Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-07-31
Crisis in Russia

(risIS in Russia
1t did not take ringing exhorta-
tions from Joseph Stain and other
Russian spokesman to indicate the
crucial situation in South Russia A
glance at the map reveals that the
campaign is reaching its decisive
phase.
In his order of the day to the army
defending Stalingrad, the Red Die
tator bids his troops fight to the
death rather than give another inch
of ground before the city which
bears his name. Stalingrad, the
Pittsburgh of Southeastern Russia,
with its steel works, its railway
yards, and its command of the
mighty river, Volga, is the key to
Soviet defense. The army organ,
Red Star. admits that its loss would
imperil the Soviet Union, while Ilya
Ehrenburg, leading Russian press
commentator, emphasizes Germany's
about effort and urges an immediate
second front" against what he ar
CUES is Germany's weakened hold on
Western Europe.
From this revealing chorus of min
gled exaltation and anxiety a factual
survey of the battle-ground will round
out the picture. Three crucial points
should be noted. The most impor-
tant is, of course, the sector before
Stalingrad. The Russians still re-
tain foothold on the west bank of
the Don, in the northeast angle of
the big bend made by that river as
it nears the Volga. What the Red
high command seems to be doing is
shovelingin of it's abundant hu-
man reserves, to check or at least
slow down the German mechanical
advance. This is a costly method,
but it seems to be the main trump
card still in Timoshenko's hand, and
Russia can expend manpower much
more freely than the Axis. The mo-
rale OF the Red troops is so high that
they may be expected to fight with
fanatical fury, taking higher toll
from this struggle of men against
machines than would be true Of less
devoted and stubborn troops If Tim
oshenko is ready to pay the price
in blood, he may be able to hold off
the Axis drive on Stalingrad for a
time, while other sectors of the battle
are developing.
The darkest outlook for the Rus
slams is on their left flank, south and
east of captured Rostov. There, Mos
cow admits the Red armies are still
in retreat, while Berlin claims to have
knitted southwark 100 miles beyond
Rostov and cut the trunk railway
from the Caucasus to Stalingrad.
This region, known as the Kuban
steppe, is all open, level country, ideal
for mechanical warfare. II the Ger
mans get much farther south, they
will outflank the Russian forces de-
Tending the Caucasian side of the
Kerch strait. Then the German
Army of the Crimea, vigilantly poised
on the other side of that strait, could
spring across and take the retreat
ing Russians in flank or rear. Al
though Russian reserves from the
Caucasus are doubtless being thrown
into the battle for the Kuban, limo
shenko cannot spare much aid from
his threatened center at vital Stain
grad to bolster his hard pressed left
flank in the Kuban.
The best hope of reversing the cur
rent trend appears to lie northward
at Voronezh, on the Upper Don,
where the Russians are still attack
ing the German bridgehead estab-
lished there three weeks ago as the
pivot on which to hinge their far
flung southeastWard swing. Voro-
nezh is the link between Timoshen-
kos southern army group and the
central army group based on Mos
COW. Many of the Red troops used
in Russian counterattacks at Voro-
nezh seem to have come from the
central nucleus. Very large Russian
reserves must be massed in the Mos
cow region and conceivably could be
used in counterdrive aimed at
breaking the Axis hinge and en-
dangering their communications. But
those reserves cannot be drawn upon
indefinitely without laying Moscow
open to a German thrust. Thus the
strategic picture broadens until the
entire eastern front is potentially
involved
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