Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-07-14
DETROIT EVENING TINES oHoNE CHERRY $500,

border defenses within the first
few hours"
The border defenses of the
Soviet Union are the Stain Line,
and they have certainly not been
eliminated.
The Germans claim 10 have
penetrated IL at certain points,
but their dispatches recently COM
planned of tricky defenses."
lTHE defenses, of the Stain Line
L are, indeed. tricky.
They are not like the Maginot
defenses, built in more or less
straight line, but are constructed
like maze.
One series Of Notifications will
have another series behind IL, and
only partly overlapping lineally.
Then a second series will be
there, on the line vi the first Sc
ries. SO that an attacking army
having broken through number
one. approaching number two, may
find the defenders of number
three in its rear.
II is a come-on system.
How well acquainted the Ger
H mans are with the fortifica-
tions is not known. but il is
certain that NaZi intelligence Off
Gals have not enjoyed the run Of
the place as they have in the SIM
pleminded and trusting democ-
racies.
The Russians had been assem-
bling on this frontier, perhaps, for
the purpose of a diplomatic, not a
military showdown with the Nazis.
However. they may have had
some warning
I But how overwhelmingly supe-
rior' are the attacking forces?
They are certainly greatly supe-
rior in material of all sorts, planes,
tanks and gun power.
But how superior are they in
man power, at the spot. and in
reserves?
MAN power-if IL is willing 10
A'A fight bitterly-counts in mod
lern war.
1t counted in Spain, for in
stance, where it took the Fascists
who were Overwhelmingly supe-
nor in all technical and mechani-
cal means, four years 10 defeat
the numerically superior and reck-
lessly fighting Loyalists.
incidentally. the Russians have
the benefit of that campaign, with
IT'S highly effective guerrilla tao
tics.
Favorable weather conditions"
have not universally prevailed ac-
cording 10 the Nazis. who claim
10 have been held back by snow
storms in places. incidentally.
where it has never been known TO
snow in July.
Maybe they lied as an excuse,
but they have got 10 get a decision
by mid-September. when rain. mud
and snow will be the Russians
most effective ally against mocha
rnized forces.
CERTAINLY the Germans are
~ encountering in Russia very
different conditions thanh any
previous campaign.
The battle at the Stain Line is
battle, not blitz.
IL is prolonged way beyond the
essential schedule OF Colonel
Braun's formula.
And this time the British arc
pounding increasingly the rear
with the Royal Air Force.
1t is well 10 believe only those
things in which German and Rus
sian communicates agree.
Both admit terrific loss Of life
| And here the Russians have a
double advantage, physically and
lpSychologically.
They are biologically more fe-
.cund than the Germans, and there
are more than three times as
many RuSSlaps as there are Ger
mans.
THESE facts influence the psy-
chology of nations. T Q
French. for instance. had a horror
OF loss of life. realizing their di-
minishing numbers.
Also. the farther cast one moves
the cheaper human life becomes.
The Germans are more reckless
OF life than the French. the Rus
slams more reckless than the Ger
mans.
What happens in Russia is also
extremely important 10 German
morale in the further course of
the war.
For the first time the Nazis are
encountering an army Of great
numbers that fights and for the
first time there is that terrific loss
OF life that the blitz is supposed
TO avoid.
As German mothers receive the
news of the death Of their sons,
the enthusiasm for another battle
on the beaches OF England. with
lanother great army that also in