ANXIOUS WEEKS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25021, 15 September 1942, Page 5

ANXIOUS WEEKS

THE BATTLES IN RUSSIA APPROACH OF WINTER (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) (Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 13. . The Germans’ all-out drive for bitterly-defended Stalingrad, coupled with the Russians’ determined assaults against the enemy’s strongholds in the Rjev sector, as well as the approach of the Russian winter, combine to make the next few weeks anxious ones for both sides. Berlin has admitted that the Rjev struggle is very important for the safety of the German armies engaged at Stalingrad. Moscow has pointed out that the German armies in the northern Caucasus are not safe as long as Stalingrad stands. Despatches from Stockholm and Moscow suggest German defeat at Rjev and German failure to subdue Stalingrad could influence the outcome of The whole war, as well as provide the most cheerful winter’s opening for the Allied Nations. The Russians are losing some ground west of Stalingrad and southwest of the city, but the Germans are not making sufficient progress to achieve any sudden crumpling of the defences. The position nevertheless remains precarious for the Russians, and they are subject to constant attacks by tanks and planes. They must be overstrained after four weeks of the most intense battling, and yet they are hanging on and making the enemy pay most heavily. The Moscow correspondent of Reuters says that if Stalingrad holds the German armies in the northern Caucasus will be semiprisoners between the Kuban mud to the north and west and the snow-blocked mountains to the south. The Russians will he able to pour in troops through the Stalingrad gap, while the Caucasian armies will be enabled to turn on the Germans, who will no longer hold the advantages of mobility. The stakes in the Stalingrad battle are enormous—whoever wins, the other side will be immensely weakened. The Moscow correspondent of The Times says the Russians are fighting with the utmost assurance before Stalingrad, holding positions until ordered to withdraw. The Berlin radio, quoting the German High Command, stated tonight that the German troops around Stalingrad are working their way step by step to the outskirts. Violent battles have developed in the factory area, where every house has been made a strongpoint. The Stockholm correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says the latest German reinforcements reaching the Stalingrad front include Major-general Roth’s entire tank army from the Kalinin front. According to the Berlin radio the Russians are using four 01 five armies against the Germans at Rjev. “ The German soldiers there, the radio stated, “ know that on their resistance depends our success in the south. They are fighting and dying where they stand, and others fill the gaps. The firing never ceases, and bombing goes on continuously. There is scarcely a piece of earth which does not show signs of battle.” The new Russian offensive near Sinyavino is continuing. The Moscow correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says the Russians attacking the Sinyavino area smashed through the first and second German defence zones and captured a number of fortified villages. The Russians are fighting fiercely in order to relieve Leningrad before the winter. The Stockholm correspondent of The Times reports that the forces inside and outside the beleaguered Leningrad area are participating in the Russian offensive on the Volkhov front. The Russians within the Leningrad area do not appear to be lacking guns and munitions. The , great Kirov armament works have been busy manufacturing from large stocks of materials and from supplies brought in across Lake Ladoga and by plane. German activity Is lessening in the Caucasus, and enemy forces in some areas are reported to be retreating to the north and north-west. Small bands of the Red Army are harassing them with tommy-guns from the flanks.

Russian resistance in the Novorossisk area and at the Teiek River is very bitter. The position remains complicated, but the Germans have not penetrated farther towards Grozny.