RUSSIAN SLOGAN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 116, 20 May 1942, Page 5

RUSSIAN SLOGAN

“VICTORY IN 1942” TIME A PARAMOUNT FACTOR. (Special Correspondent. N.Z.P.A.) I London, May 17. ! As the spring offensive begins on the Russian front, one imperative i factor overshadows both the Russian and the German armies—time. If time is an essential incentive behind th* Nazi drive in view of the mounting power of Britain and . America, it is likewise a spur to the 1 Russians, because the peak of the Soviet effort is likely to be reached in 1942. The Russian slogan, “Victory in 1942,” is a plain statement of the j Russian needs if the nation is to avoid i cracking under the strain of its colos- | sal industrial and military effort. If i the Germans have lost nearly all the ' ground they gained since October, the i Russians likewise have profited little I since January. They have been un- 1 able to reduce the German advanced 1 NAZI PARACHUTISTS (Reed. 10.55 p.m.) Moscow, May 19. | Making an effort to stem Marshal Timoshenko’s advance by confusing I his rear, the Germans are launching groups of parachutists, the largest | number being 120. However, they ; are are being wiped out, mostly be- j fore reaching the ground. strong points, including Staraya Rus- * sa. Rjev, Viazma, Briansk, Orel, and i Kursk, and therefore they are still | without control of the great lateral j railways, the possession of which ■ ■would have strengthened the front. * Nevertheless, Russia faces the second summer offensive better armed and I equipped, with larger reserves, and probably stronger in numbers, than! last year, this having been made pos- i sible by the winter pause. Looking on the other side of the ■ ' picture, it is likely that Russia's in- ■ dustrial capacity, which is 60 or 70 , per cent, intact, is bigger than the i raw material basis on which it rests, owing to thp almost total loss of the • Ukrainian mining industry and the loss of the Krivoi Rog iron ore and I the Donetz coal. Though stocks were I built up with great foresight, yet a ' decline in output will come sooner or | later, so it may be difficult to mam-; tain peak production for another year i of war. Labour will also be affected, i owing to the enormous mobilisation and the great losses of population in the occupied territories. The loss of valuable agricultural | supplies will also tell eventually, but I an active campaign is in progress to assist agriculture, the prospects ofl which are believed to be good. It is’ hoped that the 1942 crops will be a ' record. These factors indicate that the Rus-; sian thrust at Kharkov is not merely i an answer to the Kerch attack, since' it must have been in preparation for weeks, proving that the Russian commanders refuse to coniine themselves’ to fighting defensive actions under German-imposed conditions. The first act of the world’s greatest and most important battle has begun, with both sides having an anxious eye on the running out of the sands of time. MAY BECOME GENERAL GROWING IMPETUS OF SOVIET ATTACK London. May 18 ’ In a dispatch to the 8.8. C. from; Moscow to-night. Paul Winterton says I that the Kharkov offensive is not the sort of attack which, once begun, soon peters out because men and resources’ are not adequate to maintain it. ■ On the contrary, he* says, this at-' tack started rather quieth after long; and careful preparation, and it is now steadily growing in intensity and . scope. It is conceivable that the at-; tack may go on growing until it develops into something like a majoroffensive r.long most of the front, but 1 ; he points out that there is still a deep, i i hard core of German resistance to be: * penetrated before any really swift ad- ’ I can take place.