Plunging Deeper into Poland

Timaru Herald, Volume CLV, Issue 22789, 13 January 1944, Page 4

Plunging Deeper into Poland

General Vatutin’s Army

Hint of Enemy Withdrawal

By Telegraph—Njw Zealand Press Association—Copyright (Received 1.14 a.m.) LONDON, January 12.

I ATEST FRONT-LINE dispatches indicate that German resistance is stiffening against the Red Army’s drives in Southern Russia, says Reuter’s Moscow correspondent. The Germans, in an attempt to protect the Odessa-Lwow railway, managed to bring up reinforcements to the northern bank of the River Bug. Big tank and infantry battles are being fought out there. The Russians are approaching Ulanov, only 12 miles from the Bug on the main road south of Berdichev.

The Germans on the western edge of the Kiev salient failed to make a stand on the intermediate defence lines west of Novograd Volinsk, and Russian tank forces are driving them back west. The direction of this new Russian thrust is towards the old Polish frontier at a point about 60 miles south of the original penetration to Sarny.

The Moscow correspondent of the British United Press says the German counter-attacks in the Sarny, Novograd Volinsk and Berdichev areas are increasing in size and frequency, but so far all have been beaten back and fresh Red Army masses continue relentlessly to advance.

Large-scale German withdrawals on the eastern front were foreshadowed by General Dietmar last night in the gloomiest broadcast he has yet made. “The volume of power the Russians are hurling into their attacks is rising steadily. It drowns the opponent, especially when his numerical strength is markedly inferior. This need not prevent the German defence from proving successful, but grave and most painful decisions have to be taken in which geographical considerations are of but secondary importance. Above all, the German armies must fight for time because we have to consider the situation on other fronts as well.”

Tlie Vichy radio reports that the Russians have launched a great new offensive between Krivoi Rog and Zaporozhe. The Red Army carried a new landing north-west of Kerch. The Russians are using seven divisions in a break through attempt south-west of Dnepropetrovsk, according to the German Overseas News Agency. The fighting here has created another point of gravity on the eastern front. An extraordinarily heavy artillery barrage, lasting several hours, preceded the attack, while Russian planes dive-bombed our positions. Fighting north-west of Kirovograd is occurring on ice, which Is causing difficulties. The agency added that the Russians made a few local breaches in the German positions in the Kilinkovlchi area, but the breaches were cleaned up. The Red Army forced another breach north of the Ryechitso-Mosir railway, where heavy battles are in progress. Germans in Danger Accounts of the eastern front fighting given by the Berlin spokesman yesterday are, for the first time, almost identical with the accounts given by the Russians themselves, says the Stockholm correspondent of the "Daily Mail." who quotes one Berlin spokesman as saying that “General Vatutin's northern army is plunging deeper into Poland. We do not know what is going on in some places. Our counter-attacks do not appear to throw much sand in the wheels of the Russian war machine. The German army is in a situation of the utmost danger. Our losses have reached a very high figure. The total prisoners taken by either side are much lower than the number of killed. The Germans in the southern sector of the front can expect to withdraw right back to the Bug river line." The Stockholm correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph” says that General Vatutins forces are reported to have occupied a 40 mile stretch of the east bank of the river Bug south-east of Vinnitsa. General Vatutin’s spearheads are only a dozen miles from the vital Odessa-Warsaw railway, and should the Red Army seize it 500,000 German troOps in the Dnieper Bend, weary after 20 days of tremendous fighting, will find themselves at the mercy of the big Russian armies preparing to fall on them from all directions, says Reuter's Moscow correspondent. He points out that the Russian front has reached a point a little more than 300 miles from the Ploesti oilfields which are much nearer than any Allied air base. Futile Counter-Attacks The correspondent quotes the annihilation of five enemy divisions north and north-west of Kirovograd as a typical example of the way the Germans are wasting men in futile counter-attacks. These encircled forces assembled tanks first and tried to punch a way out of the ring. They failed, resulting in the annihilation of thousands of Germans who might have been withdrawn in time to help to defend Odessa. A similar wastage of men In a hopeless attempt to hold on to doomed positions is going on in other sectors west and north-west of Kirovograd. Unflagging Resistance The correspondent of the British United Press says that the progressive collapse of the German front In Western and Southern Ukraine docs not mean that the enemy resistance is flagging. On the contrary, the enemy is counter-attacking vigorously wherever he is able to manoeuvre his forces. The Germans are resisting particularly strongly west and southwest of Berdlchev, where they are trying to prevent the Russians from pouring down behind Vlnnlsta. A supplementary Russian communique says that according to incomplete records, the enemy from January 5 to 8 in the Kirovograd area lost 15,000 men killed, besides 293 tanks and 296 guns destroyed. The Russians also captured 150 tanks. The Moscow radio announced that since January 1 the armies of Generals Vatutin and Koniev had disposed of more than 60.000 Germans and liberated more than 1700 populated places. Spaniards Taken Prisoner Reporting the capture of further Spanish prisoners, the Russian supplementary communique says tlie prisoners confirmed that the Spanish Legion is still in the front line, thus refuting the Madrid Government's statement that the Legion had been recalled to Spain. All the prisoners declared that they were forced into the Legion against their will. It is now proved bevond doubt, says the communique, that Spanish units, however named, continue to fight on the German side. The Spanish double-dealers in Madrid are trying to have their cake and eat it. Under the mask of neutrality they are continuing to serve Hitler faithfully.

