The Wilmington morning star., 1943-08-14
interpreting
The War
BY KIRKE L. SIMPSON

tons Big Three" Premier s,'
IN OF Russia, will be missina +ns
the Anglo-American war co,1rar atoM
Canada; but he seems dast,ns'i %
present the othe" two. PrpsId'0 tg 10
Roosevelt and Prime Min;..' MI'0tn'
Churchill, with an accomniiTs li,S'sf
war fact of supreme consepnSa IISIea
when they foregather. 4'eAce
kharkov probably will be o.
IN Russian hands by that tims Ss'2 a
is being SO closely pressed l''s, Nv, Il
verging Russian forces that # lo4' cs
hardly hold out long ' II 'aa
But the NaziS are tbro,..,,
with an even greater disso.a ,e4ea =,
Moscow advices say the mair 1'S.ef' rS
tie in the Kharkov zone is ,l, nn. vat .e
strongling, three-fronted tran J' tAs
'ng women about the citv. but np ,'n oe,
10 the west on the VorskaIa ' ., wen
and its tributaries abovp poI,a LIVER
junction. At that point Russi9' oi''''
NOR rolling over open ground ' ar "''
cracked to within 80 miles nH I "'S
Of the Poltava key to the crossi" os ''Ss
OF the Dnleper, 1t is POINTING '',,s' or
nous spearheads at the Ullr9in;. 9 U.,,
rail center down three riv.r r",''" '-I
leys lying to the north and eas+ '''
ihere is strong evidence tb,.
1hls RUSSIAN blitzkrieg jab somt5 ',tS'
ward from the lower face of SoL'' m
kursk salient above Kbarl.a Va ae
caught the Nazi staff off guard I
less than a week. it has '%r~; tTnnd,g III
loO miles and more throu9b NlvU oa
emy-held country, and ano,bo, Tr 'p,
hundred mile lunge south to '.'y. ~.
Dnleperopetrovsk or southwest ~'s ~,
kremenchug would put if as,ri6o
Dnleper crossings that feed INV
whole German right flank fron .r'
kharkov to Taganrog and are %o
only adequate escape route for o~
emy forces east Of the Dnieper n
the Don-DonetS basin. "
| The strategic pattern Of Stsr,.,
summer offensive is now becan
| ing crystal clear. and it !, boE
and daring beyond belief # !,
aimed at shattering the Ns1 boIJ
not only on the Ukranian bread.
basket but along an area stretch.
| ing far to the north, certainly a, e
far north as Smolensk. possibly
all the way to the northern anchor
| of the German line on the Baltic
| The spreading character Of the
| Soviet onslaught was emphasized
yesterday when the Russians an.
nounced an offensive aimed at
Smolensk was under way. The
springboard for that drive was in
the area of Spas Demensk, its d.
rection apparently trended along
the railway from that town to
| Smolensk. The initial announce.
ment from Moscow on the new
offensive said the Russians had
cracked the strongly fortified Nazi
line on a front of q mileS-whicn
seemed to be evidence of the pow
er of the drive.
If the Germans are ousted from
the Smolensk Bryansk Kharkov-
Taganrog line. they could find no
stopping point for an effective
winter stand short of the Dnicpef
in the north, and south of KleF
along the Bug 10 the Black Sea,
Even that line mas Fundamental
weaknesses if attacked from the
east and north-and the drive Oh
smolensk shows the Russians are
well aware of this.
Admittedly, this estimate 0,
what Russia hopes TO achieve Ill
her ponderous summer offensive
looks far ahead. Soviet mllltaT
information is too closely guardt
for any accurate appraisal of the ,
means Stain now has at hand TO
MT through so sweeping and g.
gantic a maneuver. Yet the possl-
bilities are there, that the Ger
mans are unable to deal with tAe
situation except by an ultlmae
major retreat.
With that must go political ie'
nercussions which Allied stratesIS's
cannot over look. Driven bach ol
r the Bug in southwestern RuSS.a'
for example, the Nazis would ge
cllnging to a meagre 80 mlie strip
of Russia proper between the Rug
: and the Dniester. And beyond 'As
{ Dniester lies Russian claimed
Bessarabia, Rumanian teFfl'oI!
The war would be at Humane so
eastern threshold-and within 'VJ
air miles of those Rumaman Ql
wells and installations alfeaa'
bomb-marked by the allies lor ov
struction as the most vital aA1
vulnerable Axis war nerve. y.
If a Russian advance 10 '. ,s
Dnieper-Bug is in even oIsr+~, sU,%
PROSPECT it much shake an'g
Balkan ties with the AXIS '.9
create wholly new possiblIllle' ~
simultaneous attack on GeI'naa
from the south via the Greek p'-1 p'1
insula and the Aegean. IA5s p.o.. "a
be of deepest interest to the hOor VI,
Welt Churchill staff meetings, w., G|
weighing any disappointment ;o,, o,,
Stain is not attending lhe S''
|