Evening star., 1941-10-11
Nozi Drive on Moscow Slowed,
Reds Claim, but Acknowledge
New Grave Threat Has Arisen
Both Sides Pouring
Reinforcements to
Big Bottle Scene

BY the Associated Press.
Russia's armies, falling back to
shorter defense front under
cover of night. were reported to
have slowed down the Today old
German drive on Moscow today,
but Soviet dispatches acknowl-
edged the existence of a grave
new threat in the Vyazma sector,
125 miles west of the U. S. S. R.
capital.
The danger is great" said the
army newspaper. Red Star.
German attacks in the Vyazma
sector were repulsed overnight and
the invaders suffered heavy losses,
the Soviet government declared, but
the Red Army acknowledged that
its situation still was critical on that
vital front. The Russians said a
German plan of encirclement had
been baked.
Great masses of Russian reserves,
warmly dressed for winter action
and bolstered by new tanks and
fast planes. we're reported moving
up to the front.
Red Star said reserve German di-
visions we're rushing into the lnces-
SAINT battle also.
Escaping Reds Moved Down.
German reports asserted that
hundreds of thousands of Russian
corpses Uttered the battletlelds
around Bryansk, 220 miles south
west of Moscow. Red troops at
tempting to escape encirclement by
creeping through German lines at
night were said to have been moved
down in great numbers.
A bulletin from Adolf Hitler's
field headquarters reported that
huge-scale slaughter of Russian
forces trapped in the Bryansk and
Vyazma sectors was proceeding rap
idlv. while on the Southern
CUkraine) front, the high command
said annihilation of Soviet troops
north of the Sea of Azov was ap-
preaching completion.
If true. this would pave the way
for a direct German assault on the
Don River port of Rostov, gateway
to the vital Caucasian oil fields.
In the north, around Leningrad,
the German high command said
IL Russian attempts to break out
of the old Czarist capital failed yes
terday and that % super-heavy So
Wet tanks were destroyed in three
days of fighting.
Big Toll Taken of Germans.
Concentrating huge forces OF in
fantry, tanks and artillery, the
Germans were said by Red Star to
have thrust a salient toward Vyaz-
ma, in the center of the battle area
midway between Smolensk and Mos
COW and at the focus of the heavi-
est German onslaught.
Red Star said the defenders ex-
acted a high price from the Ger
mans and the communique declared
800 Germans we're killed in the
night long fighting in which, 1t
said. "our troops fought the enemy
along the entire front, with par
ticular flerceness in the directions
of wanna and Bryansk." ="
Other Russian sources said
whole German transport column
rushing arms and ammunition to
the front was destroyed in mine
field laid by Soviet guerrillas.
North of Orel, the German-held
rail city 220 miles below Moscow,
the Russians reported new German
efforts to smash through northward
since Thursday after an initial
thrust was halted just beyond the
city.
Fight RACES All Day.
Fighting ragged from dawn to dark
with the Germans sending over
waves of tanks in increasing num-
Der, Red Star said. 1t acknowledged
that Nazi infantry broke through to
Soviet trenches in the night but
declared they were repulsed and
"the Fascists lost the days battle"
After initial success in stemming
German attacks around Vyazma, in
fiicting heavy losses on the invaders,
the Russians conceded their lines
had been torn by deep wedges in
that defense zone.
In the Bryansk sector, where the
Russians said yesterday the NaZls
were advancing "over mountains OF
German corpses," out-flanked Red
divisions withdrew to new positions
during the night under cover of
heavy rear guard actions.
The depth of the Soviet with
drawal was not disclosed, but pre-
sumably they fell back to shorter,
straighter line between Vyazma and
Tula. along the Okla and Ugra
Rovers.
Destruction Progresses.
Destruction of forces encircled
In the vicinity of Bryansk and
Vya1na is progressing rapidly" Hit
lers field headquarters reported.
Desperate attempts by the op-