Evening star., 1941-08-01
SmoIensk Trap
Wipes0ut Reds,
Germans Claim
$4,000 Prisoners
And 245 Cannon
Declared Taken
BY the Associated Press.

BERLIN, Aug. German
forces have wiped out Red Army
units encircled south of Smo-
lensk and captured $4,000 pris-
oners and 245 cannon, D.N.B.,
the official news agency, re-
ported today.
1t said the Russians also lost tens
of thousands killed in this action in
the salient which the Germans have
plunged through the Stain Line
toward Moscow. The Russian forces
first were surrounded, then de-
stroyed yesterday, D.N.B. said.
The agency also reported another
encirclement northeast Of Smolensk
and said air power had helped
ground forces in crushing sur
rounded Russian troops.
tThe Russians were taking the
initiative in the Smolensk sector,
gateway to Moscow. reports from
the Russian capital indicated.
The Russian air force was CO.
operating with land troops to
counterattack the German posi-
tions. The Russians still claimed
to hold SmolenskJ
Four Trains Declared DESTROYED.
Two armored trains, two munitions
trains and 40 tanks were destroyed
by the German air force on the
Russian front yesterday, German
sources reported.
The high command. it was re-
called. recently said the Germans
were dealing with the last encircle-
ment" en- route to Moscow, indicat-
ing it was waiting only to mop up
in the fiercely contested Smolensk
zone before launching a new major
push eastward.
The Russians had been hemmed
in by the Germans northeast OF
Smolensk since July Is and were
'repulsed at all points with bloody
losses" in attempts to break out,
DNB. said.
This apparently was far in the
rear of advance units which the
Germans have reported as far east
as the vicinity of Vyazma, about l30
miles from Moscow, and in an area
where Soviet forces were said to
have been cut up and pocketed in
isolated groups.
Burned Vehicles Line Roads.
"Unnumbered dead cover the bat
tlefield." DNB declared. Shot
torn and burned vehicles line the
roads"
The agency also reported thou
sands of prisoners taken in the
Kiev area.
On the far southern front, D.N.B.
admitted that Red Army forces
temporarily drove a wedge between
German and Rumanian troops, but
it said attempts to widen the gap
into a break-through collapsed
with bloody Bolshevik losses
German and Rumanian forces.
supported by Rumanian artillery
counterattacked, the agency said,
asserting that an entire Soviet di-
vision was destroyed. This was said
to have occurred in the sector where
the Germans reported a crossing
of the lower Dniester River.
The high command communique
extraordinarily brief, reported steady
German progress.
Germans were stirred by other
war reports to hope that their
armies soon might be hammerinq
at the very gates of Leningrad.
Observers insisted, however. that
Adolf Hitler was frowning on tri-
umphal entry of cities for the sake
Of prestige and was concentrating on
the main job, to try to destroy the
Red Army.
Hail of Bombs Dropped.
D.N.B.'s account of the battle
south of Smolensk said the end came
yesterday after the Russians had
tried for several days to break out OF
the German ring of steel.
But the ring kept Tightening
around the Soviet units in the last
few days." the agency said. Where
they tried to break through they
were thrown back with bloody losses
Uncounted barrels of German bat
teries poured a devastating fire into
the Reds. From the air fell hail
of bombs.
courageous dashes by German
advance troops split the Soviet units
which then were surrounded by the
forward-pressin infantry and over
whelmed."
Reverting again to a broad pic
ture, barren of any detail, the bull
letin from Hitler's headquarters
devoted only two sentences to the
whole war with Soviet Russia. II
said:
Battles on the east front con-
tinue to develop in our favor.
"Warplanes last night bombarded
military objectives in Moscow"
D.N.B. quoted responsible military
quarters" as saying that German
troops had forced a passage across
the lower reaches of the Dniester
River, that is, near its mouth at
Cetatea Alba, Bessarabia,