Evening star., 1942-09-25
Germons, Bott|ing Desperately
Against Flank Menace, Fail in
New lnfiItrotions at Sto|inqrod
Nuzi Tunks CRUISING
Streets and Alleys
Of City on VoIeo
By the Associated Press.

on the defensive on Stalingrad',
northwestern rim by the devel.
opment of the Red Army's flank.
Ing counterattack. the German.
were reported today to have
failed in fresh inflltration at
tempts against the city while
battling desperately against the
menace from the flank.
The epic battle centered like ,
consuming cyclone on the north.
western sector where the Russian.
had recaptured two dominatins
heights and nearby populated sec.
tions, according to today's Stain
grad dispatches.
CThe German high command
declared its troops had taken
further fortified points in fierce
street fighting" and, conceding
the defensive nature of the fight
on the flank, said Soviet relief
attacks against the northern
barrier erected by German and
allied troops were repulsed In
hard fghting.")
z5,00o Nazis Slain in Week.
The Russian Army newspaper Red
Star declared no other city in this
war had been such a battlefield as
Stalingrad. A military commenta-
tor quoted by Tass, official Russian
news agency, said the Germans had
lost more than $4,000 dead in the
course OF the last week.
And Stalingrad is not the fortress
which Verdun was" he added.
Red Star said German tanks we're
cruising the streets and alleys of
Stalingrad, seeking to fall unex-
pectedly on the Russian positions
and demoralize the men holding
them.
Despite this inflltration, it was
said, the Russians were countering
successfully, with anti-tank guns
and grenades, generally holding
their ground. One street running
from the western edge of the city
to the high cliffs along the volga
was attacked scores of times" by
German tank forces and tommygun
shock troops-without avail.
Heavy Blows Against Enemy.
Heavy fighting RACES day and
night In the streets of Stalingrad,"
said Tass commentary which elab-
Grated on the nature of tank and
anti-tank warfare on such strange
terrain. taaF #tE s ~
The courageous defenders OF the
city bar the enemy's way, dealing
him heavy blows. The Germans
exert every effort to capture more
streets but encounter stubborn re-
sistance everywhere.
/. "One street leading from the west
towards the Volga has been the
object of scores Of enemy attacks,
but the Germans failed to score any
success. The enemy tanks sped
there In successive waves, attempt
ing to break our resistance by in
cessant attacks. However, Soviet
anti-tank artillery ana infantry re-
pulsed all attacks.
"Our troops surround and ami
hilate groups of enemy automatic
rifien1en whenever they manage to
tnfiltrate into our positions
TN street engagements the Ger
mans use on q wide scale tanks of
all classes, from light to heavy.
The enemy tanks as a rule advance
in small groups and frequently
operate singly. Usually small groups
of German automatic rifiemen take
cover behind them"
Press Toward Grozny.
Still denied Stalingrad, the Ger
man high command threw a new
weight of numbers into the Caucasus
penetration. struggling to develop an
attack toward Grozny, the big Oil
town.
The Russians sustained this new
offensive effort generally, dispatches
said. but the Germans made some
progress in the area Of an unidenti-
fled village. The Russians also were
reported still stoutly resisting Axis
assaults southeast of Novorossisk on
the Black Sea coast.
An Izvestia dispatch from the
Mozdok area on the Grozny front
said the Russians had attacked ST
German tanks, destroying 16 OF
them.
On the Leningrad front, in the
Sinyavino area to the east, the
Germans were said to have sent
more bombers and tanks into the
lighting, trying to recapture last
positions, but the Russians held firm,
dispatches asserted.
AT one place the Germans tried
10 cross an unidentified river but
were reported badly defeated.
The extent of the fighting north
vest Of Stalingrad was not specified
In the Russian accounts, which con-
tinued to credit the Germans with
"stih resistance At one place,
however the Russians struck deep
into the, German defenses, Red Star
said.
A savage battle was indicated
northwest of the city, where Rus
sian planes, tanks, heavy artillery
and foot troops have struck re-
peatedly into the Germans left
wing.
Field dispatches said Red Army
task forces had captured two hills
and, In one sector, killed 900 Ger
mans.
Civilians Of Stalingrad were re-
ported to have poured out of their
cellars, caves in the Volga cliffs and
factory shelters and helped the Red
Army maintain its 31-day-old de-
Tense in streets, lanes and squares.
Thousands had been withdrawn
across the river, but others refused
to leave. Dispatches said the fight
ing was so bitter that the combat
ants regarded even the surrender of
q house as a near calamity.
Unbroken by incessant bombing
and tremendous assaults by infan-
try, tanks and tommy gunners, the
Russians battled on from wrecked
n .