GERMANY SAID TO BE UNEASY SOVIET RESERVES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 169, 21 July 1941, Page 5

GERMANY SAID TO BE UNEASY

SOVIET RESERVES

BREATHLESS NAZI ADVANCE” IS NOT DEVELOPING London, July 18. It is estimated, in Berlin that the Soviet, Army still has 5,000,000 men despite its enormous losses. Neutrals believe that Germany has 3,000,000 engaged, and that her allies have 800,000. Trench warfare, with bayonet-fight-ing in .the mud, has developed on some fronts, according to the newspaper Isvestia. This development arose from Russians digging individual trenches to escape the German artillery and bombing. When the German infantry appeared the Russians rose and attacked with the bayonet. One battalion repulsed eight, successive German assaults, another withstood the enemy for 20 hours, then counter-attacked and “liquidated.” the Germans. Heavy German casualties are provoking increasing disquiet among the workers in Germany, according to reports from the German frontier. A fall in factory production has been one result.

The Times’ correspondent on the German frontier even expresses the opinion that the failure to continue the breathless advance in Russia might gravely imperil the Nazi regime.

The German Press therefore has raised public hopes of another gigantic week-end victory. The reality is that German losses have been appalling and are expected to become heavier. The capture of Smolensk would seriously prejudice the Russian defence, because it is a crucial railway junction and a great industrial centre. But the Russians’ relentless policy of destruction will deprive the Germans of any concrete advantages. Furthermore the urgent need of a quick succession of victories will impel the Germans to push on hurriedly toward Moscow without a chance of consolidation of their position.

The Daily Telegraph’s Stockholm correspondent says that there are persistent reports that General Guderian, the organising genius of Germany’s mechanised armies, has been killed on the Russian front. These have heightened the anxiety which is spreading throughout Germany. A neutral diplomat said that General Guderian was killed near Luck and was probably a victim of guerrillas.