Evening star., 1941-10-07
HitIer's Promised Drive

iiS iAl6ii AASiiV VI AtSASAAoA bN Ia CA
Hitler's speech at the Berlin Sports
palast last Friday was his grandilo-
quently phrased announcement of q.
major movement" On the eastern
front. This major military operation,
he further stated, already was
forty eight hours old, and would be
smashing blow to the tottering
Soviet power.
Such statement is as noteworthy
as it is unusual Hitler has been
chary in giving out military informa-
ton. That he should have made so
positive an assertion makes it seem
likely that not only is a great Ger
man drive on the way, but that
Hitler and the high command be-
lieve it has good chances of success.
Naturally, military experts every
where have been trying to find out
what Hitler meant. For outsiders,
discovery is difficult, because both
the German and Russian communi-
ques are saying little. Still, If Hitler
dated it correctly, his major move
ment" should now be in it's sixth day;
so some definite sign is due even
through censorship wells. The most
likely candidate is the reported
simultaneous German advances on
the north-central sector of the front.
The first Of these is said to be de-
veloping in the Lake linen region,
southeast of besieged Leningrad.
This advance would follow the main
rail and highway communications
between Leningrad and Moscow, the
best in Russia, with supplementary
rail line from Staraya Russa The
second German offensive is in the
Bryansk-Roslalv sector, southeast of
Smolensk.
II these operations herald the
long-expected supreme German ef-
fort in the autumn campaign, they
logically have a double objective:
Encirclement of Marshal Timoshen-
kos central army group through a
far-flung pincer movement, and the
capture of Moscow, the Soviet capi-
tai, which presumably would follow
a disaster to Timoshenko like that
recently suffered by Marshal Buden-
ny in the Ukraine. Neither of these
movements could threaten Moscow
Immediately, because they are too
far aWay-between 200 and 300 miles.
The shield of Timoshenko's army
group must first be shattered.
However, it is as yet by no means
certain that these particular ad-
vanceS constitute the major German
effort. The high command has been
extremely clever in masking its main
objective behind strong feints. The
Germans still are vigorously on the
offensive in the Ukraine, from the
kharkov area to the Sea of Azov
beyond the Crimea. Indeed, it is still
possible that big surprise may yet
be sprung before Leningrad, though
the difficulties of direct assault,
combined with bad weather, render
it probable that the Baltic metropolis
will be invested by regular siege
tactics.
One last possibility remains A
general German offensive all along
the vast front, from Leningrad to
the Black Sea. This presupposes two
things: Generalized German strength
and equally generalized Russian
weakness. Berlin asserts that the
Russians are throwing in their last
reserves of equipment, and that a
Soviet collapse is in the of1ing II
Berlin is correct, this might occur
suddenly. But there is as yet no
proof that Russia today is in such
desperate straits, whatever may be
the long-range outlook if the great
industrial centers of Southern Rus
sia should fall into German hands.
The upshot of this admittedly
tentative analysis is that, while a
supreme German effort Is indicated,
its location and scope are not yet
known. Equally uncertain is Russian
ability to withstand such an effort,
which logically would climax the
autumn campaign. Only time can
give the answer And, on the illimit-
able eastern front, major operations