The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-10-30
GERMANY MAKING
 BIG MOSCOW DRIVE

(Continued from Page D
 --- the Germans probably would leave strong, heavily armed mobile troops close to Moscow to prevent the Russians from sallying forth for counter attacks.
 The experts said there was con- siderable doubt of the effectiveness of Panzer tactics in winter, recall ing the difficulties the Russians had with mechanized equipment in the Finnish war. The Germans, it was said, have quantities of horse-pow- cred units and might replace their Panzer troops with such units.
 The British spokesmen had no prediction on the outcome of the current Nazi drive on Moscow but noted that winter appears to have arrived in Russia this year conSid- erably earlier than two years ago. Ii deep snow should fall immediately after ground freezes, they said, the Germans would have 8 most ditti- cult time in driving their tanks for ward and might shift their major attention to the southern front.
 The Orel and Crimea t'."c-ts were described in Russian dispatches and by British authorities as grave"
 Radio Moscow reported a Russian air attack on Berlin and said the enemy appeared to be running short of reserves on land and in the air and be losing momentum.
 (Germany denied Russian planes attacked Berlin last night)
 Our troops fought the enemy last night all along the front, espe- cially fierce fighting occurring in the Volokolamsk and Mozhaisk di- rections," the noon war commit nique broadcast by radio Moscow said.
 British experts said the Germans seemed to have shifted their great- est weight to drive into the Orel sector, where the Russians admit ted some enemy gains, and that if the German push into the Crimea is confirmed 1t would mean a "seri- ous" change in the situation threat c-ing Rostov and the Caucasus oil fields.
 There is no immediate threat to the Russian Black Sea fleet (based at Sevastorol in the Crimea) but the fighting in the south may assume a different character" the British au- thorities said.
 "The Germans, if they succeed in the Crimea, will be able to fight on a broader front"
 Success in Crimea would not only release Axis forces for the attack on Rostov but would open a short cut across the narrow gap of wa ter (about four miles) dividing the eastern Crimea from the oil fields of the Krasnodar sector, leading to- ward the Caucasus. A thrust into that sector would finak the Russians on the Rostov front.
 British sources took a serious view of the fighting in the Orel area, some 200 miles south of Moscow where the Germans appeared to have thrown a large number of tanks and airplanes into a new at- tempt to break through and encircle the capital.
 The Orel drive is aimed at Tula, on the railroad only 100 miles south of Moscow, and was described as grave new development"
 Radio Moscow, broadcasting re- ports from front correspondents, said the Orel situation was serious due to the gathering of the Hast forces" of the enemy in an effort to blast path to Moscow.
 German infontry supported by tanks and dive-bombers captured several towns near Orel, but a Rus sian counter-attack re-captured one town and filtered the battlefield with broken enemy tanks, smashed artillery and corpses."
 The Red Star said that near "P'' the Germans lost more than 80 tanks, 100 trucks and about 1000 dead.