Evening star., 1942-12-21
Reds Pace Rivals
Sweep Of Hitler
Forces in July
BY EDDY GILMORE,

MOSCOW, Dec. 21.-The Red
Army's middle Don offensive, its
third of the winter, rolled on to
the edge of the Ukraine and to-
ward the vast coal, iron and
hydroelectric regions of the
Donets Basin today.
Showing no signs of slackening
the Russians moved at pace which
rivaled the eastward sweep of Hit
ler's forces last July over the same
ground
Caught before the Red Army on
rush and in the cruel grip of the
wind-driven SHOWS of the Don Cos
sack steppes was a mounting toll OF
dead and captured Germans-more
than $4,000
Adding new villages to the 300
already recaptured. the Russians
occupied many of the airdromes on
the steppes from which the Ger
mans have been flying huge trans
ports to supply % trapped divisions
in the Don-Volga corridor at Stalin-
grad.
Forced to Move Bases.
The Germans were being forced
progressively to move these bases
back toward the Rostov area, $50
miles from Stalingrad. AS the aerial
supply route heightened, the Ger
man transports faced increasing
danger from Soviet fighters, which
were officially reported to have shot
down "a of the big carriers in the
last week.
The Germans we're reported
counterattacking fiercely in an at
tempt to slow this new onslaught,
but the midday communique said
the enemy, under the heavy blows
of the Red Army, was rolling back
to the southwest, suffering heavy
losses"
To the $4,000 Germans already re-
ported killed in this new offensive
the Russians added nearly 1,700
more today More weary and
chilled German prisoners joined the
1880 sent streaming back to the
rear during the first five days of the
offensive.
One Soviet unit alone killed 1900
Nazi troops in recapturing several
more villages in the Middle Don re-
gion and in another sector $50 more
lay dead on the field of battle after
Russian forces had eyicted them
from their village garrison. More
prisoners we're taken and large
quantities of war equipment were
captured.
Continues to Drive Forward.
There was no faltering in the two
offensiveS already under way when
the new storm was loosed on the
Germans, the communique reported.
The Red Army continued to drive
forward in the Rzhev area on the
central front, and the communique
said 500 Germans were killed in
a bitter fight for a strongly forti-
fed German position in one sector.
In the Stalingrad area, too, there
was heavy fighting with the Ger
mans communicating viciously
both northwest and southwest of
the city and the Russians stub
bornly protecting their gains and
pressing for more.
The midday communique said
that Soviet airmen destroyed 20
enemy planes in a raid on Ger
man airdrome and shot down three
more in air fights.
In the new offensive the forces
sweeping down from the Voronezh
region are under the command of
1t. Gen. F. I. Golikov. commander
of the Voronezh garrison, who
visited the United States and Great
Britain a few months ago as a
member of the Soviet Purchasing
Committee.
The other army, operating in the
upper Don elbow, is under Col. Gen.
N. F. Vatutin, commander of the
southwestern front.
Bearing Down on Millerovo.
Already astride the strategic Mos
cow-Rostov railway line, Russian
troops were reported bearing down
on the key railroad junction of
Millerovo, about 100 miles north of
Rostov. A special communique said
the Red Army had occupied Man
kovo-K o-Kalitvenskaya, 80 miles north
of Millerovo, and Degteva, about Is
miles northeast of the junction.
(The German news agency DNB
= acknowledged last night that the
German Army had found it
necessary to shorten" its front
on the middle DOM
Crunching forward over the pow
der -blackened snow, the Russian
armies already have gathered some
300 villages or populated places
into their lines and captured i'm
pressive stores of German wal
equipment, Soviet advices said.
"A special Soviet communique
which must have cheered Premier
Joseph Stain as he grimly marked
his SD birthday today, reported the
capture of the following booty in the
five days ending yesterday:
10 Eighty-nine tanks as well as a
trainload of tanks, 1920 guns OF
various caibers, 800 mortars. 1855
machine guns, $500 trucks, 81
trailers, 5000 horses, over 100000
kifle cartridges, over 100000 shells
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