Evening star., 1943-07-08
Americans Press Toward Munda;
Jap Toll Raised to Nine Warships;
Nazis HurIReservesAgainstR Reds
Germans Gain in
New Offensive
Above BeIeorod
MAP on Page A-6.)

MOSCOW, July 8.-FreSh Nazi
reserves we're reported pushing
ahead today to bolster the Kursk
Plains offensive, which Moscow
said the Red Army had limited
to small gains in the Belgorod
sector.
Russian forces killed 10000 Ger
mans. destroyed or damaged 1889
tanks and shot down $40 planes dur
ing the first three days of the battle.
1t was announced ofiicially.
"a DNB dispatch subsequently
broadcast from Berlin and re-
corded by the Associated Press
declared that the Germans had
destroyed 862 Soviet tanks and
BAT aircraft In the last three days.
Fortiflcations of the Belgorod
area were overcome in great
depth" and the Russians south
east Of Orel were thrown back
on their own mine fields" the
propaganda agency saidD q
Nazi air force squadrons are at
tached constantly to the invasion
armored columns under a new Ger
man plan of attack by which Hitler s
high command hopes to pinch off
the 60-mile deep Soviet salient ex-
tending westward from Kursk. The
immediate assignment of the Ger
mans obviously is to attempt to push
north from Belgorod and south from
Orel, 165 miles apart, to a junction
somewhere behind the Russian held
rail city.
"a Berlin military spokesman
declared In radio broadcast that
tank battles yesterday in the area
of Belgorod and south of Orel
were the greatest ever fought on
the eastern front.")
Air Power Declared Equal.
Soviet dispatches said the Ger
mans were finding their objectives
packed with Red Army men deter
mined to fight to the death rather
than give an inch. The Red air
force was declared to be on at least
an equal footing with that of the
Germans.
The Russians for the most part
are fighting tanks with stationary
artillery. but also are employing
tanks against tanks. throwback
to earlier tactics. A Tass corre-
spondent said Soviet medium tanks
made in Britain had engaged a
group of Cotton Tigers-approxi-
mately double their size-and, de-
stroyed four.
"a Transocean dispatch broad
cast by the Berlin radio said air
forces were used on both sides
in masses hardly ever witnessed
before and that both Germans
and Russians ARE now employ
ing tanks in unexampled num-
bers" The broadcast was re-
corded by the Associated Press.
The German high command
communique, also broadcast from
Berlin, declared army units, ar
tillery. fighter -bombers and tao
tical air forces destroyed more
than 400 Soviet tanks and 1873
planes yesterday.
1.-The deeply echeloned enemy
defense system was broken
through after stubborn fighting
in wooded territory and in viii
lagos" the German bulletin said.)
Unable to Hold Gains.
The strength of Russian forces is
so great, according to Soviet dis
patches, that even where the Ger
mans succeed in penetrating Soviet
positions they have been unable to
consolidate for long. Soviet coun-
terattacks have served to throw the
shock troops off balance.
The Russians declared that Bel
gorod was the only area In which
the Germans made any advances
and these were limited to regions
where good roads and vast stretches
of open fields handicapped the de-
fense.
In one action Russian infantry
men crouched in their trenches un-
til so tanks had crossed and re-
crossed the earthworks in an effort
to crush them and open the way
tor Nazi riflemen to follow. De-
spite the hot dust and sitting ex-
haust fumes, the Red Army men
stayed put until the armored group
considered that mission completed
and moved on Then the Russians
sprang up and hurled grenades into
the treads to immobilize the bulk
of the enemy.
Directly behind the battle front
Russian soldiers are helping peas
ants bring in the harvest. To the
Russians, victory in the grain fields
is as important as that on the bat
tlefields. They have men to spare
tor both.
Warn Against Overoptimism.
While the German losses in men
and material were regarded here as
tSee RUSSIA, Page A-l80