Evening star., 1942-01-02
Soviet Army Driving
Against Spearhead
OF Nazis al Mozhaisk
Recopture Of Storitso
And Destruction of
Tank Army Claimed
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
The hard-hitting Russian often.
sive on the Moscow front was re-
ported directed today at eliminating
the German spearhead at Mozhaisk
81 miles west of the Soviet capital
the last remaining of the great
threats to Moscow
The Russian high command an
nounced the recapture of the i'm
portant rail and Volga river center
of Staritsa, 125 miles northwest OF
Moscow, and other Russian dis
patches said Red Army advance
forces were within a few miles of
Mozhaisk, nov lying between the
jaws of Russian pincers strength
ened by StaritSa's fall
Russian troops continued their at
tacks at numerous points on the
eastern front, but some attempts to
break the German lines we're cut up
and others were eliminated the
German high command declared.
In London, the British news
agency Reuters heard that Adolf
Hitler, in his new capacity of
supreme commander of the Ger
man armies, had rushed to the front
in an attempt to stem the German
retreat. 1t gave Stockholm reports
as the source of its information.
The new headquarters were said to
be in the Smolensk area, some $50
miles behind the fighting zone.
Nazis Claim Red Ships.
A medium sized Soviet freighter
and small warship were sunk by
German air attacks yesterday on
Russian forces newly landed at the
Crimean port of Feodosiya and
seven other vessels were damaged,
the high command said in Berlin
The communique was broadcast by
the Berlin radio.
Strong bomber and fighter forma-
tions struck at the Russian units
and port installations, the Berlin
communique said.
Three large freighters were set
on fire" a communique reported,
land four transports were seriously
damaged"
Continued Russian attacks were
acknowledged on the land fronts.
but the high command declared
"some breakthrough attempts were
cut up and others were eliminated"
Staritsa fell yesterday, the Soviet
government announced, hard on the
4F Co1 Hniyz GII1o,.ioY,fc
I'd Tank Army and six German
Army corps in a battle climaXed by
the recapture of Kaluga, key rail
center 10 miles southwest of Mos
COW.
The Mozhaisk garrison consti-
tutes the sole remaining threat to
Moscow in the winter warfare.
Russian dispatches said Red Army
gunners had scorched the west bank
of the Nara River at crossing.
burning or soaring every tree and
bush, to open the way for the big
push.
In 10 days of fighting 1870 Ger
mans were killed, the Russian dis
patches said, and a general was
listed among the fallen. Cold and
snow were reported to be forcing the
surrender of German stragglers iso-
lated in woods behind the new Rus
sian front.
The reoccupation OF Starltsa,
listed by the Soviet Information
Bureau as one of several populated
localities liberated from the Ger
mans in the continued Russian ad-
vances yesterday, marked 45-mile
sweep southwest of Kalinin.
1t placed the Russians only 80
miles northeast of Rzhev, Volga
River port of 10000 served by four
branch railways and wire lines i'm
portant in war supply and COM
munications.
London Halls Soviet Successes.
Triple Soviet successes at the year
end-landlngS on the Kerch penin-
sula of the Crimea, the recapture
of Kaluga and forcing of the forti-
fed Volkhov River banks below
Leningrad-were hailed by London
commentators as strategical gains
for outweighing the mere numerical
losses inflicted on the Germans.
Remnants of German forces
driven from Kerch and Feodosiya
were reported to be fleeing into the
central Crimea before Russian
troops marching to the relief of
Sevastepol, besieged Black Sea naval
base.
Pravda, the official Communist
party newspaper, editorially pre-
dlcted victory over the Germans in
1912, but warned that great diff
cultles are still confronting us and
many battles are yet to come" It
described Russian reserve forces as
lnexhaustible.
Recapture of Feodosiya.
Russian Gen. Mikhan Pervushin
yesterday in Moscow gave this &C
count OF recapture three days ago of
the Crlmean seaport of Feodosiya
from retreating Germans.
Operations of our landing troops
were developed under very unfavor-
able weather conditions. There was
fierce storm. Under cover of night
our troops approached Feodosiya.
Only when the ships bearing our
men began to enter the port and
effect landings did the Germans
offer resistance. Then they aimed
mine throwers and machine-gun |
and heavy coastal fire at our ships.
THE bulk of the landing party did
not linger long in Feodosiya but set
out to capture the heights beyond |
the town and cut off enemy retreats.
"On that day our advance groups
already had fought q hour
battle with 1000 German soldiers.
Our men launched several vigor-
GUS counterattacks and exterminated
hundreds of German soldiers, by the
close Of the day they had worn out
the enemy to such an extent that
despite numerical superiority they
were compelled to retreat from Feo-
dosiya.
attempting to thwart our opera
tions the German command hurled