Evening star., 1941-08-03
Nazis Expected 10 Win
Russia in 10 Days,
Prisoners Say
Captured Musician Tells
Of Order TO PIoy
Victory March
By ERSKINE CALDWELL,

BY ERSkINE CALDWELL,
Special Correspondent of The Star and PM.
MOSCOW, Aug. 2.-The plight
Of a middle-aged German sheet
metal worker called to the German
Army several months ago and Or
dered to play a trombone during
the proposed victory march through
the Soviet Union was described
today by Constantine Simonov. a
major of the Red Army reserve,
who has just returned to Moscow
after months at the front in the
Smolensk direction.
Simonov said the German from
bonist had been captured with other
German Army band members while
walking along a highway. He said
the German musicians told him they
were ordered to follow tank detach-
nents four kilometers in the rear
and play triumphal music,
"The German command evidently
were so sure of easy success that the
musicians were ordered to play
while walking along the highway
Simonov said. German tanks had
crossed the Soviet lines and the
musicians blithely followed They
had sidearms, but no rifles, EVIL
dently because the German officers
did not know where the Soviet lines
were.
"As soon as the tanks crossed
our lines, they were surrounded and
destroyed. The surprised musicians
eagerly surrendered when they dis
covered the blunder made by their
officers. The trombone player said
he had been told that the Soyiets
were 100 kilometers away"
Expected Short War.
Simonov said other prisoners told
him their officers said the war
would be a short one and that they
would be in Iraq in a few weeks.
Most of the German prisoners
had little sense of geography and
many of them thought they were
within 40 kilometers of Moscow as
soon as they crossed the Soviet
frontier" he said, adding, The ma
jority of German prisoners were
between 20 and Is or between 40
and As"
In describing the action at the
front, Simonov said that several
days ago in the Smolesnk direction
he witnessed what he termed a Ger
man psychological attack
Instead of spreading out the in
fantry in thin line" Simonov said,
the Germans marched forward in
close ranks attempting to create
the illusion of a small detachment.
Red Army officers knew this trick
from study of German tactics
used in the first World War, but
this is not the first World War and
our artillery fire broke up the close
ranks within a few minutes.
Demoralizing Effect.
This apparently had a demoraliz-
Ing effect on both the officers and
men in the German detachments
because instead of remaining to fight
most of them retreated and the re-
n1ainder surrendered.
Every time one of the German
schemes goes to pieces like that the
Germans become demoralized and
retreat"
Simonov said the Germans tried
to employ many psychological
methods of attack, but without ex-
ception they failed He described
the efforts of the Germans to create
confusion in the rear of the Red
Army by sending large number of
bombing planes over. Each plane
dropped one bomb and then tubs
full OF leaflets of every description.
He said most of them were written
In such illiterate Russian that the
Red Army soldiers could not make
them out.
In one incident Simonov said a
German leaflet gave instructions to
truck and automobile drivers be-
hind Soviet lines on how to disable
motor trucks and cars. He said
drivers corrected the spelling and
grammar and sent leaflets back to
be dropped behind German lines.
Fighting Fierce.
Simonov said the fighting in the
SmolenSk direction had been fierce.
He said large tank battles had
taken place in that direction, and
he described one engagement which
the Germans undertook under cover
OF night. According to him, 10 per
cent of the tanks advanced toward
the Soviet lines, and because the
Red Army did not charge into them
with their own tanks the Germans
supposed their advance would be
easy. A large number of infantry
were brought forward on trailers
attached to tanks. When the Ger
man forces had advanced to the.
middle of the Soviet line Red Army
soldiers and artillerymen attacked
them with anti-tank howitzers and
gasoline bottles.
he said 80 tanks were destroyed