Evening star., 1941-08-15
Scare Tactics Used
By Nazis in Effort
To Fool Russians
Planes and Guns Make
Big Noise, Says Soviet
Aide. Seoffine at Foe
By ERSKINE CALDWELL.

commander of an infantry detach-
ment on the Latvian sector of the
Northwest front, were a major, a
lieutenant and a chauffeur attached
to q German signal corps who drove
up to Red Army field headquarters,
saluted sharply and stalked heavily
into a room full of Russians.
II don't know what they said when
they discovered their mistake" 1t.
Ilein said, but it was the most angry
sound I ever heard German make.
Needless to saw we were sur
prised, too. but it was very pleas
ant surprise for us. We tried to
question them later, but the only one
we could get the scantiest informa-
ton out of was the chauffeur. The
German major and lieutenant said
gruff1y that their Fuehrer had or
dered all Germans who might fall
into enemy hands not to talk. The
driver said the officers thought the
German lines were deeper in Soviet
territory than they actually were,
and had not bothered to ask infor-
nation of the German outpost sem
tries
Wounded Well Cared For.
1t. Ilein talked from cot in a
base hospital where he is recovering
from a head wound received July II
in the Latvian sector when a land
mine exploded few feet from him.
I visited the hospital to interview
the lieutenant and other Red Army
men who were wounded during the
early weeks of the war
The hospital, somewhere in the
Soviet Union, was divided into sew
eral sections.
1t was evident from large num-
ber of doctors and nurses in the
hospital that the wounded were re-
ceiving good care, but every Red
Army man I talked to was restless
and said he wanted to get back into
action. The cosmopolitan makeup
of the Soviet Army was evident by
the number of Ukrainians. Balo-
Russians and Mongolians in addi-
ton to Russians. 1t. Ilein said that
during the time he was at the
front he was assistant chief of field
headquarters and the greater part
of his time was spent at an observa-
ton post where he was able to wit
ness the activities of both aSmies.
"One of the Germans favorits
means of night attack is to send
infantry detachments equipped with
automatic rifles in spread formation
against Soviet positions" he said.
These automatic rifles hold a clip
of 70 bullets, I have been told, and
can be shot at a rate of about one
clip every half minute when they
are operated correctly.
Try to Create Panic.
Not all Germans know how to
handle them, however, and their
automatic rifles are usually no more
effective than ordinary rifles. In
these night attacks they use tracer
bullets apparently with the object of
making a great show in widespread
formations, thinking We will be
fooled into believing there are
greater numbers of them then there
actually are. Germans are always
trying to think up new schemes to
create panic in our army. but they
never succeed"
1t. Ilein said they had been able
to cope with German tanks from
the beginning of the war. He said
the Germans always drove tanks on
highways in preference to fields,
and that enabled the Russians to
place men with grenades and gaso-
line bottles in bitches.
I'VE lie down beside the road, let
the leading tanks go by and then
begin to throw grenades under tank
treads, and gasoline bottles at mo-
tors" he said. This usually disables
a tank with several applications and
it blocks the road so that fuel sup
plies can't reach tanks that have
gone ahead. Many times a few men
following such tactics have disabled
and captured large detachmentS of
German tanks and motorized units.
"We Don't Scare Easily"
1t. Ilein said German parachutists
several times had attempted to Gre
ate panic in the Soviet rear by land
ing and shooting off loud banging
guns. He said parachutists were
always quickly rounded up. He said
at other times Germans attempted
to set up a tank unit behind Soviet
lines by bringing tanks over at night
attached to planes and landing them
on highways with crews already in
the machines.
He said most of the tanks were
set down on highways without dam
aging them, but that they were sur
rounded and disabled or captured
before they could get underway on
their own power. 1t was said that
when new regiment or a detach-
ment of the Red Army arrived at
the front and the Germans discov-
cred it, they went to much trouble
to scare these new arrivals.
"Our men are too well trained to
be fooled by anything the Germans
think up," he said, land all we do
is keep our positions and watch them
waste their ammunition and sup
plies. Usually they begin by sending
over a large formation of aviation,
making all the noise they can with
the motors. Then they open up their
biggest artillery for while. Next
come big detachments OF tanks
shooting away at nothing.
AFTER that, mine throwers are
turned on. And finally their infan-
try Is sent over to shoot of auto
matte rifles and tracer bullets. When
all that is over, there's nothing more
they can do, so they settle down as
though they had scared the day
light out of the Red Army.
That's what they call psyche
logical attack, but it's misplaced
as far as the Red army
is concerned. We don't scare easily"
(Copyrisht, 1941. by FMo
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