Evening star., 1942-08-16

slams have had little to say about
those In recent communiques.)
A break in the Russian lines
south of Kotelnikovski poised the
new threat to Astrakhan.
The sheer weight Of Nazi reserves
forced the Russians to withdraw
slightly" south of Kotelnikovski.
Between the Nazi vanguards and
Astrakhan at the mouth of the
Volga on the Caspian Sea lie 240
miles of bare wastelands which have
poor roads. Much of the land is
swampy and below sea level
Astrakhan and Stalingrad both
are athwart the vital Allied supply
line from the Persian Gulf and the
oil route from Baku to interior
Russia. The loss OF either would
imperil gravely Russia's war po-
tential
A bad break in the Russian de-
fenses was acknowledged in yester-
days midday communique in the
Krasnodar district of the Caucasus,
where German automatic rif1emen
forced their way across the Kuban
river. The Germans there endan-
gered Maikop (Which they have
claimed to have captured and its
oil fields and also increased the
hazard of Red Army units being
cut off from the Black Sea.
Pay Heavily for Gains.
The communique said the Ger
mans massed big groups of tanks
and motorized infantry at Krasno-
dar but that they were paying
bloodily for every gain. Russian
planes and ground troops fought
resolutely ito exterminate the Ger
man rihemen who crossed to the
south bank" of the Kuban.
Red Star yesterday reported the
speed of the German assault in the
direction of Maikop, Cherkessy and
Mineralnaya Vody was slowed
somewhat
The battle in the Caucasus was
so mobile that the military press
declared there was no such thing
as a front in the present fighting.
CA Stockholm report broadcast
by the Vichy radio said the Ger
mans were obliged to rush REIN
forcements of planes and possi-
bly, troops to meet Russian at
tacks in the Rzhev, Vyazma,
Bryansk and Voronezh sectors,
where the Nazis have reported
Russian attacks for two weeks.
tThe Germans announced the
capture of Georgievsk on the
Baku Railway, 100 miles from the
Grozny oil fields, and said bitter
defensive battles were being
fought against diversionary Rus
sian attacks northwest of Voro-
nezh and in the Vyazma- -Rzhev
area l30 miles west of Moscow
Red Army units in the Caucasus
were reported hard pressed by the
German assaults and were having
to exercise extreme care to prevent
encirclement. Red Star said the
Germans were frequently regroup-
ing and concentrating large num-
bers of machines on the fiat. plain
like land so suitable for their mo-
tOriZed opera tionS
Large Reserves Piled Up.
OF the situation in the Stalingrad
area dispatches said the Germans
had piled up large reserves for fresh
assaults on Stalingrad and had
thrown some of them into the battle
In the Don bend at Kletskaya and
into the Kotelnikovski fight.
The Russians at Kletskaya were
driven to the banks of the Don at
one section, but Red Star yesterday
said they were inflicting appalling
casualties. The Germans threw
waves of 20 to 30 tanks at the de-
fenses. but the Russians from am
bushes burned out many. The tanks
were followed by waves of infantry
The Kotelnikovski fighting saw
masses of German mobile forces
moving up and down the lines seek
ing weak spots for break throughs.
The Germans were admittedly in
superior strength.