Evening star., 1942-09-20
StoIingrod Totters


centuries and has been magnifcently
displayed in this war on many occa-
sions. Whatever may be the outcome
Of the current siege of Stalingrad
the last ditch resistance of the heroic
defenders will live forever in Russian
military annals. Yet even Moscow
dispatches reveal situation at Stall
lngrad which looks ominously like
the final phase.
Ihls does not mean that fighting
in the beleaguered city will end today
or tomorrow. Berlin admits that the
modernized City of Stain, with it's
brick or concrete factories and work.
ers' apartment houses. has been
turned into an immense fortress
which must be blasted to pieces bit
by bit. Even the ruins made by
artillery fire and dive bombers har-
Dor Red snipers and machine gun
nests that must be mopped up pain
fully by the attackers. The garrison
is large and is ably supported by the
civilian population, which the census
of 1899 gives as nearly 100000. Those
civilians, men, women and even chill
dren, are fighting and dying with
arms in their hands, and in hand-to-
hand combat such as now prevails
they can be almost as effective as
regular soldiers. 1t takes a lot of
killing to dispose of so great a mass
OF devoted humanity as that which
has dedicated itself to defending
Stalingrad literally to the last gasp.
Furthermore, some troop reinforce
ments from Siberia are said to have
reached the city by an undisclosed
route, and the Germans say they are
being hampered by heavy autumn
rains.
The situation thus has its favorable
aspects, at least for the immediate
future. But the overall picture is
dark. Stalingrad's basic handicap is
that it is strategically not defensible.
The city sprawls for some fifteen
miles along the Volga wedged in be-
tween the steep bluffs that overlook
the river and low hills which rise on
the landward side. Those hills are
now in German hands, and from
them heavy guns rake every part of
Stalingrad with a ceaseless plunging
fire. The besiegers likewise control
the air over both the city and the
river. Although reinforcements and
supplies still may be able to run the
Volga blockade under cover of dark
ness. it is difficult to believe that they
can be enough to replace the monu-
mental human and material wastage
which each day of fighting must
bring.
Stalingrad's best hope seems to lie
in a possible cracking of the besieg-
ers, due to a breakdown of their
supply lines. How the German high
command has been able to keep up
a continuous flow of men, munitions,
oil and foodStuffs over land commu-
nicationS stretching fully 900 miles
from Germany across conquered Po-
land and the Ukraine is a mystery.
But thus far the task has been accom-
plished. 1t is this "quartermaster'
battle ceaselessly waged behind the
fighting front that presumably will
be the deciding factor Casualties
suffered by the besiegers probably
will not, of themselves, suffice. Stall
ingrad has become not merely
prime strategic objective, but also
vital symbol. To fail before Stain
grad would be a moral blow that
would shake the whole Axis structure
to its foundations. This, Hitler and
his high command know only too
well. They must, therefore, take
Stalingrad at any cost, even though
the price paid will be so heavy that
the German war machine will be
crippled for action elsewhere. This
is the ultimate query raised by the
super-siege along the Volga. II cap
tured Stalingrad should turn out to
be truly Pyrrhic victory, temporary
loss will be abiding gain for Russia
and the United Nations.