Detroit evening times., 1942-07-16
Red Armies
Not Beaten,
MaIIon Says
Hitler Has Far TO 90.
Won't Get There
BY PAUL MALL0N

give ground until the attack is
spent. Then the Reds custom
arily move in against the pant
ing and exhausted foe. with
counter-attacks.
For this, and many other rea-
sons, authorities have discounted
the direst possibilities of recent
news from Russia.
For instance, those two sali-
ents which the Nazis first drove
TO the Don were narrow mech
anized pushes. They were long.
slender fingers driven into the
Russian position, not complete
wholesale advance on the 200
mile front.
1t is true they cut the two
railroads from Rostov TO Mos
COW at Voronezh and Rossosh
and thus succeeded in hindering
communications between Timo-
shenko's southern army and the
central army.
DUT these railroads have been
ID used only for troops. Sup
plies have always gone from the
north by a safer route, around
through Stalingrad.
Furthermore, even if Stalin-
grad falls and the Volga is cut
there, the Russians would still
have one rail line left to the
Caucasus oil from Astrakhan
straight north.
So, while the two handiest
troop rail-routes were cut at the
outset of the drive, supplies
were able to move to Timo-
shenko as usual. and his cause
was not irreparably damaged.
Furthermore. the thin line of
the German advance left Hitler
the problem of protecting his
flanks as he moved forward,
and limited his operations.
AT THE two heads of the thin
"A salients, Voronezh and Ros-
sosh, his troops turned SOUTH
ward fighting their way down
the railroads and the Don River.
The Russian defenses along
the Don were seriously ham,
pered by the winding nature of
the river. and their inability to
get back and forth across it.
There are few bridges in that
region, and the German attack
swept down both banks of the
river. In one big bend, a very
large Russian force was en-
trapped.
1t was clear, also. that if his
attack onward from VoroneZh
could reach the little railroad
town of Povorino, it would pre-
sent a much more serious threat
to Timoshenko, for there his
:upply route running around
through Stalingrad could be cut.
FURTHERMORE, il the Nazi
Il thrust down the Don reached
Stalingrad before ii spent itself,
the vital Volga oil and supply
route would be gone and MOTH
ing would be left except the
Astrakhan route. Even so, all
would not necessarily be lost.
While the southern army
would then be completely cut
off, Russian fighting ability in
such circumstance is widely re-
spected.
A counter-attack by the south
ern and central armies straight
across Hitler's salient to join
them again and leave his advance
forces surrounded, would still be
a possibility.
To win in Russia, Hitler must
crush the Russian armies COM
pletely and cause them to sue
for an armistice. AS was proved,
TO the surprise of the world, last
year, advances in thin salients
and captures of strategic towns
do not necessarily bring decisive
results. The fighting is not
over. even when the detectives
are reached.
MO ONE knows or will even
~ attempt 10 guess when the
power of the German attack will
diminish, whether at Lisichansk
or Kantemirovka two points at
which il was headed down the
railroads at this writing). or
whether it will be able TO 60 on
TO Stalingrad.
1t must stop some day and
when that day comes, better
news from that front may start.
Little satisfaction can be de-
rived from going on beyond
these immediate Nazi detectives
10 consider what will happen if
they all go and Hitler starts the
last lap of his drive for the real
economic prize of this campaign,
which is the Caucasus oil.
A supplemental attack from
Taganrog on Rostov has been
momentarily expected. This is
the shortest route 10 that goal.
LIE WILL not hit oil until he
II gets to Krasnodar Git yields
about 100000 tons of oil year.
and Grozny To reach these
points, he will have TO cross
wide prairieS cut by sharp de-
preSsions and gullies. admirably
suited for Russian defense.