The Wanganui Chronicle. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1943. THE FALL OF KHARKOV

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 40, 18 February 1943, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1943. THE FALL OF KHARKOV

r yilE repossession of Kharkov by the Russians frees from German control another important railway centre. The striking power of the Russian armies has therefore been strengthened. The main railway line runs from Moscow through Tula, Orel, Kursk and Kharkov down to Melitopol and on to Sebastopol in the Crimea. The Russians are therefore well situated to press forward with their plans, whatever those plans may be. It can be anticipated that the weight of the drive will be directed down this railway in order to cut oft' the German troops that are eastward of the Crimea and in that peninsula. They may, however, pursue a. much broader plan of action and drive westward as hard and as fast as they can, in order to prevent the Germans reforming their line, isolated enemy units being left for liquidation later on. These alternatives appear to be the most likely moves, but the choice of the one or the other will depend upon the ability of the Russians to re-establish the railway lines in working order, and upon their strength in men, materials and mobility. The German High Command wanted rerelentlessly to pursue the Russians when the latter were retreating in the autumn, believing that to be the most profitable course to pursue then. They doubtless expect the Russians to go to the. limit of their strength in prosecuting the same plan of attack. It is not surprising to find General Dietmar, in his Berlin broadcast, speaking of the possible necessity for an “indefinite” German retreat. But what does such a term imply? It implies that the Germans have, as yet, no assessment of the strength of the Russian advance nor where it is likely to exhaust itself. It also implies that the Germans have no predetermined defence line which they intend to endeavour to hold. The situation on the Russian front is therefore pregnant with possibilities, but such possibilities are not as yet boundless. The German losses in men and materials must be exceedingly heavy, but it is to be anticipated that they will be able to reform somewhere on the shorter line of defence. It would be a rash hazard to regard the end of the war as in any way within sight The losses suffered by the Axis in the winter campaign in Russia are nevertheless valuable contributing factors to the hastening of the end of the war.

If the American and the British Armies could embark upon a. European campaign now the Germans would be caught with both feet, off the ground, to use a simile from the boxing ring. Realising this, von Arnim has been reouired to stage an attack in North Africa in the hope that it will discourge the Allies from immediately embarking upon a European second-front campaign.