Headway At Great Effort The Red Army, after crossing the vital Smeyla-Khristinovka railway, reached the approaches to Uman, reports Reuter’s correspondent at Moscow. who adds that although columns of the Red Army are manoeuvring at great speed against Smyela and Novoukaroinka. headway Is being made only at the cost of tremendous effort. The battlefields lie In denselypopulated regions where villages almost join each other, and every house has been converted into a strongpoint The Moscow correspondent of "The Times" says that strong Red forces are consolidating the chain of positions east of the Berdlchev-Vlnnitsa railway in preparation for any at-

tempt Marshal Von Mannstein may make to punch at the right flank of the deep Russian salient. This appears to be the most exposed section of General Vatutin's front, where the greatest vigilance is necessary. May Abandon Occupied States

Nazi spokesmen in Berlin admit that the Germans may have to abandon Finland, the Baltic States and part of Poland and Norway. This information comes from reliable reports reaching Stockholm. These reports say that the Germans also expect to lose Rumania .and Bulgaria. Rumania is believed to be ready to surrender as soon as the Red Army reaches the border. The Russians are already within 60 miles of Bessarabia, from which the Germans are hastening the evacuation of civilians. Tlie diplomatic correspondent of the “Daily Express” says that if Rumania tries "to get out of the war, Bulgaria and Hungary will try to do the same. The German High Command will then have to decide whether to try to hold these countries against their will or let them surrender. For the German Army to send big reinforcements to the Balkans to prevent surrender would dangerously thin out their forces that are holding other parts of Europe.

In spite of the Soviet successes, Finnish opinion is veering steadily toward closer co-oneratlon with the Germans, says the London correspondent of the "Christian Science Monitor." Finland until recently seemed to be under the influence of the Leftists, but now the Rightists are in the ascendant. Finland's present policy appears to be based on the theory that the longer the war lasts the less danger there is for Finland, because the Soviet will be exhausted. A somewhat similar reaction can be traced In other satellite States. Sixty miles north-east of the Dniester General Vatutin has stormed the defences on the left bank of the Bug, writes a correspondent in Moscow. The Germans are getting no time to recover, in spite of the abundance of strong points in this area. The arrival of fresh German tank divisions has failed to stabilise the position and units of shattered remnants are now in flight to the south. The left flank of General Vatutin’s southern group has now turned southeast towards Uman, on which General Koniev is also advancing by the broad, modern highway from Kirovograd. With this latest manoeuvre, General Vatutin has simultaneously widened out his front against the Bug line. Stiffening Action The strong German resistance on the North Ukrainian front has continued west and south-west of Berdlchev, with counter-attacks day and night. In one south-west sector the Russians were ousted from a village, but after the arrival of reinforcements they recaptured the ground and also more territory. As a result of Soviet operations the Russians have completely cleared the important highway from Kirovograd of enemy troops. The stiffening action south-west of Berdichev is due to German attempts to hold back the. Russians from the narrow source of the Bug, which is the only protection for the vital Odessa-Lwow railway. The threat of encirclement to the German forces in the Ukraine grows hourly as the armies of General Vatutin and General Koniev march towards each other across the flat nlains west of the Dnieper, states the Moscow correspondent of the British United Press. It looks as if the two armies will meet on the north fringe of the Odessa Province. Opinion in Moscow is that the trap is almost set and the the Germans will have great difficulty in escaping, even If they are able to do so. Moscow significantly took the annihilation of the five German divisions in the Ukraine, reported In yesterday’s communique, as a mailer of course, whereas a year ago it would have considered it a notable event. Suspicious Reports The German statement that the Russians are in the neighbourhood of Kowel, 15 miles west of the old Polish border, is not supported by any Russian report. Reuters states: "It follows the publication through the same source of other pessimistic state-

ments. the motive for which has been the subject of some conjecture Kowel is just south of the Pripet Marshes If the German report is true the Russian advance may be based on a thrust by an advanced Russian unit along the southern edge of this sparsely populated and thinly held area, but according to the latest Russian reports the twin thrusts into Poland have reached positions five miles from Barmy and 27 miles from Rowno.” Bridgeheads Linked The Russians have linked up two bridgeheads on Kerch Peninsula. According to the Berlin radio, which announced this, "the Red Army landed several divisions north of their own remaining bridgehead, and in spite of continuous air attacks succeeded In linking up the two units.” The Russian communique to-night reports that Red Army forces on the Stucz River occupied the railway station of Selsk, seven and a half miles north of Sarny, and the railway station at Nemovichi, eight miles south of Sarny on the Rovno-Sarny-Vilna railway. The Russians south-west and south of Novograd Volinsk continued the offensive and captured Yarun, nine miles south-west of Novograd Volinsk, which Is the district centre of the Jitomir region and 30 Inhabited places including Klodonko, 15 miles southwest of Novograd Volinsk. The Red Army west and south-west of Berdlchev overcame counter-attacks and captured several inhabited places, including Krasnopol, 25 miles west of Berdichev. South of Byelaya Tserkov the Russians forged ahead and captured several inhabited places.