Evening star., 1943-01-09
-Four Red Armies
Plunge Ahead
In Caucasus
Draw Nearer Rostov
In Giant Movement
To EnveIop Nozis
BY HENRY c. CASSIDY,
Associated Press War Correspondent

cold rains and light, melting
snow that converted roads into
bogs and turned the Caucasus
campaign temporarily into an
engineers offensive" four Rus
sian Armies plunged steadily
ahead today in their giant en-
veloping movement against the
Germans in the whole lower area
of the eastern front.
Red Army technicians followed
the retreating enemy closely and
removed thousands of land mines.
Thirtyfour thousand mines were
estimated to have been neutralized
in single sector in the past two
weeks.
Fog reduced visibility in some
sectors to 100 yards, the army news
paper Red Star reported. Never
| theless, the Russians were reported
advancing rapidly toward the north
and west in the Caucasus. Red Star
said that the provinces of North
Osetia and Kabardino-Ba al
ready had been liberated, with the
battle approaching the Stavropol
district.
Battle Hand to- Hand.
The Germans were described as
| fighting like beasts in a cage" as
the Russians proceeded methodically
to clean out the northern factory
district in Stalingrad. The Nazis
refused to yield any point without
struggle, Red Star said, and the
Russians took house after house
in hand-to-hand combat.
Red Army artillery silenced enemy
! guns while Soviet shock troops sur
ROUNDED and stormed individual
German Notifications.
The drive toward Rostov was re-
/ ported farthest advanced where the
troops of 1t. Gen. Constantin Rokos-
sovsky pushed through Strakhov.
about IS miles east of the Don River
port.
South of his pathway west, the
legions of Col. Gen. Yeremenko had
taken Zimovniki, l25 miles SOUTH
west of Stalingrad on the railway
that leads down from that city
through recaptured Kotelnikovski
toward Salsk and Tikhoretsk.
North of the Rokossovsky column
was that of Gen. Nikolai F. Vatutin,
which was mopping up German gar
risons in the region between the
Stalingrad- -Likhaya railroad and the
north bank of the Don.
Germans Counterattack.
Red Star said that several days
of battle preceded the capture OF
Zimovniki.
The Germans had fortified the
town and the railroad station
strongly in an effort to check the
| Russian drive down the railroad,
the army journal reported, and as
the the Soviet troops were about to
enter the besieged center the Ger
mans launched a counterattack at
its gates with infantry and tanks.
The Red Army repulsed the as
saults, outfianked the German posi-
tions and drove out the enemy
troops in vicious street fighting, the
dispatches said.
German elite troops attempted to
hold out in one quarter of the city.
laying down heavy barrage with
artillery and mortars but their posi-
ton was flanked and they were
finally driven out by attacks from
several directions. Red Star said.
Column Near MilIerovo.
The early Soviet communique to-
day said that Vatutin's men had
captured Medvezhka, Lower Vyazovy
and Upper Vyazovy in yesterdays
operations. These were points south
of recaptured Valkovo, the rail juno
ton so miles east of Likhaya, which
lies about 10 miles north of Rostov.
Likhaya is also the objective of
the column that long since has
pushed down from the north around
Millerovo but whose position has
not been defined in the last several
days.
CThe noon war bulletin, broad
cast from Moscow and recorded
in London by the Soviet monitor,
told of a battle that lasted for
hours before the Russians moved
into two more populated places
in the Lower Don Valley, after
killing 400 Germans and captur-
ing equipment.
CIn the Caucasus, the Russians
said. their foe continued to re-
treat and to suffer heavy losses
| OF men and materiel.
| elsewhere on the sprawling
Russian front the Russians said
they continued their offensive,
fighting violent action in a
sector northwest of Stalingrad,
where they stormed into 40 enemy
trenches and held them against
Germany infantry and tank as
saults which saw the enemy lose
500 men and five of their force
of 20 tanks.
(Artillery brought down five
German planes in a battle south
west of Veliki Luki and two Ger
man fighters at the approaches
to Leningrad, the midday COM
munique said)
20 More Towns Taken.
A special communique announced
the capture of Zimovniki and the
regular communique added that 20
more towns had been taken in bat
ties on the Don fronts and in the
Caucasus. On all fronts resistance
continued bitter and in the Don
Valley counter attacks were fire.
quent, the Russian war bulletin said.
In the Caucasus Soviet troops
were reported to have reached Zol.
sky, only 10 miles from the Geor.
gievsk rail center, after storming
northwestward through towns on
both sides of the Baku-Rostov
railway.
Another Caucasian force. the Rus.
sian leaders said. pushing north from
captured Stepnoye, had reached
Orlovsky and Pravokumsky, the lat
ter about 10 miles northeast IF
] Georgievsk.