NERVOUSNESS IN GERMANY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 295, 15 December 1941, Page 5

NERVOUSNESS IN GERMANY

HARDSHIPS IN RUSSIA

SOVIET SAYS INVADERS WILL BE ALLOWED NO RESPITE

(By Telegraph —Preu Astoria: ion—Copyright.) I Reed. I<* p.m. 1 London, Dec 13 Russia ili i laivs that tin Gi rmaii invaders of Russia will not be allowed respite. The Rii ssian offensives ait causing widespread nervousness throughout the German armi«•>. says The Times’ Stockholm correspondent. German letters home complain that lark of sleep is one of the grafest hardships. They admit that Gtj’inan soldiers have mainly welcomed a decision to suspend the forward drives, because the cessation promised relaxation and a long sleep, hut .some German si ill complain that ever-watching, elusive guerrillas, ami lack of shelte r are forcing soldiers to sleep spasmodically in their own cold vehicles. A real night's rest is impossible because the guerrillas are most active in the darkness.

The most severe winter in Russian . . history Is forecast by M. Fedorov. | :chief of the Russian weather services. • I The temperature on the southern' front is already four degrees below ! Fahrenheit, and on the Karelian front 1 22 degrees below Fahrenheit. 81/ izards are raging in parts of liusda. | The Berlin radio has confirmed that Field-Marshal von l.ist, who commanded the German armies in the Kalkan campaign, has replaced General von Bock, commander of the Nazi armies on the Moscow front. Fiasco for Germany A Russian official announcem nt <>' iecent victories stales: “German plans for surrounding and capturing Moscow ended in a fiasco and the defeat of German troops at the approaches to the citv. The Germans on November 16. on the central front threw in 13 tank divisions 33 infantr.v • and 5 motorised infantry divisions and 1 began a second offensive against Moscow. They aimed to break through , our lines and encircle Moscow with 1 a wide outflanking movement, combined with pressure on the front. T<» • attain this the Germans had to cap- , lure Tula. Kashir. Ryazan and Kolom- ■ na on the south and Klin. Solnech-’ nayagora. Rogachev. Yakhrona an i Dimitrovsk on the north and finally strike against Moscow from three directions to occupy the city. Against lour right flank on the Klin-Solneeh-nayagora-Dimitrovsk sector the Ger-, mans concentrated the tank eroups ot Generals Befit ch and Schuchner. con sisting of seven tank, three infantry ) and two motorised infantry divisions. I Against the left flank, on the Tula- | Kashir-Ryazan sector, the Germans concentrated General Guderian’s sec- j ond mechanised army, comprising four tank, one infantry, and two motorised infantry divisions. General Kuznetsov’s forces, having captured Yakhrona. are pursuing the Germans and have emerged south-west of Klin General V lasso vs forces have occupied Solnechnayagora.” The Pravda says that a storm of ‘ which the enemy heard the first ' thunder al Rostov and Tikhvin, habroken over the h ‘ads of the Germans and is driving them from Moscow. Victory does not turn our heads. On • the contrary, the effects of it are only beginning. The enemy remains at the| distant approaches to Moscow and the danger is far from overcome. W-' must annihilate the German horde” and destroy any further risk to Mos- , cow.

Pravda describes the roads from Moscow as littered with German dead wrecked lorries and abandoned equipment. The paper says the enemy concentrated 51 divisions for the last general offensive and have lost, during the battle for Leningrad and Moscow. about 30 divisions. The Russians, in two days’ fighting on the Leningrad front, pushed the enemy back from several populated places and smashed the headquarters of an infantry division. Ribbentrop Going to Balkans The Daily Mail’s Istanbul correspondent says that Ribbentrop is shortly visiting the Balkans in an attempt to solve problems threatening Germany’s plans in south-east Europe. The German High Command’s efforts to stabilise the Russian front arc plainly Ihe prelude io the withdrawal of substantial German forces for use elsewhere. Accommodation for a force of half a million is ready in Rumania and Bulgaria. Hitler failed fourfold to penetrate Asia through Iraq. Syria, Persia and the Caucasus. His only untried route is through Bulgaria and Turkey where the framework for an offensive in the form of fully-equipped new airfields, was completed some months ago. The purpose of Ribbentrop*' visit Io the Balkans would appear to be to clear the decks for action. WASHINGTON, Dec. IS.—M. Litvinov, Russian Ambassador, tokLthv press to-day that a complete understanding exists, or will be arrived at. between the Powers opposing the Axis.

MOSCOW. Dec. 13. Pravda says: “We have thrown the Germans back from Volkhov. The enemy, during a month's battle for this town, » t 6000 killed. BERLIN, Dec 13. The German news agency's reply to the Soviet victory announcement insists that withdrawal to winter quarters does not ivpan a retreat.

Measures taken territorially were insignificant and hardly visible on the map. It declares that figures of the booty taken by the Russians are completely inaccurate.