Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-05-20

and from Kerch air strength could
be applied and even a light IN
vasion thrust across the straits
could be launched.
The German and Russian armies
are locked in titanic struggle not
only on the Kerch but at kharkov,
where violent Soviet offensive
caught the Nazis off balance and
menaced the entire German salient
driven oward the Caucasus last
year.
NEW DRIVE SEEN
With a Russian wedge already
hammered into that salient south
and west of Kharkov, Soviet re-
capture of the city would permit
the Red armies to straighten their
lines in preparation for an often
sive striking south TO the Black
Sea to cut of the entire German
thrust.
The Nazi push on the Kerch may
very well have been intended as a
prelude 10 a multiple Axis often
sive against the Russian supply
lines through the Caucasus and the
Middle East.
But much as Adolf Hitler de-
sires the Caucasus with its high
quality lubricating oil and its
great strategic value, an invasion
from the Kerch must await the
long expected companion drive by
the Nazis against Rostov in an
attempt to enter the Caucasus
from the north.
A German thrust across the
straits of Kerch would be doomed
to almost certain defeat without
support from another direction,
for the invading troops would be
thanked from all sides by Soviet
forces and impeded by the lofty
Caucasus mountains.
MUST WAIT A BIT
But apparently the Germans
must wait a while longer. Soviet
Marshal Semyon Timoshenko's
furious drive at Kharkov should
give the NaZis plenty TO do with
out pursuing their own ambitions
to seize RoStov, the northern gate
way to the Caucasus recaptured
by the Russians last year.
There are other indications that
the Germans must wait before
they can hope for success in q
drive eastward in southern Russia.
According 10 reliable sources,
the terrain over which the Wehr-
macht must trample in any strong
drive against the Caucasus is not
yet dry enough for a major Often
Sive.
While considerable avenues over
high ground are said to be baked
hard. the rest of the area still is a
mass of mud. Until the sector is
almost completely dry, German
armies attempting a drive would
be denied freedom of maneuver,
and consequently the offensive will
probably wait.
SEE MASSED THRUST
When and if the drive on the
Caucasus finally comes, there is
much likelihood that with it will
be coupled with a Nazi offensive
against Cyprus and Syria by Ger
man parachute and glider troops
reported masSing in Greece and
Crete.
With Vichy Admiral Jean OAR
Ian reported in the French naval
base of Toulon this week in the
company of German officers, adj
ditional weight was lent to the
belief of some that Pierre Laval
would dislodge the Petain govern
ment completely from its neutral
position by employing the French
fleet in the attempt to regain
Syria
If the Axis can gain control of
Syria it will be set for further
drives against Iran and Iraq and
the Russian supply lines running
through the former country and
against Suez and the Arabian
peninsula, where a juncture with
the eastern representative of the
firm. Japan, might be possible.
Thus the advantages to be won
by German multiple offensive
directed at the Caucasus and the
Middle East would be great.
MOST PRESSING NEED
Caucasian petroleum. most of
which is concentrated near Baku
on the Aspheron Peninsula in the
Caspian. provides the only large
quantity production in Europe of
oil suitable for fabrication and
lubricants are probably the most
pressing need of the German war
machine.
The Caucasian fields produce sc
per cent of the oil in Russia and
their loss would MAIN the Soviet
war effort. While the Russians
have other fields al Emba, on the
north shore of the Caspian. and in
the Ural-Nolga region. their oil
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