Evening star., 1943-02-13
BY MAI. GEORGE FIELDING
ELIOT.

Signs Of general German with
drawal in South Russia continue tc
multiply. The Russians are now
across the lower Donetz, near its
junction with the Don, and are
pressing directly on Rostov from the
east.
Farther up the river. the Germans
are still holding-as would be ex-
pected If they were seeking to cover
the final evacuation of the Rostov-
Voroshilovgrad-Stalino area. This
would also explain the violent Ger
man counterattacks in the Kram-
atorsk region, where further Rus
sian advance would imperil such an
evacuation and perhaps trap all the
German troops involved in it.
But farther west the Russians are
making progress. Kharkov is en-
veloped on three sides. Its fall ap-
pears imminent. If it goes, the Rus
slams have strong position guarding
the flank of possible Russian drive
to the Dnieper and at the rail juno
tion OF Lozovaya they are only about
65 miles from the great bend of
that river
May Cut off Crimea.
In this vicinity, there are two main
railway crossings-that at Dnieper
Petrovsk and that Zaporozhe
farther south. Below Zaporozhe,
the great river runs to the sea with
out any other bridge or ford, though
there is a ferry at Kherson.
No railway line approaches ii
along the whole of this lower course,
save near the mouth at kherson,
and there is no connecting railway
there on the eastern bank, Thus, if
Zaporozhe falls to the Russians, the
last rail connection with the Crimea
is cut OF, as we'll as the last rail
connection with the DonetZ-Rostov
area.
The Russians are playing for high
stakes. Their swift thrust to the
west may accomplish everything
that further advance from Kra-
matorsk could accomplish, and even
more. Stopped by great German
effort in the latter sector, they have
outHanked the Kramatorsk salient,
and if they reach the Dnieper be-
fore the Germans do. greater
German disaster than that of Sta
lingrad is in the making.
1t should be kept in mind that
the big cities such as Kharkov and
RostoV are but pawns in this vast
chess game OF armies. The real
prizes are the German troop units.
their munitions and equipment, the
fighting power of the Wehrmacht.
Rostov Loses Significance.
When the Russians closed the last
rail line between Rostov and the
Caucasus, Rostov itself lost much
Of its strategic significance. The
object of the drive on Rostov. from
the strictly military point of view
was to cut off and encircle the
German Army in the North eau
caSian area. So now it is with
Kharkov-its military value at the
moment is principally in the fact
that it is great rail and road
center, and that by retaking it. the
Russians can prevent its use by
the Germans. That is. they can
protect the right flank of their
armies driving southwark for the
sea Of Azov or westward for the
bend OF the Dnieper.
Later on. Of course. the industrial
value OF both cities will be felt as
they revive as centerS Of Russian
industry and the moral and pres
tige value OF their recapture will be
great. But this is not the time
TO think in such terms-the great
Russian task at this moment is tc
round up ana destroy as much OF
the fighting power of Germany as
possible, in the short time remain
ing before the spring thaus make
the roads impossible and prohibit
the swift advances and wide turn