Evening star., 1942-02-06
Germans Are Rushing
Reinforcementsb by
Air, Russians Say
Nozis Stiffen Resistance;
ItoIion PIones Reported
At Front First Time

By the Associated Press.
German efforts to block the
Russian offensive somewhere
short Of the old frontier of the
Soviet Union have gained
strength - evidently from air
borne reinforce,nents-but, &C
cording to dispatches to Moscow
from the front today, the Red
Army Is still moving forward.
These dispatches, however. sig
nificantly related instances of Ger
man superiority In nunbers-the
first such phrase to appear in
considerable time.
The conclusion was that with the
fine flying weather of the last few
days the Germans were able to
bring up many reserves by air Many
captives reported that this method
of transport, enforced by the winter
difficulties of movement by land,
was being widely used by the Ger,
mans.
The dispatches stress on in
creased German strength conceded
with disclosure by the German high
command that the Reich's famed
air force, the instrument which
pulverized resistance in Belgium,
Holland and France, had called on
italian warplanes for help in the
battle with Russia.
Goering Back From Italy.
This latter disclosure coincided
with an announcement that ReichS-
marshal Hermann Wilhelm Goering,
chief of the German Air Force, had
just completed visit to Italy.
In fighting yesterday against the
Soviet air force, in which the italian
air force took part, 80 enemy planes
were shot down or destroyed on the
ground" bulletin from Adolf Hit
lers field headquarters said
1t was the first time italian planes
had been mentioned in action on
the Soviet front.
Whether the Germans are suffer-
ing a shortage in planes or pilots
was not disclosed, but recent So
Wet communiques have emphasized
heavy German air losses.
Today's Red Army bulletin, for
example. reported 38 planes de-
stroyed Wednesday against 10 Rus
sian planes missing.
Superiority Admitted,
The first instance of German
numerical superiority to appear
after a long lapse was a Russian
dispatch from an unspecified sector
which said that "at one point of
the front the enemy. having superb
ority in numbers, strongly pressed
upon our detachment"
The two principal Moscow news
papers headlined the German coun-
terattack resistance.
IZvestia said:
Fascist occupants try to strength
en- themselves on defense lines to
halt advance OF the Red Army.
Our heroic troops successfully repel
counterattacks, break resistance
move forward, chase Germans con-
tinuously, ruthlessly exterminate
Hitler's robbers, crush their old re-
serve divisions"
Pravda's headlines:
Glorious troops of Red Army,
surmounting resistance of counter
attacking enemy, continue to move
forward, not weakening for single
minute blows upon enemy, breaking
resistance. ."
Ordered to Stand Firm.
Prisoners from the 35th German
Infantry Division told the Red Army
that all detachments had received
stern orders to defend every viii
lage to the last man. The orders
said that any German who retreat
ed without orders would be sent
before a military tribunal. But de-
spite this warning, the prisoners
said. there were further retreats.
The regular Moscow communique
charged that the Germans used
civilians as a shield for a counter
attack in one sector
A retreating German
infantry unit launched a counter
attack, driving about 80 Soviet citi-
zens, women, old men and children,
in front of them" the bulletin said,
buS added that automatic rifemen
attacked from the flanks and wiped
out the Germans without harming
the civilians.
The Vichy news agency reported