Evening star., 1941-10-14
Big Soviet Units
Are Entropped,
Germans Say
6v the Associated Press.


nounced the continuing destruc-
ton of big Red Army units which
it said were trapped west anc
south of the Soviet capital.
Authorized sources said the outer
most defense belt of Moscow" now is
within reach of German artillery
but failed 10 interpret this in more
definite terms. Observers were left
to guess Just how far Nazi siege guns
might be from Moscow proper.
The authoritative Dienst aus
Deutschland added this: On the
central front heavy German artillery
already is taking under fire fortiflCa-
ton units which doubtless belong
to the extreme outermost defense
belt of Moscow. laid around the city
at a considerable distance"
(The "outermoSt defense belt"
OF a great fortified area. such as
Moscow presumably is. might be
so or more miles from the city
itself. The Germans are known
to have guns with ranges above
IS miles,
Operations Difficult.
IN the Bryansk area, 2l0 miles
southwest of Moscow, the daily COM
munique from the Fuehrer's head
quarters declared, encircled Russian
forces have been split up into several
units. Annihilation of these forces
was said to be making steady
progress, although the high COM
mand acknowledged that operations
were difficult because of the thickly
wooded terrain.
The total Of Russian prisoners in
the war in the east now has risen
above 100000 and is still increasing
the German government announced
1t was further stated that the
equivalent of 300 Russian divisions
at full war strength had been cap
tured, or wounded According to
this estimate, which assumed that
each division numbered 10000 men,
5000 900 Russian soldiers thus have
been put out of action.
The number of prisoners taken at
Bryansk and VyaZma, where other
Russian forces are reported encir-
cled, is mounting steadily, the high
command said, and has increased
beyond the $4,000 total announced
yesterday.
Hint Kaluga Is Encircled.
Authorized sources. amplifying the
regular daily communique, asserted
that German column moving down
on Moscow from the Valdai Hills to
the northwest was nearing the Mos
cow-Leningrad railWay-which prev
iously was reported cut in the Lenin-
grad area.
Asked for details of the German
advance northward from Bryansk,
spokesmen answered in such a way
as to intimate that Kaluga, 100 miles
south of Moscow, had been encircled
and that German columns had
moved on. leaving Russian forces
there to be mopped up by Nazi
rearguards.
The high command. except for
reporting mopping up operations at
WANNA and Bryansk, and a night
air raid on Leningrad, dealt with
the campaign only in the most gen.
eral terms.
TN the east" the communique
said, Operations are taking theil
prescribed course
Moscow Encirclement Seen Goal.
Reading between the lines of mill
tary reports, however, neutral OBJ
servers were convinced that the Ger
man drives said to be bearing down
on Moscow from the northwest, west
and south were aimed at forging a
ring of steel around the city.
The Russians in the wanna
pocket directly west of Moscow are
so nearly annihilated that a final
high command announcement OF
completion of operations there may
be expected almost any time, au-
thorized quarters said.
In the BryanSk zone, Germans
said. roads still in Soviet possession
are deserted because the fleeing Rus
slams have taken to the forests and
fields in an effort to dodge dive
bombers. Roads taken by the Ger
mans, however, are filled with Ger
man reinforcements, it was said.
To the far north, Germans said,
the Firms are making progress in
a northWard advance from Petroza-
vodsk along the Murmansk rail-
way.
New Encirclement Aim.
Dispatches from the front indi-
Gated the Germans were following
familiar tactics in an attempt to
set the stage for another of the
great battles of encirclement.
This time, it appeared, the Ger
mans hoped to ring the Soviet capi-
tai itself, but Nazi military authori-
tles-maintaining their usual reti-
cence toward current operations
declined to discuss this possibility.
German military quarters also as
serted that dive bombers and COM
bat planes were being used in vast
numbers to blast a path for the ad-
vancing German columns and to
smash Russian supply lines far to
the east.
In one sector of the central front
alone, German planes were reported
to have destroyed eight fully loaded
trains-including one carrying mu-
nitions and two carrying fuel. Forty
one other trains and 10 railway
stations were reported damaged.
Military dispatches also said the
German air force had been unusu-
ally active on the southern front,
interrupting railway communica-
tions between important industrial
Centers in the Donets Basin and de-
at1oRloa xollina stock -.