Moscow Front

Southland Times, Issue 24602, 26 November 1941, Page 4

Moscow Front

THERE IS SNOW in Moscow, but the German offensive continues to move relentlessly forward. The High Command is apparently making a last desperate effort to capture the city while it is still possible to employ masses of troops. Although fighting will not cease in the depth of winter, it will have to be on a less massive scale, and winter quarters will have to be obtained if the Nazis are to maintain even a restricted activity. The operations outside Moscow are spread along defence lines which extend nearly 200 miles from Kalinin in the north to Tula in the south. At least five German columns are probing and hammering at the towns and villages on this perimeter. Some of the strongholds have been taken and lost and taken again. According to recent messages there has been a powerful tank drive at Mojaisk, which is dangerously near the centre of the line. But the pressure is being increased on the flanks as well as at the centre, and the Russians are clearly having difficulty in holding their ground. The situation is described as “serious,” a word which has ceased to have any real significance in the communiques from Moscow. Nevertheless it will be hard to read reports from the eastern front without anxiety until the results of the battle are known. If the Red Army can check the Germans during the next few days the offensive will subside, and it is doubtful if a further mass assault could be made before the spring. Hitler has probably been demanding the capture of Moscow, not merely as a military necessity, but also for political and psychological reasons. The occupation of the capital would provide a spectacular climax to the summer and autumn campaigns. It would lighten the darkness of winter inside Germany, and it would allow the Nazis to bring European Russia more effectively into the framework of their new order. Finally, it would make a noise in the world loud enough to minimize the importance of the British offensive in Libya. Admittedly, the latest attack on Moscow must have been organized long before the armoured

divisions clashed in the Western Desert. But the news from Africa will certainly strengthen Hitler’s determination to obtain a climax on the main battle front.