Imperial Valley press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1907-current, 1942-12-27
Red
I'm 9Th
Drive
RY NJ. S. HANDLER

MOSCOW, Dec. 26-(UP)-ltuS-
sias red army opened fifth maj
or offensive today in the bloody
streets of Stalingrad.
While powerful red armies drove
| Tie Germans before them III The
middle Don, southwest Of Stain
grad, in the caucasus and on the
Central front west of Moscow, the
Russians opened their fifth drive
in the factory center of Stalingrad.
scene of the red VeEdun."
Shoca troops of the famous
guards, attacking with bayonet and
hand grenade house by house. OPP
ened their attack during the night,
the noon communique said.
FACTORY STORMED
In he first phase Of their attack
they captured or destroyed IL gun
emplacements and 81 pill boxes.
They stormed bio, heavily FORTH
fled factory and. wiping out 500
Germans in a fight to the death,
took the building and with it %
machine guns l08 rifles and 400
hand grenadeS.
In addition to their major drives,
| the Russians continued on the OF
! fcnsive northwest of Stalingrad and
made further progress during the
week end in addition to beating off
counter-attacks.
The noon communicate disclosed
that in the great middle Don Oh
fensive, where they had penetrat-
ed to the Ukraine, tho RuSsianS
were now slashing into the rear
of bewildered German detachmen,S.
WHOLE UNIT CAPTURED
The captured $50 men in single
unit in one of these f0ra3S, the
room communique said.
Yesterday, the Russians on tie
middle Don front had captured
1000 prisoners in & single gsoap.
IN addition to 3,G00 Others. and a
special communicate reported tn,.t
! the enemy were now aHuidOMn9
now heavy guns just arrived At the
/ frCnt.
They had brought their niac-
day total of prisoners To 1900 and
/ yesterday alone they captured ~
guns in The middle Doa fighting.
Their gains up to midnight 'ot. led
81 to 118 miles.
PLEA TO GUERILlAS
From Moscow, the Uliranian gov
eminent, premier josef Stain, the
cabinet and the Russian communist
party, informing the Ukranian pee
pie of the break into Hitler's Ell
ropean fortress" appealed to men
ond women TO intensity guerilla ac-
tlvity, preparing for the compielc
liberation of their native land.
"Th Ukraine was and will be
Soviet country" the appGa! said.
The noon communiquc reported
that in the Kharkov area, $50 miles
west of the red army's bulge into
the rich Ukraine, guerillaS in raid
on a German battalion headquar-
ters killed IL enemy staff Officers
and 70 men.
TANKS KNOCKED OUT
Attacking tirelessly through the
right southwest Of Stalingrad, the
Russians captured fortified point
in one sector and knocked out 30
German tanks and killed 800 men
ii another
A special communlque nad re-
vealed that, after breaking Ger
man counterattacks, which started
| Dec. u and had steadily increased
il ferocity, the Russians went over
&c the offensive, made GAINS along
wide front far from Il 20 Is miles
liberated up TO LOCO square miles
of territory and drove the Germans
across the Aksia river TO point
&C miles southwest of Stalingrad
and only 80 miles from the city OF
kotelnivoko on the main railroad
tC the Caucasus.
ATTACKS CONTINUE
In their CaucacuS drive, in the
area southeast of Nalchik, where
the Germans had tried vainly to
driven into the great oil fields, Rus
sian troops continued attacks thru
out the night and the noon COM
munique said, occupied several adj
ditional inhabited points.
One of the grimmest fights OF
the Caucasus campaign was Waged
in one such two where the Germans
defended every street and every
house, the noon communique re-
ported.
The Russians flanked the enemy,
Killed 200, took the town ana six
tanks, 81 field guns and 200 rifles.
In fighting yesterday northwest
IF Stalingrad, the Russians wiped
out 20 German dugouts and pill
boxes, two trench mortar batteries
and two machine gun nests. Dur
ING the night thev consolidated
gains and, in trench raids, killed
about 300 Germans.