The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-12-01
Russians Penetrate Deeply Into Nazi Lines; Germans Now Desperate
  LOSS OF RztiEV WOULD BE HEAVY, SAYS HITLER In Stalingrad Area Reds Continue to Mop Up All
 Resistance
BY NJ. s. HANDLER United Press Staff Correspondentl

Moscow, December l. - (UP)-RuSSian forces pushed back the Germans in the Stalingrad area again today and drove forward through fierce blizzards in their new offensive northwest of Mos. COW in a battle of steadily growing fury. Axis defenses were crumbling before the Red Armys onslaught in the Rzhee. vyazma- Velki Luki triangle north west of the capital. The Soviee advanced in several sectors despite increasing counter attacks, and oc. cupied a number of localities anc heavily fortified points.
 The Russians had pen strated iG miles beyond the German front line defenseS and were assaulting successive rings of defense lines, elaborately constructed to great depth.
 Pivotal Points in Danger
 The fighting ragged toward a series of pivotal points on which the entire German communication system hinged Rzhev, Vyazma, Smolensk, veliki Luki and Riga. Front line dispatches said the en. emy was yielding slowly.
 The Germans were trying des- perately to recover lost territory in the northwest sector, increasing the fury of their counter-attacks in compliance win an order from Adolf Hitler to held Rzhev ct all costs.
 The army newspaper Red Star said Hitler had warned his com- manders that "the loss of Rzhev would be equivalent to the loss of half of Berlin" Accordingly, Ger man leaGsrs exhorted their men to hold the city to the last man to facilitate eXtricating encircled Ger man troops in the area.
 Railroad Line Cut
 South of Rzhev. the Russians had cut the railroad to Vyazma, depriv- ing the enemy of his sole important supply line. At the apex of the northwest triangle, they had driven almost to within striking distance of the Latvian border, less than 100 miles beyond Veliki Luki.
 The Germans launched a series of determined counter-attacks in an attempt to recapture the Rzhev- Cyazma railroad yesterday, front line dispatches said, but all were repulsed with Russian artillery playing a major part in the action.
 At Stalingrad, thes Soviets con- tinued successful development of the second phase of their opera tions with a two-fold objective: to mop up pockets of resistance in the central part of the Don river elbow between the east bank of the Don and Stalingrad, and to fill the gaps in two semi-circular lines surround ing Axis armies estinat-3 at up- wards of 20 divisions (300,000 mem.
 Enemy Forced Backward
 The Soviet noon communiQue re- ported that the enemy had been forced "to reel backward southwest ward" in the Stalingrad area.
 The inner ring surrounding the Germans extended from 6 point on the Voronezh- h-Stalingrad railroad along east bank of the Don bend, bisected the Stalingrad-Rostov rail- road and ended in the south sector of the Stalingrad front.
 The outer ring stretched south- westward from KletSkaya, 75 miles northwest of Stalingrad, touched Chernyshevskaya in the Rostov ad- ministrative district. crossed tc Surovikino on the Stalingrad rail- road and cut the Stalingrad- -Cau- casuS railroad.
 All railroads and important high ways in the Stalingrad area thus were in Russian hands.
 The Red Army continued to nar- row the small gaps between the |