirclement is complete, and newspaper correspondents repeat this claim, adding that although the battle is more than a fortnight old “the enemy is nowhere near the main defences.” The term “Main defences” can be misleading. Leningrad has an extensive defence perimeter; but the outer system is designed for defence in depth, and is greatly strengthened by a radiating network of eight main railway

lines. This means that the defence should be more effective as the enemy draws nearer to the city. There are no key fortifications upon which the fate of Leningrad must depend: the city itself is a single great fortress, and the Russians have shown that they are determined to fight for it, if necessary in the streets and houses. Even if it is encircled it should be able to stand a long siege, especially while the Red Air Force can meet the Luftwaffe on more or less equal terms. The battle for the approaches to Leningrad appears to have been won by the Germans; but the battle for the city itself is only just beginning. It promises to be one of the hardest and most spectacular battles of the war.