The Wanganui Chronicle. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1943 SEQUEL TO KHARKOV

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 207, 2 September 1943, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1943 SEQUEL TO KHARKOV

| ’HE German retreat from Taganrog is a natural sequel to the loss of Kharkov. The probability is that the Germans will also •etreat from the Crimean Peninsula.

The Germans had two objectives when invading the Caucasus: io secure oil supplies lor themselves or to deny them to the Russians, and to ensure to themselves the supplies of manganese essentia! for the manufacture of steel from low grade ores. The second was the more important prize. These objectives were worth the gamble involved in the invasion of that important neck of land, but although success came mockingly near it could not be grasped. The whole of the southern thrust had to be reconsidered and the line was readjusted before last winter closed over the scene. The summer campaign of this year was selective in character, for the Germans could no longer afford to gamble; they were compelled to seek to apply a paralysing sting to the enemy’s organisation. When the attack opened there was some slight measure of success, but it soon became clear that the Russians had prepared for this attack on a narrow front and were more than masters of Ihe situation at Kursk. Then it became clear that the Russians were capable of administering blows against which the Germans were not able to sustain a defence. Since the summer has merged into autumn the Russians have taken the initiative, shifting the point of attack to minimise the effectiveness of the German reserves along the 1000-niile eastern front. Kharkov throughout the summer and autumn was obviously the prize that the Russians most desired. The Germans were concerned to maintain the defence of this point because of its importance as a connecting link between the west and the south-east. When Kharkov, fell the Germans were committed to recasting the whole of their defence, l-’rom the military standpoint the River Dnieper offers the most convenient barrier behind which the Axis forces may organise a new defence. Possibly much work has already been accomplished to that end. The sequel in the political field, however, is not so easily to be divined. The Balkans are in a disturbed condition; Yugoslav resistance has continued since the Axis invasion, and the 22 Italian divisions which have been occupied in policing the railway routes can no longer be relied on, even though they have not been withdrawn. Rumania, always a divided house in respect to the present conflict, is concerned to defend Bessarabia against the Russians, but is more intent upon recovering Transylvania from Hungary, ■which has also shown a reluctance to engage further in the fighting against Russia. Bulgaria is an uncertain quantity, the uncertainty having been increased by the death of King Boris. Bulgarian popular sympathies are pro-Slav, and the German withdrawals before the ever-advancing- Russian armies will stimulate the expression of the pro-Slav sentiment of the Bulgars. To what extent a Germany that is retiring upon itself can induce isolated Bulgaria to undertake a lone campaign against the Allies remains to be seen, but the growing unpopularity of the Germans who are in Rumania and Bulgaria is not an encouraging sign from the Axis