FALL OF BUDAPEST NOW IMMINENT

Southland Times, Issue 25545, 13 December 1944, Page 5

FALL OF BUDAPEST NOW IMMINENT

SOVIET FORCES CLOSE IN FROM THREE SIDES (8.0.W.) RUGBY, December 12. The Russians are closing in from three sides on Budapest and the enemy is reported to be already preparing* to quit the Hungarian capital. There can be little doubt that the Russian intention is to capture this great city before resuming the general advance towards the Austro-Hungarian frontier. The Red Army is not making a frontal attack, but employing its tried method of engulfing a hostile stronghold by a general envelopment. Budapest has not been easy to attack, as the Germans’ left flank is now protected by the Danube. However, the German chances of holding the city are not bright. The Russians have already shown they can bridge the Danube in this region and a big Russian advance from the southwest would at once endanger the capital’s communications with Vienna. Indeed, since the Russian break-through from Hatvan to the Czechoslovak frontier in the Ipoly valley, the Germans’ chief preoccupation is probably to prevent an advance along the north side of the Danube towards Bratislava.