SMASHED BY REDS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 219, 16 September 1943, Page 5

SMASHED BY REDS

GERMAN DEFENCE PLAN DESNA RIVER LINE LOST Recd. 7 p.m. London, Sept. 14. The Red Army is followLig up its victory at Briansk imd is now widening it» bridgeheads on the western bank of the Desna River, the great water barrier on which the Germans hoped to bmld a defence lino from Smolensk to Kiev. South of Briansk, converging Russian columns arc making forced marches and lighting incessantly towards Roslavl. The capture of Rostavl would cut one escape railway to Smolensk. Correspondents say thre-e major battles are being fought between Briansk and Dnepropetrovsk. The first is for Nezhin. the second is for Priluki, an the third for the reduction of the German salient south-west of Kharkov and covering Poltava. The capture of Nezhin and Priluki would give the Russians the keys to the Kiev outposts. Nezhin is being invested from north and east, and is already under shellfire. Stiff German resistance around Romny is holding up the drive against Priluki. The Russians arc investing Romny from three sides and are closing in from the cast and along the railway from the north and south. The Germans’ defence south-west of Kharkov, after weeks of steady hammering, are beginning to crumble. The toughness of the fighting can be gauged from lhe fact that battles still continue to rage only 25 miles west of Kharkov. Reuter’s Moscow cor-

respondent sa}s that the Russian succss in forcing the Desna River dealt a heavy blow against the entire German defence system. 11. now appears that the German “elastic defence” will have to be more elastic than ever. The elastic defence has proved completely unsuccessful in the south, where the Germans are falling back upon the Dnieper bend. Rea Star states the Germans are rapidly re- ’ treating towards the Dneiper bend across the Dnepropetrovsk steppe, and that the Russians have reached Sanzharovsky, less than 60 miles from Zaporozhe.

The Germans retreating in the Dnieper Bend are trying hard to break contact, but the Russian pursuit continues relentlessly. Berlin radio said that the Russians advanced cautiously against Briansk, which was covered only by rearguards. All goods and machinery were evacuated a fortnight ago, and “the installations were so thoroughly destroyed that the Russians put their hand into an empty pocket.” “This shows that the Germans are pursuing the alm of drawing the Russians after them in a large disengagement movement,” the radio said. “They are doing so faster than the Russians may like." The London Times comments: “The last word on the German retreat may not rest with the Germans.” German sources, shortly after the announcement of the evacuation of Briansk, said that the Russians opened a new attack north of the city with strong artillery and tank forces and claimed that the attacks failed before extremely stiff resistance. The Germans said the Russians were attacking along the RoslavlMoscow and Smolensk-Moscow highways. They admitted their retreat in the Smolensk area hut added that local breaches elsewhere were evened out by straightning the German line.