RUSSIAN CITIES HOLD FIRM

Southland Times, Issue 24548, 24 September 1941, Page 5

RUSSIAN CITIES HOLD FIRM

Leningrad And Odessa LONDON, September 22. Leningrad and Odessa hold firm. At Smolensk the Red Army has enlarged its gains. The Germans, retreating in disorder, are being forced back into an ever-narrowing bottle neck. Ten divisions of the enemy, about 150,000 men, have been crippled in the fighting in this central sector of the front. In the south Marshal Budenny’s forces are being withdrawn to the Donetz river. A Soviet communique states: During last night our troops were engaged in fighting with the enemy along the entire front. It is confirmed authoritatively in London that particularly heavy fighting persists in the Kiev sector. Further south the Germans claim to have reached the Sea of Azov. If true, this would confirm the earlier German claim to have cut off the Crimea from the mainland. In the Smolensk and Leningrad sectors also a continuance of heavy fighting is reported. There is no indication whether the Germans, following the fall of Kiev, will continue to drive north or south, or both, but an objective indicated by their claim to have reached the Sea of Azov seems to be Rostov, a city of 500,000 inhabitants, on the Don. ADVANCE SLOWS DOWN The plans of Marshal Timoshenko, whose forces are engaged in the Smolensk sector, are keeping the enemy guessing. The reasons for the slowing down of the Russian advance towards Smolensk may be the withdrawal of troops to provide relief in other sectors or preparations for an intensive Russian counter-offensive.

A German communique states: “The German forces eastwards of Kiev are continuing the destruction of enemy troops which are dispersed into several groups concentrated in a very small area. Heavy casualties were inflicted during a desperate attempt to break out of the encirclement. A military Spokesman in Berlin said 30 Russian divisions had already been annihilated eastwards of Kiev.

Desperate fighting continues unremittingly along the whole front, but except at a few points the Germans are not advancing because the task of consolidating their gains claims their first attention.

The Times correspondent on the German frontier says a notable exception to the slowed-down advance is Mariupol, where the Germans report that they met no serious resistance, hence they expect to reach Rostov without difficulty. The Germans are proclaiming exultingly that this proves what has often been reported recently, namely, that the Russian resistance is weakening, indicating that the German High Command tactics—to exhaust the Russian reserves of highly-trained men and capture and destroy war material —is compelling the Russians to use half-trained troops for further operations, thereby lessening the danger to the Germans of the inherent inexhaustibility of Russian man-power. FIGHTING AT LENINGRAD Neither side has issued very informative reports of the fighting in the Leningrad area, which indicates that the Germans are having no further successes. Marshal Timoshenko’s efforts to relieve Leningrad by counterattacking further south has been successful in so far as General von Leeb has been forced hastily to send General von Bock reinforcements, thus reducing the pressure against the belt of Leningrad forts. This reduction of pressure has enabled Marshal Voroshilov’s besieged forces to drive out the German attackers from certain positions in the fort belt, but Marshal Voroshilov is not strong enough to break through. The Moscow radio said that after one Soviet counter-attack with bayonets the Germans fell back seven and a-half miles.

The Times correspondent on the German frontier says Marshal Budenny is following his customary tactics and making superhuman efforts to break through the German forces eastwards of Kiev with the greater part of his armies, while leaving enough to keep the Germans cleaning up for a considerable time, thereby increasing the main body’s chances of escape before the Germans strengthen the ring and make it unbreakable. General von Runstedt’s drive to the Sea of Azov has completely isolated the Crimea by land, but the Russians are stubbornly defending . the very powerful Crimean fortifications. Military commentators in Berlin do not believe, that the great part of Marshal Budenny’s forces are cut off in the Crimea, presuming that the main body has withdrawn for the defence of Kharkov and Rostov. DEFENCE OF ODESSA Odessa is still hurling back the attackers although, according to reports from Rome, the Rumanians after heavy fighting have now captured Ovidiopol and are advancing along the coast towards Odessa. Britons included in the party of non-Russian journalists taken to the front for the first time toured the territory in the Smolensk region recaptured by the Russians and

visited the battlefield of Elyna, where the Germans were driven 12 miles westward of the town and are still retreating after eight divisions had been badly mauled. They also saw the scene of the Yartsevo victory, where the Russians regained between six and 10 miles.